The Philosophy of Sri Ramana Maharshi

by Bibhu Padhi (January 2015)

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The Vedanta has been considered as one the most influential of the Indian philosophical systems. It obviously deserves the close attention it has been paid over the years. It has influenced most of the greatest Indian and western thinkers of the twentieth century. Vedanta is based on the Upanishads, one of the most ancient of Indian scriptures, although the “Vedanta” occurs in the Upanishads and includes some of the earlier portions of the Veda and includes the philosophy of the Gita.

Ramana Maharshi is the greatest of the advaitins (non-dualist) of the early part of the twentieth century. One is caught by the quiet intensity of his style and simplicity of his language. It is interesting to begin with Ramana Maharshi’s answers as to the nature of happiness:

If a man thinks that his happiness is due to external causes, it is reasonable to conclude that his happiness must increase with the increase of passions and diminish in proportion to their diminution. …if he is devoid of possessions, his happiness would be nil …[However] in deep sleep the man is devoid of all possessions, including his own …Everyone desires to sleep soundly….…[H]appiness is inherent in man and not due to external causes…. One must realise his Self in order to open the store of unalloyed happiness (Talks, 1-2).

Samadhi is the state in which the unbroken experience of existence-consciousness is attained by the still mind. That still mind which is adorned with the attainment of the limitless supreme Self, alone is the reality of God. The word ”Samadhi” refers to a stage in meditation, wherein lies a conscious experience of the Self, “an intense undisturbed absorption in the absorption in the object of meditation” (quoted in Godman, 148), holding on to the Self. There are differences in deep sleep, laya (a state of trance in which the mind is temporarily absent) and Samadhi. In deep sleep the mind is merged with the body and not destroyed. It may appear in meditation also. But the mind which is destroyed cannot reappear. The yogi’s aim must be to destroy it and not to sink into laya In the peace of meditation, laya sometimes ensues but it is not enough. The true destruction of the mind is the non-recognition of it as being apart from the Self.

The classification used by Maharshi works the various samadhis into a three-fold division—the Sahaja Nirvikalpa Samadhi, Kebala Nirvkculpa Samadhi and the Sabikalpa Samadhi. Sahaja nirbikalpa samadhi is the state of a jnani (one who has self-knowledge), who has moved beyond the ego. In this state, one does function in a natural way like an ordinary person. “If you keep hold of the Self, you will not see the objective world.” In some ways or another, you are like a “child” (Talks, 3). There is no difference between himself and the existential world. Kebala nirvikalpa samadhi refers to a stage just under Self-realisation. In such a stage there is a temporary but “effortless Self-awareness” (Godman, 148), when the ego is not totally annihilated, but there is absence of the body-consciousness. One is not able to perceive sensory perception or function in the world. In the sabikalpa samadhi, the stage of Self-awareness has to be continued persistently. Nirbikalpa samadhi is effortless consciousness and is formless. A mind which is matured to being called “ripe,” nirbikalpa comes “as a flood.” After a long time, one has Self-realisation, and freedom, “a natural, effortless state” (Godman, 154). Mere non-perception of the differences (vikalpas) in things is not the real nature of effortless and firm nirbikalpa. It is said that the quake of the body is because of the residual ego-consciousness. However, “this dies completely, without leaving even a trace, one abides as the vast space of mere consciousness where bliss alone prevails” (Godman, 154).

Maharshi talks about Samadhi as a blissful and ecstatic, perfectly peaceful state. When the mind arises at the end of Samadhi, the mind remembers the peace. There are also, in some cases, “tears of joy, hair standing on end and vocal stumbling” (Godman, 154). In the Upanishads and other ancient texts, it is mentioned that true Samadhi must be experienced when one truly knows the Self. “If Self is known, samadhi will be known automatically” (Godman, 155). Godman further states: “Samadhi is one’s natural state. It is the undercurrent in all the three states of waking, dreaming and sleeping. The Self is not in these states: these are in the Self.

The body does not say ”I.” In sleep no one will say “I am not.” After the “I” rises, all rises. One must feel from where the “I” rises. Maharshi would say the Samadhi is our natural state. It is the “undercurrent” in all the three states of waking, dreaming and sleeping. “The Self,” he says, “ is not in these states, but these states are in the Self….The distinction between consciousness and unconsciousness belong to the realm of the mind, which is transcended by the state of the real Self” (quoted in Godman, 155).

