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You say you have been having the sense that you are disappearing into space.
When the ‘I’ merges or disappears in that space that you speak about, who are you?
Do you feel any break in your being?
Is there any jerk in experience, like suddenly there is a sense that you have become something else, or is it that you simply stopped becoming? You understand?
When there is no ‘I’, ‘me’, the doer of actions or thinker of thoughts, did you suddenly become the Absolute or isn't it that the ‘I’ as a seemingly tangible entity could no longer be found?
As you come again into your natural state, you will see:I was never the idea I had of who I am. I have always been This. And a joy is there.
It is the most natural and beautiful discovery and you know:I didn’t ‘become’ this, I have always been This.
When the ‘I’ merges or disappears in that space that you speak about, who are you?
Do you feel any break in your being?
Is there any jerk in experience, like suddenly there is a sense that you have become something else, or is it that you simply stopped becoming? You understand?
When there is no ‘I’, ‘me’, the doer of actions or thinker of thoughts, did you suddenly become the Absolute or isn't it that the ‘I’ as a seemingly tangible entity could no longer be found?
As you come again into your natural state, you will see:I was never the idea I had of who I am. I have always been This. And a joy is there.
It is the most natural and beautiful discovery and you know:I didn’t ‘become’ this, I have always been This.
The truth of oneself alone is worthy to be scrutinized and known. Taking it as the target of one's attention, one should keenly know it in the Heart. This knowledge of oneself will be revealed only to the consciousness which is silent, clear and free from the activity of the agitated and suffering mind. Know that the consciousness which always shines in the Heart as the formless Self 'I', and which is known by one's being still without thinking about anything as existent or non-existent, alone is the perfect reality.
To meditate, you don't have to have any objective, which means you don't have any expectation at all. In these moments you don't find Reality, the Reality finds you. Just sit quietly for a moment.
The Maharshi occupied a couch in a corner of a middle-sized hall in the Asramam. Barring this corner the entire hall was at the disposal of the visiting public, and anybody could go into the hall at any time of the day or night. Visiting devotees would quietly steal in, sit for a while in quiet meditation and then leave unobtrusively. One day a man following the path of devotion came in and occupied a place very near the sage. Then he unburdened all that lay buried in his heart. His speech was choked with feeling. He poured forth, "I have gone on pilgrimage all over the land. I have been regular in my spiritual practices. Many a sleepless night have I passed in prayer. Still to this day I have had no mercy from the Lord. I am forlorn." He cried bitterly, but Maharshi sat unconcerned. Eventually all his suppressed feelings were worked out, and then in a measured voice the sage said, "Strange man. He cries – what is there to sob about? Instead of being poised in the blissful Self, he goes on wailing." This observation had a telling effect. The man saw that his problem was self-created, and a new chapter in his life started.
Once you know there is no mind, there is no longer the experience you’ve got to go through. All experiences cease. But be aware that all experiences have come from the mind. In reality there are no experiences. The life you’re living now is an experience.
As you look at the world without interpretation,
as you look at the world without attachment,
what the world is will be revealed to you.
as you look at the world without attachment,
what the world is will be revealed to you.
There is no non-self.
The non-self also exists in the Self. It is the Self which speaks of the non-self because it has forgotten itself. Having lost hold of itself, it conceives something as non-self, which is after all nothing but itself.
The non-self also exists in the Self. It is the Self which speaks of the non-self because it has forgotten itself. Having lost hold of itself, it conceives something as non-self, which is after all nothing but itself.
Whatever is destined not to happen will not happen, try as you may.
Whatever is destined to happen will happen, do what you may to prevent it.
This is certain.
The best course, therefore, is to remain silent.
Whatever is destined to happen will happen, do what you may to prevent it.
This is certain.
The best course, therefore, is to remain silent.
How do you create a dream? Does it start with a beginning? As soon as you start dreaming, there’s no creation. The dream just starts. Everything is already there. The trees, the sky, the earth, the flowers, the grass, people, insects, birds, flowers, everything just appears. Does it die in the end? You just wake up, and it’s all gone.
Annamalai Swami recorded conversations with Bhagavan in the late 1930s.
The following questions were asked by an aristocratic- looking American lady. Bhagavan's answers are a succinct summery of his practical teachings.
Q.: What is the truth that I have to attain? Please explain it and show it to me.
