Sri Ramana Maharshi

"The real I or Self is not the body, nor any of the five senses, nor the sense-objects, nor the organs of action, nor the prana (breath or vital force), nor the mind, nor even the deep sleep state where there is no cognisance of these. It is Sat-Chit-Ananda (Being-Consciousness-Bliss) in which there is not even the slightest trace of the I-thought. This is also called Mouna (Silence) or Atma (Self) That is the only thing that is..."

Sri Ramana Maharshi

On Arudra Darshan, the day of the "Sight of Siva" in the year 1879, the child Venkataraman, later to be known as Sri Ramana Maharshi, was born in the house of Sundaram Ayyar and his wife Alagammal.

Venkataraman led a normal childhood, but shortly before his 16th birthday, whilst talking to his uncle about the holy mountain in India called Arunachala, and then later through the words of a book about the life stories of the 63 Tamil Saints, the boy Venkataraman was "overwhelmed with ecstatic wonder. He was beguiled that such faith, such love, such divine fervour was possible, that there had been such beauty in human life. The tales of the saint's renunciation leading to Divine Union inspired him with awe and emulation. From this time on, he began to have an awareness, being beyond the duality of subject and object, but a state of blissful consciousness transcending both the physical and mental plane and yet compatible with full use of the physical and mental faculties."

A few months later, he experienced a sudden violent fear of death. He felt "I am going to die", and began thinking what to do about it. He explains the next moments:

"The shock of the fear of death drove my mind inwards and I said to myself mentally, without actually framing the words; "Now death has come; what does it mean? What is it that is dying? This body dies." And I at once dramatised the occurrence of death. I lay with my limbs stretched out stiff as though rigor mortis had set in and imitated a corpse so as to give greater reality to the enquiry. I held my breath and kept my lips tightly closed so that no sound could escape, so that neither the word "I" nor any other word could be uttered. "Well then", I said to myself, "this body is dead. It will be carried stiff to the burning ground and there burnt and reduced to ashes. But with the death of this body am I dead? Is the body I? It is silent and inert but I feel the full force of my personality and even the voice of the "I" within me, apart from it. So I am Spirit transcending the body. The body dies but the spirit that transcends it cannot be touched by death. That means I am the deathless Spirit." All this was not dull thought; it flashed through me vividly as living truth which I perceived directly, almost without thought-process. "I" was something very real, the only real thing about my present state, and all the conscious activity connected with my body was centred on that "I". From that moment onwards the "I" or Self, focussed attention on itself by a powerful fascination. Fear of death had vanished once and for all. Absorption in the Self continued unbroken from that time on. Other thoughts might come and go like the various notes of music, but the "I" continued like the fundamental sruti (Hindu musical phrase) note that underlines and blends with all the other notes. Whether the body was engaged in talking, reading or anything else, I was still centred on "I". Previous to the crisis I had no clear perception of my Self and was not consciously attracted to it. I felt no perceptible or direct interest in it, much less any inclination to dwell permanently in it".

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Years later, Sri Bhagavan expounded his knowledge regarding the Self to one of his western devotees, Paul Brunton:

BRUNTON: What exactly is the Self of which you speak? If what you say is true there must be another self in man.

SRI RAMANA: Can a man be possessed of two identities, two selves? To understand this matter it is first necessary for a man to analyse himself. Because it has long been his habit to think as others think, he has never faced his "I" in the true manner. He has not a correct picture of himself; he has too long identified himself with the body and the brain. Therefore I tell you to pursue this enquiry, "Who Am I?". You ask me to describe this true Self to you. What can be said? It is That out of which the sense of the personal "I" arises and into which it will have to disappear.

BRUNTON: Disappear? How can one lose the feeling of one's personality?

