Jnanam = Being Aware of That which Always is

Sri Ramana Maharshi

D.: What is staying with the Guru?

M.: It means studying the sacred lore.

D.: But there is the special virtue of the Guru’s presence.

M.: Yes. That purifies the mind.

D.: That is the effect or reward. I asked about how the disciple ought to behave.

M.: That differs according to the type of disciple - student, householder, what are his own ingrained mental tendencies and so on.

D.: If so, will it naturally come out right?

M.: Yes. In former times the Rishis sent their sons to others for education.

D.: Why?

M.: Because affection stood in the way.

D.: That cannot be for the jnanis. Was it in respect of the disciples?

M.: Yes.

D.: If so would not this obstacle get removed along with all the others, through the Master’s grace?

M.: There will be delay. Owing to the disciple’s want of reverence, grace may become effective only after a long time. It is said that awaking from ignorance is like awaking from a fearful dream of a beast. It is thus. There are two taints of mind, namely veiling and restlessness (avarana and vikshepa). Of the two, the former is evil, the latter is not so. So long as the veiling effect of sleep persists there is the frightful dream; on awaking the veiling ceases; and there is no more fear. Restlessness is not a bar to happiness. To get rid of the restlessness caused by the world, one seeks the restlessness (activity) of being with the Guru, studying the sacred books and worshipping God with forms, and by these awakening is attained.

What happens in the end? Karna was ever the son of Kunti. The tenth man was such all along. Rama was Vishnu all the time. Such is jnanam. It is being aware of That which always is.

The True "I"

Sri Ramana Maharshi

Devotee: Is it not that the ‘I’ exists only in relation to a ‘this’ (aham - idam)?

Maharshi: ‘I’, ‘this’ appear together now. But ‘this’ is contained (vyaptam) in the ‘I’ - they are not apart. ‘This’ has to merge into and become one with ‘I’. The ‘I’ that remains over is the true ‘I’.

Cease to Identify with the Unreal

Sri Ramana Maharshi

Miss Merston, an English lady visitor: I have read Who am I? While inquiring who the ‘I’ is, I cannot hold it for any length of time. Secondly, I have no interest in the environment, but yet I have hopes that I shall find some interest in life.

M.: If there are no interests it is good. 

(The interpreter points out that the questioner hopes to find some interest in life).

M.: That means there are those vasanas. A dreamer dreams a dream. He sees the dream world with pleasures, pains. etc. But he wakes up and then loses all interest in the dream world. So it is with the waking world also. Just as the dream-world, being only a part of yourself and not different from you, ceases to interest you, so also the present world would cease to interest you if you awake from this waking dream (samsara) and realise that it is a part of your Self, and not an objective reality.

Because you think that you are apart from the objects around you, you desire a thing. But if you understand that the thing was only a thought-form you would no longer desire it. All things are like bubbles on water. You are the water and the objects are the bubbles. They cannot exist apart from the water, but they are not quite the same as the water.

D.: I feel I am like froth.

M.: Cease that identification with the unreal and know your real identity. Then you will be firm and no doubts can arise.

D.: But I am the froth.

M.: Because you think that way there is worry. It is a wrong imagination. Accept your true identity with the Real. Be the water and not the froth. That is done by diving in.

D.: If I dive in, I shall find........

M.: But even without diving in, you are That. The ideas of exterior and interior exist only so long as you do not accept your real identity.

D.: But I took the idea from you that you want me to dive in.

M.: Yes, quite right. It was said because you are identifying yourself with the froth and not the water. Because of this confusion the answer was meant to draw your attention to this confusion and bring it home to you. All that is meant is that the Self is infinite inclusive of all that you see. There is nothing beyond It nor apart from It. Knowing this, you will not desire anything; not desiring, you will be content.

The Self is always realised. There is no seeking to realise what is already - always - realised. For you cannot deny your own existence. That existence is consciousness - the Self.

Unless you exist you cannot ask questions. So you must admit your own existence. That existence is the Self. It is already realised. Therefore the effort to realise results only in your realising your present mistake - that you have not realised your Self. There is no fresh realisation. The Self becomes revealed.

D.: That will take some years.

M.: Why years? The idea of time is only in your mind. It is not in the Self. There is no time for the Self. Time arises as an idea after the ego arises. But you are the Self beyond time and space; you exist even in the absence of time and space.

Meditation ends in jnana

Sri Ramana Maharshi

A devotee asked Sri Bhagavan: With every thought the subject and the object appear and disappear. Does not the ‘I’ disappear when the subject disappears thus? If that be so how can the quest of the ‘I’ proceed?

M.: The subject (knower) is only a mode of mind. Though the mode (vritti) passes, the reality behind it does not cease. The background of the mode is the ‘I’ in which the mind modes arise and sink.