“It is the mind’s nature to be restless. All external contacts – contacts with objects other than itself – make the mind restless. “Loss of interest in the non-Self (Vairagya) – is the first step. Then habits of moving within and concentration come. They are characterized by the control of external senses … ending in Samadhi [undistracted mind]” (Talks, 27).

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Why then is samsara (the world)—creation and manifestation—finitised? It is God’s will. “It is inscrutable. No motive can be attributed to that Power—no desire, no end to achieve that can be asserted of that one Infinite …God’s will for the prescribed course of events is a good solution of the free-will problem… He carries all burdens and gives us peace” (Talks, 33). Are the god Iswara or Vishnu and sacred regions real? Maharshi replies: “As real as you are in this body … All thoughts are inconsistent with realization. The correct state is to exclude thoughts of ourselves … Thought is one thing and realization is quite another” (Talks, 37). We are not the body. After all, as long as we think we are not the body there is no problem. The same is true of idol worship, we may go on with it—it leads to concentration of mind. The most important thing is, get one-pointed. “Freedom (moksha) is only knowing the Self within yourself….Your mind is the cycle of births and deaths’” (Talks, 39). What is important is “practice.” Then the concentration will be as easy as breathing.

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“God,” writes Cohen, “is pure spirit, pure consciousness, which can be apprehended by the pure light of [the] personal consciousness, because it is one and the same consciousness which underlies and witnesses all the appearances” (Talks, 78). The external form has to be transcended through internal vichara (analysis) which would show forth the individual consciousness to be identically the same as the pure Consciousness, which is called Brahman or absolute Self. It is the “foretaste” of Realisation. It is pure. The subject and the object proceed from it. If the man mistakes himself for the subject, objects necessarily appear different from him. They are periodically withdrawn and projected, creating the world and the subject’s enjoyment of the same. If, on the other hand, the man feels himself to be the screen on which the subject and object are projected there can be no confusion, and he can remain watching their appearance without any perturbation to the Self” (Talks, 70).

The jiva is said to remain in the heart in deep sleep and in the brain in the waking state. Heart is not the muscular cavity which propels blood…The “I” has no location. There is nothing but the Self as the Self. So the heart must be said to be the entire body as well as the universe, conceived as “I.” To the questioning mind, Maharshi’s words may sound paradoxical who, on the other hand “makes Heart to be everywhere and nowhere” (Cohen, 107). The apparent confusion is due to our perception of the body, which is affiliated to the to the mind, or the “principle” which acts or perceived through it. The mind has a dual aspect—one as the pervader of the body, and thus “hypothetically limited to its scope, and the other, the intelligent principle which acts and perceives through it and is “limitless and free” (Cohen, 107).

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As Maharshi sees, “silence” is never-ending speech. Consciousness is only a phenomenon and operates in the region of “reflected consciousness” or abhasa. Each time the question about the Self was raised, Maharshi asked: To whom is this doubt? If the source is traced the doubt will disappear. The thoughts are only predispositions (vasanas), traced to innumerable births. The Self does not need efforts in order to be realized. It remains as the eternal. Reality which never rises nor sinks.

“It is the nature of the mind,” says Maharshi, “to wander. You are not the mind Mind is impermanent, transitory, while “you are eternal. There is nothing but the Self.…Never mind the mind. If its source is sought, it will vanish leaving the Self unaffected” (Talks, 96). When dhyana (meditation) becomes deeper and deeper, the Heart reveals itself without any effort to seek its corresponding place in the “physical body” (Cohen, 106). . Heart therefore has “no locus at all”. Its other names are Self, being, pure mind…It is called Heart due to its being the source from which the universe rises. Maharshi remarks that “The Self is the Heart … it is self-luminous …The world is seen through the mind… by the reflected light of the Self. …If the mind is turned in towards the source of light, objective knowledge ceases and Self alone shines forth as the Heart” (Talks, 96). “The apparent contradiction is due to the perception of the body, which has to be related to the mind, or the intelligent principle which acts and perceives through it. The mind is shown in a dual aspect, the one as the pervader of the body, and thus hypothetically limited to its shape, and the other as limitless and free” (Cohen, 107).

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consciousness, which is like “a lighted screen on which these are cast like pictures” (Talks, quoted in Sithaparanthan, 59). We cannot deny our existence in deep sleep, but there is no perception of space and time.