Bhagavan: What we have to attain and what is desired by everyone is endless happiness. Although we seek to attain it in various ways, it is not something to be sought or attained as a new experience. Our real nature is the 'I' feeling which is always experienced by everyone. It is within us and nowhere else. Although we are always experiencing it, our minds are wandering, always seeking it, thinking in ignorance it is something apart from us. This is like a person saying with his own tongue that he has no tongue.
Q.: If that is so, why did so many sadhanas come to be created?
Bhagavan: The sadhanas came to be formed only to get rid of the thought that the Self is something to be newly attained. The root of the illusion is the thought which ignores the Self and thinks instead, 'I am this body'. After this thought rises it expands in a moment into several thousand thoughts and conceals the Self. The reality of the Self will only shine if all these thoughts are removed. Afterwards, what remains is only Brahmananda, the bliss of Brahman.
Q.: I am now sitting peacefully without the thought 'I am this body'. Is this the state of reality?
Bhagavan: This state must remain as it is without any change. If it changes after a while you will know that other thoughts have not gone.
Q.: What is the way to get rid of other thoughts?
Bhagavan: They can only be removed through the powerful effect of the enquiry, 'To whom have these thoughts come'
The following questions were asked by an aristocratic- looking American lady. Bhagavan's answers are a succinct summery of his practical teachings.
Q.: What is the truth that I have to attain? Please explain it and show it to me.
Bhagavan: What we have to attain and what is desired by everyone is endless happiness. Although we seek to attain it in various ways, it is not something to be sought or attained as a new experience. Our real nature is the 'I' feeling which is always experienced by everyone. It is within us and nowhere else. Although we are always experiencing it, our minds are wandering, always seeking it, thinking in ignorance it is something apart from us. This is like a person saying with his own tongue that he has no tongue.
Q.: If that is so, why did so many sadhanas come to be created?
Bhagavan: The sadhanas came to be formed only to get rid of the thought that the Self is something to be newly attained. The root of the illusion is the thought which ignores the Self and thinks instead, 'I am this body'. After this thought rises it expands in a moment into several thousand thoughts and conceals the Self. The reality of the Self will only shine if all these thoughts are removed. Afterwards, what remains is only Brahmananda, the bliss of Brahman.
Q.: I am now sitting peacefully without the thought 'I am this body'. Is this the state of reality?
Bhagavan: This state must remain as it is without any change. If it changes after a while you will know that other thoughts have not gone.
Q.: What is the way to get rid of other thoughts?
Bhagavan: They can only be removed through the powerful effect of the enquiry, 'To whom have these thoughts come'
DIVINE FORCE
I went to the hall at 2-30 this afternoon. Bhagavan was there already, reading a slip of paper which someone had handed over to him. I sat there waiting to hear what Bhagavan would say. Bhagavan folded the paper with a smile and said, “All this will occur if one thinks that there is a difference between Bhagavan and oneself. If one thinks that there is no such difference, all this will not occur.”
Is it enough if we say that there is no difference between Bhagavan and ourselves? Is it not necessary to enquire who oneself is, and what one’s origin is, before one thinks that there is no difference between oneself and Bhagavan? Why is Bhagavan saying this? I was thinking of asking Bhagavan why he was thus misleading us but could not summon up enough courage to do so. I do not know if Bhagavan sensed this misgiving of mine; but anyway he himself began speaking again as follows:
“Before one could realise that there is no difference between him and Bhagavan, one should first discard all these unreal attributes which are really not his. One cannot perceive truth unless all these qualities are discarded. There is a Divine force (Chaitanya Sakti) which is the source of all things. All these other qualities cannot be discarded unless we get hold of that force. Sadhana is required to get hold of that force.”
I got courage as I heard those words and said unconsciously, “So there is a force?”
“Yes,” replied Bhagavan, “There is a force. It is that force that is called swasphurana (consciousness of the Self).”
I said with a quivering voice, “Bhagavan said casually that it is enough if we think that there is no difference between us and God. But we can discard these unreal attributes only if we are able to get hold of that force. Let it be the Divine force or the consciousness of the Self. Whatever it is, should we not know it? We are not able to know it however much we try.”
Never before this did I ask Bhagavan questions in the presence of others so boldly. Today, the inner urge was so great that words came out of my mouth of their own accord in the course of the conversation, and my eyes were filled with tears and so I turned my face towards the wall. A lady sitting next to me told me afterwards that Bhagavan’s eyes also became moist. How tender-hearted he is towards the humble!