D.: After describing the Self as srota (hearer), manta (thinker), vijnata (knower), etc., it is again described as asrota, amanta, avijnata, non-hearer, non-thinker, non-knower, Is it so?

M.: Just so. The common man is aware of himself only when modifications arise in the intellect (vijnanamaya kosa); these modifications are transient; they arise and set. Hence the vijnanamaya (intellect) is called a kosa or sheath. When pure awareness is left over it is itself the Chit (Self) or the Supreme. To be in one’s natural state on the subsidence of thoughts is bliss; if that bliss be transient - arising and setting - then it is only the sheath of bliss (Anandamaya kosa), not the pure Self. What is needed is to fix the attention on the pure ‘I’ after the subsidence of all thoughts and not to lose hold of it. This has to be described as an extremely subtle thought; else it cannot be spoken of at all, since it is no other than the Real Self. Who is to speak of it, to whom and how?

This is well explained in the Kaivalyam and the Viveka Chudamani. Thus though in sleep the awareness of the Self is not lost, the ignorance of the jiva is not affected by it. For this ignorance to be destroyed this subtle state of mind (vrittijnanam) is necessary; in the sunshine cotton does not burn; but if the cotton be placed under a lens it catches fire and is consumed by the rays of the Sun passing through the lens. So too, though the awareness of the Self is present at all times, it is not inimical to ignorance. If by meditation the subtle state of thought is won, then ignorance is destroyed. Also in Viveka Chudamani: ativa sukshmam paramatma tattvam na sthoola drishtya (the exceedingly subtle Supreme Self cannot be seen by the gross eye) and esha svayam jyotirasesha sakshi (this is Self-shining and witnesses all).

This subtle mental state is not a modification of mind called vritti. Because the mental states are of two kinds. One is the natural state and the other is a transformation into forms of objects. The first is the truth, and the other is according to the doer (kartrutantra). When the latter perishes, jale kataka renuvat (like the clearing nut paste in water) the former will remain over.

The means for this end is meditation. Though this is with the triad of distinction (triputi) it will finally end in pure awareness (jnanam) Meditation needs effort: jnanam is effortless. Meditation can be done, or not done, or wrongly done, jnanam is not so. Meditation is described as kartru-tantra (as doer’s own), jnanam as vastutantra (the Supreme’s own).

The Five States

Sri Ramana Maharshi

Sri Bhagavan has a bandage on his finger. Someone asked, “What is that?” Bhagavan replied: “The finger came upon a knife”. (The Knife is inert, and relative to it the finger is a conscious agent).

..................

Sri Bhagavan said to another devotee that there are five states:

(1) Sleep, (2) Before waking, a state free from thoughts, (3) Sense of happiness of that freedom from thoughts (rasasvada), (4) The internal movement of the vasanas (kashaya) and (5) Complete waking with (distraction) vikshepa. 

The second of those should be made permanent.

God-Vision = Self-Vision

Sri Ramana Maharshi

Mr. Raj Krishna found Sri Bhagavan alone on the Hill at about 5-30p.m. and prayed: I have been desiring since my tenth year to have a glimpse of the Reality. I firmly believe that I can be helped in this only by a sage like Sri Bhagavan. So I pray for Thy help.

Sri Bhagavan looked at him for a few minutes. The devotee interrupted, saying: “Even if I cannot realise in my life let me at least not forget it on my death bed: let me have a glimpse at least at the moment of death so that it may stand me in good stead in the future.”

M.: It is said in the Bhagavad Gita, Ch. VIII, that whatever may be the last thought at death, it determines the later birth of the person. It is necessary to experience the Reality now in life in order that it may be experienced at death. See if this moment be different from the last one, and try to be in that desired state.

D.: I have limitations. I am unable to rise to the occasion. Grace can achieve for me what I cannot achieve myself.

M.: True, but unless there is grace this desire will not arise.

They were walking slowly, conversing at the same time. The devotee said: “There is a girl of eleven in Lahore. She is very remarkable. She says she can call upon Krishna twice and remain conscious, but if she calls the third time she becomes unconscious and remains in trance for ten hours continuously.”

M.: So long as you think that Krishna is different from you, you call upon Him. Falling into trance denotes the transitoriness of the samadhi. You are always in samadhi; that is what should be realised. 

D.: God-vision is glorious.

M.: God-vision is only vision of the Self objectified as the God of one’s own faith. Know the Self.

You are the Self that you seek

Sri Ramana Maharshi

D.: “Not this - not this”. That is the teaching to the seeker. He is told that the Self is Supreme. How is it to be found?