Time is the “interval between two states…[I]f the mind is not functioning there can be no concept of time. Time and space are in the mind, but one’s true state is beyond the mind. The question of time does not arise for one established in his true state” (quoted in, Sithamparanathan, 60). In fact, the new view of time and space argues that all measurements of space and time are relative. But the temporal order of events was considered to be independent of any observer. This applies to the world of our day to day existence. The sub-atomic world is deeply related to the concept of Brahman. “The Space-time continuum of modern physics represents a plane of consciousness beyond the ordinary physical plane. It permeates space and time on this plane—forming a continuum with all things and beings” (Jones, quoted in Sithamparanathum, 66).

“On the plane of relativity,” says Maharshi, “a separate being appears to know something apart from itself. There must be therefore a unity between the two and this, the ego, is of the nature of intelligence. It is akin to the seer rather than the seen, since the latter is insentient. Seeking the seer (the ego) until all the seen disappears, the seer becomes more and more subtle until the absolute alone remains. The process is thus the disappearance of the objective world” (Talks, quoted in Sithaamparanathan, 72). Conceptions are contained within the finite mind whereas the Self is infinite. One must therefore transcend the mind to know the Self” (Talks, quoted in Sithamparanathen, 74).

The metaphor of a cosmic dance is beautifully expressed in the image of the dance of Shiva (tandava): The dance symbolizes “the direct experience of the mystics that the universe and all life are part of a great rhythmic process of creation and destruction that goes on in endless cycles. The dance is the dancing universe—the ceaseless flow of energy going through an infinite variety pf patterns that melt into each other. Shiva’s dance corresponds to the dance of sub-atomic matter. It is a continuous dance of creation and destruction involving the whole cosmos” (Sithamparanathannan, 160).

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Maharshi says that the Self is the Heart, which is self-luminous. The world is seen with the mind by the reflected light of the Self. When the mind turns inwards, towards the source of light, “objective knowledge ceases and the Self only shines forth as the Heart” (Talks, 96). When the room is dark a lamp is necessary, but when the self-luminous sun rises there is no need of a lamp. Maharshi explains the basics by a simple diagram:

The Supreme

The individual

[the jiva, the knower consisting of vritti (the mode of mind-stuff) and reflected light, in the latent form]

The internal intellect and the outgoing mind

Modes taking shape as objects common knowledge

Together form the world as we perceive it

The self (Pure Knowledge)

The jiva (pramatr=the knower)

The intellect and the mind

pramana = perception

modes seen as objects knowledge

The undulating mind (i.e., the mind associated with rajas=activity and tamas=darkness), as Maharshi explains, “is commonly known as the mind, devoid of rajas and tamas, it is pure and self-shining. This is self-realisation. Therefore the mind is said to be the means for it” (Talks, 98).

Pure Consciousness

(said to be the Eternal or the Ever-present Witness)

(antahkarana)

Inner organ + the reflected light (jiva:pramtr)

In the jiva the inner organ (antahkarana) consists of –

Satva

Rajas

Tamas

Knowledge

Light

Modes of mind

Intellect, mind

Gross objects

The world

Similarly for the cosmos –

The Cosmic mind (the Eternal Being)

Satva

Rajas

Tamas

Isvara

the Lord of the universe

the individual

jiva

the universe

Brahman = Sat Chit Ananda

                   Being called                 Knowledge                              Bliss
                   the adhara=
                   the substratum             Called visesha = differentiation by maya

natural artificial

the universe or the world multiplicity of objects

Maya cannot obscure Sat, but it does obscure Chit and Ananda, making them appear as particulars.

A rope (corresponds to) in dim light appears as a snake

Being the substratum maya the artificial particular

Illusion as shown in E

According Maharshi, there are two schools in Adwaita—Drishti sriti (simultaneous creation) and Shrti drishti (gradual creation). There is also Tantric Advaita, which admits three fundamentals—jagat, jiva, Isvara (world, soul and God). These three are also real. But the reality does not end with them but extends beyond. The reality is limitless. The three fundamentals do not exist apart from the Absolute Reality. The image of gods are described in great details. Such illustration points only to the final Reality. That is why the special importance of each detail also given. Image is only a symbol. Only that which is beyond name and form is Reality.