Bhagavan sometimes used to say, “The Jnani weeps with the weeping, laughs with the laughing, plays with the playful, sings with those who sing, keeping time to the song. What does he lose? His presence is like a pure, transparent mirror. It reflects our image exactly as we are. It is we that play the several parts in life and reap the fruits of our actions. How is the mirror or the stand on which it is mounted affected? Nothing affects them, as they are mere supports. The actors in this world — the doers of all acts — must decide for themselves what song and what action is for the welfare of the world, what is in accordance with sastras, and what is practicable.” That is what Bhagavan used to say. This is a practical illustration.
Letters from Sri Ramanasramam, 2nd February, 1947
I went to the hall at 2-30 this afternoon. Bhagavan was there already, reading a slip of paper which someone had handed over to him. I sat there waiting to hear what Bhagavan would say. Bhagavan folded the paper with a smile and said, “All this will occur if one thinks that there is a difference between Bhagavan and oneself. If one thinks that there is no such difference, all this will not occur.”
Is it enough if we say that there is no difference between Bhagavan and ourselves? Is it not necessary to enquire who oneself is, and what one’s origin is, before one thinks that there is no difference between oneself and Bhagavan? Why is Bhagavan saying this? I was thinking of asking Bhagavan why he was thus misleading us but could not summon up enough courage to do so. I do not know if Bhagavan sensed this misgiving of mine; but anyway he himself began speaking again as follows:
“Before one could realise that there is no difference between him and Bhagavan, one should first discard all these unreal attributes which are really not his. One cannot perceive truth unless all these qualities are discarded. There is a Divine force (Chaitanya Sakti) which is the source of all things. All these other qualities cannot be discarded unless we get hold of that force. Sadhana is required to get hold of that force.”
I got courage as I heard those words and said unconsciously, “So there is a force?”
“Yes,” replied Bhagavan, “There is a force. It is that force that is called swasphurana (consciousness of the Self).”
I said with a quivering voice, “Bhagavan said casually that it is enough if we think that there is no difference between us and God. But we can discard these unreal attributes only if we are able to get hold of that force. Let it be the Divine force or the consciousness of the Self. Whatever it is, should we not know it? We are not able to know it however much we try.”
Never before this did I ask Bhagavan questions in the presence of others so boldly. Today, the inner urge was so great that words came out of my mouth of their own accord in the course of the conversation, and my eyes were filled with tears and so I turned my face towards the wall. A lady sitting next to me told me afterwards that Bhagavan’s eyes also became moist. How tender-hearted he is towards the humble!
Bhagavan sometimes used to say, “The Jnani weeps with the weeping, laughs with the laughing, plays with the playful, sings with those who sing, keeping time to the song. What does he lose? His presence is like a pure, transparent mirror. It reflects our image exactly as we are. It is we that play the several parts in life and reap the fruits of our actions. How is the mirror or the stand on which it is mounted affected? Nothing affects them, as they are mere supports. The actors in this world — the doers of all acts — must decide for themselves what song and what action is for the welfare of the world, what is in accordance with sastras, and what is practicable.” That is what Bhagavan used to say. This is a practical illustration.
Letters from Sri Ramanasramam, 2nd February, 1947
The man who speaks the truth is always at ease.
--------------- Divine Ignorance ---------------
The first step in spiritual awakening is to realize you're divinely ignorant, and that's not an insult. I have had people walk out when I've said this. That's why I say, “divinely ignorant.” With all humility you must realize this first of all that you are divinely ignorant.
Which means that you don't really understand anything. All your conceptual ideas. All your preconceived ideas. Everything you've learnt as a boy or as a girl. All the ideas and feelings and emotions that you grew up with, are basically wrong. They're all erroneous and they must be transcended.
The only way to begin to transcend this is to admit to yourself, "I am divinely ignorant and I really do no know what anything is. I really know nothing. I don't know what anything is". <
As an example: We don't know what a human being is. We have no idea what it is. It just appears at birth and we take it for granted. We don't know what a dog is. Where did it come from? How did it arrive? We know that it has four legs and it's a dog, so we give it a name, dog. Like someone gave you the name Mark, Ed or Mary. But what are these things for real? We don't know what a tree is. We gave it a name tree, but what is it really? It has leaves. Some trees produce oranges, some trees produce grapefruits. Why? What's its purpose? Where did it come from originally? And what came first, the tree or the seed? We don't know, we have no idea. We don't know what the sun is, or the moon, or the stars. Oh we can figure out is what they do, to keep us warm, the sun does. But we have no idea what it really is, why it exists? Why does anything exist? Why do we exist? We have no idea.