M.: The Self is said to be the hearer, thinker, knower, etc. But that is not all. It is also described as the ear of ear, the mind of mind, etc.; and by what means to know the knower?

D.: But this does not say what the Self is.

M.: “Not this - not this”.

D.: It only negates.

M.: (Silence).

The devotee complains that the Self is not pointed out.

M.: A man wants to know what he is. He sees animals and objects around him. He is told: ‘You are not a cow, not a horse, not a tree, not this, not that, and so on’. If again the man asks saying ‘You have not said what I am,’ the answer will be, ‘It is not said you are not a man’. He must find out for himself that he is a man. So you must find out for yourself what you are. 

You are told, ‘You are not this body, nor the mind, nor the intellect, nor the ego, nor anything you can think of; find out what truly you are’. Silence denotes that the questioner is himself the Self that is to be found. In a svayamvara the maiden goes on saying ‘no’ to each one until she faces her choice and then she looks downwards and remains silent.

Saguna Merges into Nirguna

Sri Ramana Maharshi

An Andhra gentleman read out a verse from the Viveka Chudamani setting forth the sense of the Maitreyi Brahmana of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad and asked the meaning of atma which occurred there.

M.: The Self.

D.: Is not prema (love) for something else?

M.: The desire for happiness (sukha prema) is a proof of the ever-existing happiness of the Self. Otherwise how can desire for it arise in you? If headache was natural to human beings no one would try to get rid of it. But everyone that has a headache tries to get rid of it, because he has known a time when he had no headache. He desires only that which is natural to him. So too he desires happiness because happiness is natural to him. Being natural, it is not acquired. Man’s attempts can only be to get rid of misery. If that be done the ever-present bliss is felt. The primal bliss is obscured by the non-self which is synonymous with non-bliss or misery. Duhkha nasam = sukha prapti. (Loss of unhappiness amounts to gain of happiness.)

Happiness mixed with misery is only misery. When misery is eliminated then the ever-present bliss is said to be gained. Pleasure which ends in pain is misery. Man wants to eschew such pleasure. Pleasures are priya, moda and pra-moda. When a desired object is near at hand there arises priya: when it is taken possession of moda arises; when it is being enjoyed pra-moda prevails. The reason for the pleasureableness of these states is that one thought excludes all others, and then this single thought also merges into the Self. These states are enjoyed in the Anandamaya kosa only. As a rule Vijnanamaya kosa prevails on waking. In deep sleep all thoughts disappear and the state of obscuration is one of bliss; there the prevailing body is the Anandamaya. These are sheaths and not the core, which is interior to all these. It lies beyond waking, dream and deep sleep. That is the Reality and consists of true bliss (nijananda).

D.: Is not hatha yoga necessary for the inquiry into the Self?

M.: Each one finds some one method suitable to himself, because of latent tendencies (purva samskara).

D.: Can hatha yoga be accomplished at my age?

M.: Why do you think of all that? Because you think it exterior to yourself you desire it and try for it. But do you not exist all along? Why do you leave yourself and go after something external?

D.: It is said in Aparoksha-anubhuti that hatha yoga is a necessary aid for inquiry into the Self.

M.: The hatha yogis claim to keep the body fit so that the enquiry may be effected without obstacles. They also say that life must be prolonged so that the enquiry may be carried to a successful end. Furthermore there are those who use some medicines (kayakalpa) with that end in view. Their favourite example is: the screen must be perfect before the painting is begun. Yes, but which is the screen and which the painting? According to them the body is the screen and the inquiry into the Self is the painting. But is not the body itself a picture on the screen, the Self?

D.: But hatha yoga is so much spoken of as an aid.

M.: Yes. Even great pandits well versed in the Vedanta continue the practice of it. Otherwise their minds will not subside. So you may say it is useful for those who cannot otherwise still the mind.

D.: Saguna upasana (worship of the personal God) is said to be imperfect. It is also said that nirguna upasana (devotion to the impersonal) is hard and risky. I am fit for the former only. What is to be done?

M.: The Saguna merges into the nirguna in the long run. The saguna purifies the mind and takes one to the final goal. The afflicted one, the seeker of knowledge, and the seeker of gains are all dear to God. But the jnani is the Self of God.

Remain As The Source

Sri Ramana Maharshi

A gentleman from Hardwar: When I go on analysing myself I go beyond the intellect, and then there is no happiness.

M.: Intellect is only an instrument of the Self. It cannot help you to know what is beyond itself.

D.: I understand it. But there is no happiness beyond it.

M.: The intellect is the instrument wherewith to know unknown things. But you are already known, being the Self which is itself knowledge; so you do not become the object of knowledge. The intellect makes you see things outside, and not that which is its own source.

D.: The question is repeated.