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Elsewhere, Maharshi speaks of Reality as only “the loss of the ego,” which is to be destroyed by seeking its reality, for the ego has no reality. And hence, will automatically vanish and replaced by the Self-shining Reality. This is the “direct method.” As Maharshi says, “There is no greater mystery than this … ourselves being the Reality, we seek to gain Reality….It is ridiculous” (Talks, 134). Reality is everything, including Grace. Like Reality, Grace is the beginning, middle and end. Grace is the Self. Because of the false identification of the Self with the body, the Guru ( the most intimate teacher) is considered to be with body. But from the Guru’s outlook, the Guru is only the Self. He tells that the Self alone is. We are neither the body nor the world. There is only the Self, the eternal existence (sat), the Intelligence (chit), and the ultimate, unqualified joy (ananda). We have it in sleep, as the Gita says, existence is not real nor the body. From the metaphysical point of view, “existence is the reality, and is the true subject in all judgements” (Mahadevan, Ramana Maharshi and His Philosophy of Existence, 20).

The world and its potential cause, maya, are said to be indeterminable (anirvachaniya). Maya is neither real, nor unreal. It cannot be understood by the intellect. Any “defect that may be pointed out becomes an ornament (bhushana) to it. The probing mind which is itself a product of maya has not the power to understand the nature of its parent. To the investigating intellect maya is a riddle.” (Mahadevan, 45). From the standpoint of intellectual inquiry the world is indeterminable. The two other standpoiunts—that the world of the worldly person and that of the seer who has realized the truth. The state in which the mind finds itself is the state of “egolessness,” which as Maharshi says, is acceptable to all. There one is free from the notion of unity and duality because there is no reckoner to count, nor anything that could be counted.

As Mahadevan alerts, advaita should not be confused with “subjective idealism. The Self of which speaks is not the individual soul or ego, the subject as against the object. The subjective idealism is used only to refute realism. In order to give a form to the world and to God, we must assume a form” The absurdity of subjectivism,” argues Mahadevan, “does not lie in its denial of the existence of an independent world, but in its inadequate conception of the Self as a finite mind. It is only when the Self is regarded as the limitless spirit that is easy to see how all the things that we experience should owe their existence to it. It is one and the same Self that appears as the multiple universe” (Mahadevan, 52).

In our daily experience of sleep we see all forms vanishing, all names dissolving. In that experience the mind disappears in its cause which is maya, there are no dualities. The Self beyond desires, free from evil, and fearless. All material distinctions cease in the state of sleep. The Self remains relationless. The Self is void of form in sleep, and so there is neither the world nor God. The mind has no light of its own, Like the object, it is inert. The mirror illumines the wall by the reflected rays of the sun. Similarly the mind apprehends the object, being endowed with the reflection of intelligence. It is the Self alone that is luminous. The lamp offers light to everyone on the stage as well as the audience without any distinction just as it shines even when the theatre is empty. Similarly, the Self which is the witness-intelligence (saksi-chaitanya) manifests “egoity, the intellect and the objects, and continues to shines even when they are non-existent” (Mahadevan, 60). The Self is the source of all light.

Absolute Knowledge=Self-knowledge

Relative knowledge=Knowledge of objects

Metaphysical ignorance= Nescience

Knowledge and ignorance, light and shade, worry us as long as we are in the realm of the mind. In the states of waking and dreaming, we are aware of certain objects and are unaware of certain others. In deep sleep, the scenes change. The Self “stripped pure” and yet nescience lingers. It is only when Self-knowledge dawns that all relativity ceases.

Maharshi writes in one of his Forty Verses that objective knowledge cannot be true knowledge. Since the Self shines without there being anything else to know or to be known, it is knowledge. It is not nullity. Buddhists believe that if the objects are denied, the Self would be reduced to a void (sunya). The Self in fact is “plenitude of being, and not nullity. While everything else may be denied, the Self cannot be denied. There cannot be limitless denial. The limit of denial is the Self. Ignorance has no ontological status alongside or apart from the Self” (Mahadevan, 75). Just as the darkness in a room obscures the room, the ignorance which is located in the Self veils it. When one starts his journey on the path of inquiry, one distinguishes the Self from the not-Self. But when one completes the journey and gains wisdom, one realizes that the Self alone is, with nothing besides. The world according him is devoid of existence (asti), manifestation (bhati), lovability (priyam), name (nama) and form (rupa). And, liberation, the freedom from the rounds of births and deaths (moksha), is not something newly accomplished. This is the state of jivanmukta (realization while living).