But we're brought up in a world of effects and we begin to respond to the effects of the world at an early age. We develop traits of jealousy, anger, mistrust, envy, fear, all these feelings are developed at an early age. And we don't know why? We act accordingly, we cause problems for ourselves. We try to solve them and we spend all of our lives solving problems. Before you know it we turn around, we're eighty, ninety years old, it's time to go, where are we? We have no idea.
And those of us who think we've accomplished something materialistically. We think we're doing good deeds. We've become successful in business, in world affairs and politics. Yet we have to leave it all behind, everything we worked so hard for. Nothing remains. When it's time to leave the body, everything goes, and we're alone. Therefore doesn't it make sense that we should search for the answers of life. What is life all about? Doesn't that make sense to go after that, for if we find that we will become free. But if we keep involving ourselves in our affairs, gain, loss, happy, sad, sick, healthy and so forth, we're wasting our precious time.
Divine Ignorance - October 21, 1990
The first step in spiritual awakening is to realize you're divinely ignorant, and that's not an insult. I have had people walk out when I've said this. That's why I say, “divinely ignorant.” With all humility you must realize this first of all that you are divinely ignorant.
Which means that you don't really understand anything. All your conceptual ideas. All your preconceived ideas. Everything you've learnt as a boy or as a girl. All the ideas and feelings and emotions that you grew up with, are basically wrong. They're all erroneous and they must be transcended.
The only way to begin to transcend this is to admit to yourself, "I am divinely ignorant and I really do no know what anything is. I really know nothing. I don't know what anything is". <
As an example: We don't know what a human being is. We have no idea what it is. It just appears at birth and we take it for granted. We don't know what a dog is. Where did it come from? How did it arrive? We know that it has four legs and it's a dog, so we give it a name, dog. Like someone gave you the name Mark, Ed or Mary. But what are these things for real? We don't know what a tree is. We gave it a name tree, but what is it really? It has leaves. Some trees produce oranges, some trees produce grapefruits. Why? What's its purpose? Where did it come from originally? And what came first, the tree or the seed? We don't know, we have no idea. We don't know what the sun is, or the moon, or the stars. Oh we can figure out is what they do, to keep us warm, the sun does. But we have no idea what it really is, why it exists? Why does anything exist? Why do we exist? We have no idea.
But we're brought up in a world of effects and we begin to respond to the effects of the world at an early age. We develop traits of jealousy, anger, mistrust, envy, fear, all these feelings are developed at an early age. And we don't know why? We act accordingly, we cause problems for ourselves. We try to solve them and we spend all of our lives solving problems. Before you know it we turn around, we're eighty, ninety years old, it's time to go, where are we? We have no idea.
And those of us who think we've accomplished something materialistically. We think we're doing good deeds. We've become successful in business, in world affairs and politics. Yet we have to leave it all behind, everything we worked so hard for. Nothing remains. When it's time to leave the body, everything goes, and we're alone. Therefore doesn't it make sense that we should search for the answers of life. What is life all about? Doesn't that make sense to go after that, for if we find that we will become free. But if we keep involving ourselves in our affairs, gain, loss, happy, sad, sick, healthy and so forth, we're wasting our precious time.
Divine Ignorance - October 21, 1990
NO ATTACHMENT AND TRUE BRAHMACHARYA
D.: Is work an obstruction to Self-realisation?
M.: No. For a realised being the Self alone is the Reality, and actions are only phenomenal, not affecting the Self. Even when he acts he has no sense of being an agent. His actions are only involuntary and he remains a witness to them without any attachment.
There is no aim for this action.
Even one who is still practicing the path of Wisdom (jnana) can practise while engaged in work. It may be difficult in the earlier stages for a beginner, but after some practice it will soon be effective and the work will not be found a hindrance to meditation.
D.: What is the practice?
M.: Constant search for `I', the source of the ego. Find out `Who am I?'
The pure `I' is the reality, the Absolute Existence-Consciousness-Bliss. When That is forgotten, all miseries crop up; when that is held fast, the miseries do not affect the person.