M.: The intellect is useful thus far, it helps you to analyse yourself, and no further. It must then be merged into the ego, and the source of the ego must be sought. If that be done the ego disappears. Remain as that source and then the ego does not arise.

D.: There is no happiness in that state.

M.: ‘There is no happiness’ is only a thought. The Self is bliss, pure and simple. You are the Self. So you cannot but be bliss; being so, you cannot say here is no happiness. That which says so cannot be the Self; it is the non-Self and must be got rid of in order to realise the bliss of the Self.

D.: How is that to be done?

M.: See wherefrom the thought arises. It is the mind. See for whom the mind or intellect functions. For the ego. Merge the intellect in the ego and seek the source of the ego. The ego disappears. ‘I know’ and ‘I do not know’ imply a subject and an object. They are due to duality. The Self is pure and absolute, One and alone. There are no two selves so that one may know the other. What is duality then? It cannot be the Self which is One and alone. It must be non-Self. Duality is the characteristic of the ego. When thoughts arise duality is present; know it to be the ego, and seek its source.

The degree of the absence of thoughts is the measure of your progress towards Self-Realisation. But Self-Realisation itself does not admit of progress; it is ever the same. The Self remains always in realisation. The obstacles are thoughts. Progress is measured by the degree of removal of the obstacles to understanding that the Self is always realised. So thoughts must be checked by seeking to whom they

arise. So you go to their Source, where they do not arise.

D.: Doubts are always arising. Hence my question.

M.: A doubt arises and is cleared; another arises and that is cleared, making way for another, and so it goes on. So there is no possibility of clearing away all doubts. See to whom the doubts arise. Go to their

source and abide in it. Then they cease to arise. That is how doubts are to be cleared. Atma samstham manah krtva na kinchidapi chintayet.

D.: Grace alone can help me to it.

M.: Grace is not exterior. In fact your very desire for grace is due to grace that is already in you.

Reality is Different from the States

Sri Ramana Maharshi

Our very experience of the jagrat and the swapna states proves that the Consciousness as the Self underlies all the five states, remains perfect all along and witnesses all of them. But with regard to similar consciousness in the deep sleep, every person is known to say “I was not aware of anything; I slept soundly and happily”. Two facts emerge from the statement (unawareness of anything and the happiness of sound sleep). Unless these existed and were experienced in sleep they could not find expression by the same person in the waking state.

Inference also leads to the same conclusion. Just as the eye sees the darkness which remains enveloping all objects, so also the Self sees the darkness of nescience which remained covering the phenomenal world. This darkness was experienced when it (the Self) emerged in dots of supreme bliss, shone a trice and fleeted away in such fine subtlety as the rays of the moon which peer through the waving foliage. The experience was however not through any media (such as the senses of the mind), but bears out the fact that consciousness does exist in deep sleep. The unawareness is owing to the absence of relative
knowledge, and the happiness to the absence of (seething) thoughts.

If the experience of bliss in deep sleep is a fact, how is it that no one among all the human beings recollects it? A diver who has found the desired thing under water cannot make his discovery known to the expectant persons on the shore until he emerges from the water. Similarly the sleeper cannot express his experience because he cannot contact the organs of expression until he is awakened by his vasanas in due course. Therefore it follows that the Self is the light of Sat, Chit, Ananda.

Visva, Taijasa and Prajna are the denominations of the experiencer in the waking, dream and deep sleep states respectively. The same individual underlies all of them. They do not therefore represent the True Self which is pure Sat, Chit, Ananda. The experience in deep sleep was said to be the bliss of Brahman. It is only the negative aspect of such bliss, as it is the result of the absence of thoughts. Moreover it is transitory. Such a bliss is only the abhasa, the counterfeit of Supreme Bliss. It is not different from

the blissful feeling of sensual pleasures. In deep sleep the Prajna is said to be united with the Self. So the individuality is potential in sleep. The Self is the basis of all the experiences. It remains as the witness

and the support of them all. The Reality is thus different from the three states, the waking, the dream and the deep sleep.

The Five States

Sri Ramana Maharshi

There are five states for the individual. They are: (1) Jagrat, (2)Swapna, (3) Sushupti, (4) Turiya, (5) Turyatita. 

Of these the jagrat is the waking state. In it the jiva in the Visva aspect and the Lord in the Virat aspect, abiding together in the eight petals of the Heart lotus, function through the eyes and enjoy novel pleasures from various objects by means of all the senses, organs, etc. The five gross elements which are widespread, the ten senses, the five vital airs, the four inner faculties, the twenty four fundamentals - all these together form the gross body. The jagrat state is characterised by satva guna denoted by the letter A and presided over by the deity Vishnu. 