SRI RAMANA: The first and foremost of all thoughts, the primeval thought in the mind of every man, is the thought "I". It is only after the birth of this thought that any other thoughts can arise at all, It is only after the first personal pronoun, "I", has arisen in the mind that the second personal pronoun, "you", can make its appearance. If you could mentally follow the "I" thread until it led you back to its source you would discover that, just as it is the first thought to appear, so it is the last to disappear. This is a matter which can be experienced.

BRUNTON: You mean that it is possible to conduct such a mental investigation into oneself?

SRI RAMANA: Certainly. It is possible to go inwards until the last thought, "I", gradually vanishes.

BRUNTON: What is then left? Will a man then become quite unconscious or will he become an idiot?

SRI RAMANA: No; on the contrary, he will attain that consciousness which is immortal and he will become truly wise when he has awakened to his true Self, which is the real nature of man.

BRUNTON: But surely the sense of "I" must also pertain to that?

SRI RAMANA: The sense of "I" pertains to the person, the body and brain. When a man knows his true Self for the first time something else arises from the depths of his being and takes possession of him. That something is behind the mind; it is infinite, divine, eternal. Some people call it the Kingdom of Heaven, others call it the soul and others again Nirvana, and Hindus call it Liberation; you may give it what name you wish. When this happens a man has not really lost himself; rather he has found Himself.

Unless and until a man embarks on this quest of the true Self, doubt and uncertainty will follow his footsteps through life. The greatest kings and statesmen try to rule others when in their heart of hearts they know that they cannot rule themselves. Yet the greatest power is at the command of the man who has penetrated to his inmost depth...What is the use of knowing about everything else when you do not yet know who you are? Men avoid this enquiry into the true Self, but what else is there so worthy to be undertaken?"

Soon after he went through his death experience, Venkataraman found himself in the town of Tiruvannamalai where the mountain Arunachala is situated. Entering the temple, he "sat immersed in the Bliss of Being. Day after day, day and night, he sat unmoving. He no longer needed the world; its shadow existence had no interest for him as he sat absorbed in the Real. For some weeks he continued so, scarcely moving, never speaking."

Two years after his arrival at Tiruvannamalai, Sri Ramana began to live on the mountain of Arunachala. In the next year, he moved into a cave on the mountain itself and thereafter he stayed in one cave or another until 1922 when he moved down to the foot of the mountain. There the present ashram grew up and there he spent his remaining years on earth.

Sri Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi held to the sadhana (spiritual path or quest) of Self Enquiry. That is, he prompted his devotees to ask of themselves "Who Am I?" and by doing thus would find themselves diving inward to find the true Self. It is a path for many and also one that does not suit all people. There are many other ways that he would speak of if the path of Self Enquiry was not appropriate, such as Bhakti (devotion) or Jnana (knowledge).

On April 14, 1950 at exactly 8.47pm, Sri Ramana gave up his body and entered into Mahasamadhi. Racked with disease, his body finally passed away in the presence of his devotees. His passing is describe by his devotee Arthur Osborne:

"Unexpectedly, a group of devotees sitting on the veranda outside the hall began singing "Arunachala-Siva". On hearing it, Sri Bhagavan's eyes opened and shone. He gave a brief smile of indescribable tenderness. From the outer edges of his eyes tears of bliss rolled down. One more deep breath, and no more. There was no struggle, no spasm, no other sign of death: only that the next breath did not come."

His presence lives on at the Ashram in Southern India. Like a soft touch, one encounters the most intimate sensation of his being when the ashram is visited. Before he died, one of his devotees mourned that he did not want to lose Bhagavan. Sri Ramana turned to him and said "I am not going away. Where could I go? I am here." The word "here" does not imply any limitation but rather that the Self is, that there is no going, no changing, for That which is Universal. Nevertheless, as devotees felt the inner Presence of Bhagavan and as they felt the continued Divine Presence at Tiruvannamalai, they began to regard it as a promise full of love and solicitude.

Extracts from the book "Ramana Maharshi and the Path of Self-Knowledge" by Arthur Osborne. ISBN 0-7126-1710-8

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