D.: Is not brahmacharya (celibacy) necessary for realisation of the Self?
M.: Brahmacharya is`living in Brahman'. It has no connection with celibacy as commonly understood. A real brahmachari, that is one who lives in Brahman, finds bliss in the Brahman which is the same as the Self. Why then should you look for other sources of happiness? In fact the emergence from the Self has been the cause of all the misery.
(Excerpt from Talk 17: Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi)
D.: Is work an obstruction to Self-realisation?
M.: No. For a realised being the Self alone is the Reality, and actions are only phenomenal, not affecting the Self. Even when he acts he has no sense of being an agent. His actions are only involuntary and he remains a witness to them without any attachment.
There is no aim for this action.
Even one who is still practicing the path of Wisdom (jnana) can practise while engaged in work. It may be difficult in the earlier stages for a beginner, but after some practice it will soon be effective and the work will not be found a hindrance to meditation.
D.: What is the practice?
M.: Constant search for `I', the source of the ego. Find out `Who am I?'
The pure `I' is the reality, the Absolute Existence-Consciousness-Bliss. When That is forgotten, all miseries crop up; when that is held fast, the miseries do not affect the person.
D.: Is not brahmacharya (celibacy) necessary for realisation of the Self?
M.: Brahmacharya is`living in Brahman'. It has no connection with celibacy as commonly understood. A real brahmachari, that is one who lives in Brahman, finds bliss in the Brahman which is the same as the Self. Why then should you look for other sources of happiness? In fact the emergence from the Self has been the cause of all the misery.
(Excerpt from Talk 17: Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi)
Meditation, really, is a penetration into the unknown, and so the known, the memory, the experience, the knowledge which it has acquired during the day, or during a thousand days, must end. For it is only a free mind that can penetrate into the very heart of the immeasurable.
Consciousness does not shine by itself. It shines by a light beyond it in which it appears, which gives it being. Don't be all the time immersed in your experience. Remember that you are beyond the experiencer, ever unborn and deathless. In remembering it, the quality of pure knowledge will emerge, the light of unconditional awareness.
In the field of His play even getting means losing. This is but the nature of its movement. Think of Him Who cannot be lost. Meditate on Him alone, on Him, the Fountain of Goodness. Pray to Him; depend on Him. Try to give more time to japa and meditation. Surrender your mind at His Feet. Endeavour to sustain japa and meditation without a break.
I can be neither lost nor found, for I am the absolute unchanging Awareness. I grant myself the joy of self-discovery through my instrument and servant, the body-mind. There is no 'other' than my own self to find me. I am the all-encompassing Reality.
Get rid of all questions, all doubts, all fears, all apprehensions about spiritual life and live in the moment unafraid, full of total joy and happiness and peace. And you will see you have always been enlightened you already are enlightened everything is okay. But if you keep worrying about when it's going to happen aren't you really saying: "I don't have it yet, there is something really wrong? I am not that and I have to become that?" For in truth you are already that. For in reality you're already enlightened there is nothing you have to do and nowhere you have to go. Be yourself. Be the way you are, totally, completely. The way you are is not the body nor the mind nor the experience. The way you are is not the doer.
Nothing you do will change you, for you need no change. You may change your mind or your body, but it is always something external to you that has changed, not yourself. Why bother at all to change? Realize once for all that neither your body nor your mind, nor even your consciousness is yourself and stand alone in your true nature beyond consciousness and unconsciousness. No effort can take you there, only the clarity of understanding.
You say you are happy. Are you really happy, or are you merely trying to convince yourself. Look at yourself fearlessly and you will at once realize that your happiness depends on conditions and circumstances, hence it is momentary, not real. Real happiness flows from within.
It's very simple. It's difficult only for the 'I', but it's totally natural to return to what you are, to what's underneath the 'I' story.
There is no need of training. Awareness is always with you. The same attention that you give to the outer, you turn to the inner. No new, or special kind of awareness is needed.
I do not say that you must keep on rejecting thoughts. If you cling to yourself, to the 'I-thought', and your interest keeps you to that single thought, other thoughts will get rejected and will automatically vanish.
The seeing is the only doing necessary.
Sages say that the state in which the thought 'I' (the ego) does not rise in the least is Self which is silence. That silence, Self, alone is God; Self alone is the individual soul, Self alone is this ancient world. The experience of silence alone is the real and perfect knowledge.
Beings
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