The swapna is the dream state in which the jiva in the Taijasa aspect and the Lord in the Hiranyagarbha aspect, abiding together in the corolla of the Heart-Lotus, function in the neck and experience through the mind the results of the impressions collected in the waking state. All the principles, the five gross elements, the will and the intellect, seventeen in all, together form the subtle body of the dream which is characterised by the rajo guna denoted by the letter U and presided over by the deity Brahma, so say the wise.

The sushupti is the state of deep sleep in which the jiva in the Prajna aspect and the Lord in the Isvara aspect, abiding together in the stamen of the Heart-Lotus, experience the bliss of the Supreme by means of the subtle avidya (nescience). Just as a hen after roaming about in the day calls the chicks to her, enfolds them under her wings and goes to rest for the night, so also the subtle individual being, after finishing the experiences of the jagrat and swapna for the time being, enters with the impressions gathered during those states into the causal body which is made up of nescience, characterised by tamo guna, denoted by the letter M and presided over by the deity Rudra.

Deep sleep is nothing but the experience of pure being. The three states go by different names, such as the three regions, the three forts, the three deities, etc. The being always abides in the Heart, as stated above. If in the jagrat state the Heart is not relinquished, the mental activities are stilled and Brahman alone is contemplated, the state is called the Turiya. Again when the individual being merges in the Supreme it is called the turyatita. The vegetable kingdom is always in sushupti; the animals have both swapna and sushupti; the gods (celestials) are always in jagrat; man has all the three states; but the clear-sighted yogi abides only in turiya, and the highest yogi remains in turyatita alone.

The three states alternate involuntarily for the average man. The last two (turiya and turyatita) are however the results of practice and form clear aids to liberation. Of the other three states (Jagrat, swapna

and sushupti) each one is exclusive of the other two and limited by the conditions of time and space. They are therefore unreal.

How to Destroy Ego?

Sri Ramana Maharshi

Q: How is the ego to be destroyed?

M.: Hold the ego first and then ask how it is to be destroyed. Who asks this question? It is the ego. Can the ego ever agree to kill itself? This question is a sure way to cherish the ego and not to kill it. If you seek the ego you will find it does not exist. That is the way to destroy it.

In this connection I am often reminded of a funny incident which took place when I was living in the West Chitrai Street in Madura. A neighbour in an adjoining house anticipated the visit of a thief to his house. He took precautions to catch him. He posted policemen in mufti to guard the two ends of the lane, the entrance and the back-door to his own house. The thief came as expected and the men rushed to catch him. He took in the situation at a glance and shouted “Hold him, hold him. There - he runs - there - there.” Saying so he made good his escape.

So it is with the ego. Look for it and it will not be found. That is the way to get rid of it.

Pleasure and Pain are Mental Modes

Sri Ramana Maharshi

There were a few respectable men in the hall. Sri Bhagavan spoke to them some time after their arrival. Where is the use of trying to remember the past or discover the future? That which matters is only the present. Take care of it and the other things will take care of themselves.

D.: Is it bad to desire something?

M.: One should not be elated on having his desire fulfilled or disappointed on being frustrated. To be elated on the fulfilment of desire is so deceitful. A gain will certainly be lost ultimately. Therefore elation must end in pain at a future date. One should not give place to feelings of pleasure or pain, come what may. How do the events affect the person? You do not grow by acquiring something nor wither away by losing it. You remain what you always are.

D.: We worldly men cannot resist desire.

M.: You may desire but be prepared for any eventuality. Make effort, but do not be lost in the result. Accept with equanimity whatever happens. For pleasure and pain are mere mental modes. They have no relation to the objective realities.

D.: How?

M.: There were two young friends in a village in South India. They were learned and wanted to earn something with which they might afford relief to their respective families. They took leave of their parents and went to Benares on a pilgrimage. On the way one of them died. The other was left alone. He wandered for a time, and in the course of a few months he made a good name and earned some money. He wanted to earn more before he returned to his home. In the meantime he met a pilgrim who was going south and would pass through the native village of the young pandit. He requested the new acquaintance to tell his parents that he would return after a few months with some funds and also that his companion had died on the way. The man came to the village and found the parents. He gave them the news, but changed the names of the two men. Consequently the parents of the living man bemoaned his supposed loss and the parents of the dead man were happy expecting the return of their son bringing rich funds as well. 

You see therefore that pleasure and pain have no relation to the actualities but are mere mental modes.

Can Light Generate Darkness?

Sri Ramana Maharshi

A young man asked: “Are thoughts mere matter?”

M.: What do you mean? Do you mean ‘matter’ like the things you see around you?

D.: Yes - gross.

M.: Who asks this question? Who is the thinker?

D.: The thinker is spirit.

M.: Do you then mean that spirit generates matter?

D.: I want to know.

M.: How do you distinguish between matter and spirit?

D.: Spirit is consciousness and the other not.

M.: Can consciousness generate non-consciousness, or light darkness?

Physical Proximity of the Master

Sri Ramana Maharshi

D.: If the search has to be made within, is it necessary to be in the physical proximity of the Master?

M.: It is necessary to do so until all doubts are at an end.

D.: If the ego is unreal and troublesome why did we take so much pains to develop it? 

M.: Its growth and the trouble consequent on such growth make you look for the cause of it all. Its development is for its own destruction.

D.: Is it not said that one must be like a child before one advances spiritually?

M.: Yes, because the ego is not developed in the child.

D.: I mean exactly the same. We could have remained like the child instead of having developed the ego.

M.: The state of the child is meant. No one can take lessons from the child for the Realization of the Self. The Master’s state is like the state of the child. There is a difference between the two. The ego is potential in the child, whereas it is totally destroyed in the saint.

D.: Yes, I see, I understand it now.

M.: The Reality is alone and eternal. To understand it is good enough. But the old ignorance should not return. A good watch must be kept lest the present understanding of the Truth suffers later on. 

A disciple served a master a long time and realized the Self. He was in Bliss and wanted to express his gratitude to the master. He was in tears of joy and his voice choked when he spoke. He said, “What a wonder that I did not know my very Self all these years? I suffered long and you so graciously helped me to realize the Self. How shall I repay your Grace? It is not in my power to do it!” 

The master replied: “Well, well. Your repayment consists in not lapsing into ignorance over again but in continuing in the state of your real Self.”

[Compiler’s remarks: The Self is the Master and all else. The Realization of the Self means Self- surrender or merging into the Master. What more can anyone do? That is the highest form of gratitude to the Master].

What is the Ego?

Sri Ramana Maharshi

Mrs. H. R.: I understand the Self to be the Master and must be sought within. So I can do it where I live.

M.: The understanding has been theoretical. When it is put into practice difficulties and doubts arise. If you can feel the presence of the Master where you are, your doubts are readily overcome, for the Master’s part consists in removing the doubts of the seeker. The purpose of your visit is fulfilled if the doubts do not arise hereafter, and you apply yourself steadily in the search for the Self.

D.: I understand it all along.

M.: Good. The objection is not to your conclusion but it is to your doubts.

Mr. W. J.: When we read about it we read it intellectually. But it is all too remote. When we see you in body we are brought nearer to Reality and it gives us courage to bring our knowledge into our everyday life. If one realized the Self and acted up to it in the West, one would be locked up in a lunatic asylum. (Laughter.)

M.: You will be locking yourself in. Because the world is mad, considers you mad. Where is the lunatic asylum if it is not within. You will not be in it, but it will be in you. (Laughter). Uncertainties, doubts and fears are natural to everyone until the Self is realized. They are inseparable from the ego, rather they are the ego.

D.: How are they to disappear?

M.: They are the ego. If the ego goes they go with it. The ego is itself unreal. What is the ego? Enquire. The body is insentient and cannot say ‘I’ . The Self is pure consciousness and non-dual. It cannot say ‘I’. No one says, ‘I’ in sleep. What is the ego then? It is something intermediate between the inert body and the Self. It has no locus standi. If sought for it vanishes like a ghost. You see, a man imagines that there is something by his side in darkness; it may be some dark object. If he looks closely the ghost is not to be seen, but some dark object which he could identify as a tree or a post, etc. If he does not look closely the ghost strikes terror in the person. All that is required is only to look closely and the ghost vanishes. The ghost was never there. So also with the ego. It is an intangible link between the body and Pure Consciousness. It is not real. So long as one does not look closely it continues to give trouble. But when one looks for it, it is found not to exist.

Again, in a Hindu marriage function, the feasts continue five or six days. A stranger was mistaken for the best man by the bride’s party and they therefore treated him with special regard. Seeing him treated with special regard by the bride’s party, the bridegroom’s party considered him to be some man of importance related to the bride’s party and therefore they too showed him special respect. The stranger had altogether a happy time of it. He was also all along aware of the real situation. On one occasion the groom’s party wanted to refer to him on some point. They asked for him. He scented trouble and made himself scarce. So it is with the ego.

If looked for, it disappears. If not, it continues to give trouble. How it is to be looked for is learnt from those who have already done so. That is the reason why the Master is approached.

Steadfast Search for the Self

Sri Ramana Maharshi

Mrs. Hick Riddingh asked Sri Bhagavan in writing:

When Bhagavan writes about the help given towards attaining Self-Realisation by the gracious glance of the Master or looking upon theMaster, how exactly is this to be understood?”

M.: Who is the Master? Who is the seeker?

D.: The Self.

M.: If the Self be the Master and also the seeker, how can the questions arise at all?

D.: That is just my difficulty. I must seek the Self within myself. What is then the significance of the writing above referred to? It seems contradictory.

M.: It is not. The statement has not been rightly understood. If the seeker knows the Master to be the Self he sees no duality in other respects either and is therefore happy, so that no questions arise for him.

But the seeker does not bring the truth of the statement to bear in practice. It is because of his ignorance. This ignorance is however unreal. The Master is required to wake up the seeker from the slumber of ignorance and he therefore uses these words in order to make Reality clear to others.

The only thing that matters is that you see the Self. This can be done wherever you remain. The Self must be sought within. The search must be steadfast. If that is gained there is no need to stay near the Master as a physical being.

The ‘statement’ is meant for those who cannot find the Self remaining where they are.

Mr. Ward Jackson: The lady’s difficulty is real and I sympathize with her. She asks, “If we could see the Self within ourselves, why should we have come all the way to see Him? We had been thinking of Him so long and it is only right that we came here. Is it then unnecessary to do so?”

M.: You have done well in having come. “Isvaro gururatmeti” (The Self is the God and Guru). A person seeks happiness and learns that God alone can make one happy. He prays to God and worships Him. God hears his prayers, and responds by appearing in human shape as a Master in order to speak the language of the devotee and make him understand the Reality. The Master is thus God manifest as human being. He gives out His experience so that the seeker might also gain it. His experience is to abide as the Self. The Self is within. God, Master and the Self are therefore seeming stages in the Realisation of the Truth. You have doubts on reading books. You have come here to have them cleared. That is only right.

See Who You Are

Sri Ramana Maharshi

D.: I think that the soul is the light within. If after death it becomes one with Brahman how can there be transmigration of soul?

M.: Within whom? Who dies?

D.: I shall then frame my question in a different way.

M.: Dialectics are not wanted. Consider the answer and see.

D.: How?

M.: Now that you identify yourself with the body you say that the soul is the light within. You mean that there is light within the body. Think a little and say if the body can raise any questions. It is insentient and cannot say ‘I’. Something else says ‘I’. What is it? Can it be the Self? The Self is pure and is not aware of any other so as to be able to say ‘I’. Who then says ‘I’? It is the link between the pure Chit (the Self) and the jada (the body). That is the ego.

Who are you now? What is it that is born? The Self is eternal and cannot be born. The body appears and disappears and your identity with it makes you speak of birth and death. See if the true significance of ‘I’ can ever take birth. For whom is transmigration?

D.: Sir, we are here to have our doubts cleared.

M.: Certainly.

D.: Our doubts can be cleared only when we ask questions.

M.: Yes. No one objects to questions being asked.

D.: It is said pariprasnena sevaya (by questioning again and again and by service). So we should ask questions and the Master should kindly remove our doubts.

M.: Continue your quotation upadekshyanti tattvam (They give instructions in Truth).

D.: Yes. But our doubts must be cleared.

M.: So it was with Arjuna. For he says in the end nashato mohah smritirlabdha (lost is my ignorance; memory restored).

D.: It was in the end. Before then he asked so many questions.

M.: The Truth was revealed even at the start. For the very first sloka of Sri Krishna’s upadesa starts: “No birth and no death, no change, etc.”

D.: Sri Krishna also says, “We have had many rebirths. I am aware of them; but you are not.”

M.: That was only because the question arose how Sri Krishna could claim to have taught the eternal Truth to Aditya. The Truth was stated even at the start. Arjuna did not understand it. The jnani’s state was later described and also the means of attainment.

Incidentally Sri Krishna said that the Truth was eternal and that He had originally taught the same to Aditya. Arjuna was all along identifying himself with the body and therefore thought that Sri Krishna also was the body in front of him. He therefore asked, “How can it be? You (Sri Krishna) were born of Devaki some years before. Aditya was among those who started creation. How could you have taught this Truth to Aditya?”

Sri Krishna continues to answer Arjuna’s questions in that strain: “Many rebirths we have had. I know them all; but you do not,” and so on.

D.: We must also know the Truth.

M.: You are taught the Truth. Instructions have been given. See who you are. That is the whole instruction.

Your Nature is Simple Being

Sri Ramana Maharshi

A devotee came with these questions.

1. Since individual souls and the Brahman are one, what is the cause of this creation?

2. Is the Brahma-jnani liable to bodily pains and rebirth? Can he extend his span of life or curtail it?

M: The object of creation is to remove the confusion of your individuality. The question shows that you have identified yourself with the body and therefore see yourself and the world around. You think that you are the body. Your mind and intellect are the factors of your wrong identity.

Do you exist in your sleep?

D.: I do.

M.: The same being is now awake and asks these questions. Is it not so?

D.: Yes.

M.: These questions did not arise in your sleep. Did they?

D.: No.

M.: Why not? Because you did not see your body and no thoughts arose. You did not identify yourself with the body then. Therefore these questions did not arise. They arise now because of your identity with the body. Is it not so?

D.: Yes.

M.: Now see which is your real nature. Is it that which is free from thoughts or that which is full of thoughts? Being is continuous. The thoughts are discontinuous. So which is permanent?

D.: Being.

M.: That is it. Realise it. That is your true nature. Your nature is simple Being, free from thoughts. Because you identify yourself with the body you want to know about creation. The world and the objects including your body appear in the waking state but disappear in the state of sleep. You exist all through these states. What is it then that persists through all these states? Find it out. That is your Self.

D.: Supposing it is found, what then?

M.: Find it out and see. There is no use asking hypothetical questions.

D.: Am I then one with Brahman?

M.: Leave Brahman alone. Find who you are. Brahman can take care of Himself. If you cease to identify yourself with the body no questions regarding creation, birth, death, etc., will arise. They did not arise in your sleep. Similarly they will not arise in the true state of the Self. The object of creation is thus clear, that you should proceed from where you find yourself and realise your true Being.

You could not raise the question in your sleep because there is no creation there. You raise the question now because your thoughts appear and there is creation. Creation is thus found to be only your thoughts.

Take care of yourself and the Brahma-jnani will take care of Himself. If you know your true nature, you will understand the state of Brahma-jnana. It is futile to explain it now. Because you think that you see a jnani before you and you identify him with a body just as you have identified yourself with yours, you also think that he feels pains and pleasures like yourself.

D.: But I must know if he is a jnani for I must be inspired by him.

M.: Yes, he tells you; he inspires. Do as he tells you. You want to learn and not test him.

Jnana lakshanas are stated in the sastras to be an incentive to a seeker to get rid of misery and seek happiness. The methods are given. If they are followed the result will be jnana having those lakshanas. They are not meant for testing others. 

The Self is Always Realized

Sri Ramana Maharshi

The Self is always realized. Were Realization something to be gained hereafter there is an equal chance of its being lost. It will thus be only transitory. Transitory bliss brings pain in its train. It cannot be liberation which is eternal.

Were it true that you realize it later it means that you are not realized now. Absence of Realization of the present moment may be repeated at any moment in the future, for Time is infinite. So too, such realization is impermanent. But that is not true. It is wrong to consider Realization to be impermanent. It is the True Eternal State which cannot change.

D.: Yes, I shall understand it in course of time.

M.: You are already That. Time and space cannot affect the Self. They are in you; so also all that you see around you are in you. There is a story to illustrate this point: A lady had a precious necklace round her neck. Once in her excitement she forgot it and thought that the necklace was lost. She became anxious and looked for it in her home but could not find it. She asked her friends and neighbors if they knew anything about the necklace. They did not. At last a kind friend of hers told her to feel the necklace round the neck. She found that it had all along been round her neck and she was happy! When others asked her later if she found the necklace which was lost, she said, “Yes, I have found it.” She still felt that she had recovered a lost jewel.

Now did she lose it at all? It was all along round her neck. But judge her feelings. She is happy as if she had recovered a lost jewel. Similarly with us, we imagine that we would realize that Self some time, whereas we are never anything but the Self.

D.: I feel that I am transplanted into some other land than the earth. 

Sri Bhagavan, while looking into some correspondence, heard it, smiled and said: This is the Kingdom of Heaven. The Kingdom of Heaven mentioned in the Bible and this world are not two different regions.

“The Kingdom is within you,” says the Bible. So it is. The realized being sees this as the Kingdom of Heaven whereas the others see it as ‘this world’. The difference lies only in the angles of vision.

D.: How can we deny the world and the people therein? I hear some music. It is sweet and grand. I recognize it to be Wagner’s music. I cannot claim it to be mine.

M.: Does Wagner or his music exist apart from you? Unless you are there to say that it is Wagner’s music, can you be aware of it? Without being aware of it, can it be said to exist? To make it more clear, do you recognize Wagner’s music in your deep sleep? And yet you admit that you exist in sleep. So it is clear that Wagner and music are only your thoughts. They are in you and not out of you.

D.: It is beautiful.

[Compiler’s remarks: Everyone is apt to be confused from time to time. Although the truth is heard and understood, at times it is forgotten, and mistakes are committed when facts face the person. Knowledge gives place to ignorance and confusion is the result. But the sage alone can give the right turn to our thoughts from time to time. That is the necessity for Satsanga i.e., association with the Wise.]