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The “illicit combination” of the inert and intelligence is known by various names. It is called the knot of the heart (hridaya-granthi)—the knot of the intelligent-spirit and inert matter. This is what constitutes bondage. Other than this there is no individual soul. Each individual soul is known is differentiated by its subtle body (suksma-sarira). This is what persists till the onset of release. Since the ego is the prime factor in the subtle body, that body may even be called egoity (ahankara). ”It is egoity that migrates from one birth to another. Hence it is transmigration, the empirical tract of existence” (Mahadevan, 94). The ego’s appearance is dependant on a bodily form, gross or subtle or both. Ego’s basis is the basis of “all empirical usage,” and that it disappears in sleep. All other empirical usage is possible because of the cling to a body. When one body is destroyed, the ego takes on another body. This is called transmigration. Without assuming a body, the ego cannot function. It has no form of its own, no substance. “It is a veritable ghost which takes shape in fear. It is like an onion …which is nothing apart from its peels” (Mahadevan, 95). When the ego is, all else is. If the ego is not, all else is not. The ego is all. Hence, the inquiry as to what it is, but the giving up of all” (Maharshi, Forty Verses, quoted in Mahadevan, 95).

As Mahashri points out in Forty Verses, “To seek and abide as the (eternally) accomplished existence-reality is (true). The all other accomplishments are like the accomplishments that appear in dream. When one wakes up from sleep, are they seen to be real? Will they that are established in the true state and are and are rid of delusion, be deceived by them? Thus you should know” (quoted in Mahadevan, 105).

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Desirelessness does not refer to a state of non-action. Action does not mean merely a movement of the body or functioning of the will. It is only when the Self mistakenly identifies itself with the psycho-physical organism, which is a product of maya (illusion). Karma, is the sense of action and is of several kinds. There are optional deeds (kamya-karma), which desires fruit of that action. There obligatory duties (nitya-karma), offering of twilight prayers (sandhya vandana). The nitya karmas are daily obligations. These are certain other obligations which are occasional (naimittika-karma). These too are of the nature of “ought”—like rites and rituals.

Karma, in the sense of “fruit of action,” is of three types. There is the sanchita- karma (accumulated karma)results for which the soul has taken the present body, constitute its prarabdha-karma (that which has begun to bear fruit). Finally, those actions which it has accumulated to be experienced later, in a future birth, are known as agami-karma. As Maharshi says, actions bear two kinds of fruit, the one for the enjoyment of fruits and the other leaving an impress in the form of samskaras for subsequent manifestations in future births. The jnani’s mind being barren cannot entertain seeds of karma. Vasanas “exhaust themselves by activities ending in entertainment only (bhogahetuka-karma).” In fact, his karma is seen from the ajnani’s standpoint. He himself remains “actionless” (Talks, 365). He is beyond liberation (mukti) and bondage (bandha).

If it be said that the release one may attain is threefold, as with thought, form, without form and with and without form. It has already been said that the distinction between jivana-mukta and videha-mukta is an unreal distinction. Some advaitins speak also of a threefold mukti: with form, without form and with and without form. The first two are the same as jivana-mukti and videha-mukti, respectively. “The moment one realizes the Self, one is released even while tenanting a body” (Mahadevan, 112). The body continues for a while because of the remnant of prarabdha that has to be exhausted. The release without form happens when the body falls at the expiry of prarabdha. The third kind, “with and without form” is the release which is enjoyed by the adhikarika-muktas whose mission is to save the world. However, true release consists in freedom from even the notion that there are three kinds of release. The vedantins say that the very idea of release too is bondage (moksha-sankalpa-matro-bandhah).

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The jnani says, if the light is borrowed, it must be from its natural source. “Go to the source direct,” says Maharshi, “and do not depend on borrowed sources.” (Talks, 382). The jiva as separate from the Self or Brahman. The jnani however says, “the ego simply is wrong identity of the Self with the non-non-self, as in the the case of a colourless crystal and its coloured background. The crystal though colorless appears red because of its background. If the background is removed the crystal shines in its original purity. So it is with the Self and the antahkaranas (the internal organs). Still again the illustration is not quite appropriate. For the ego has its source from the Self and is not separate like the background from the crystal. Having its source from the Self, the ego must only be retraced in in order that it might merge in its source’ (Talka, 382). The centre of the ego and its core is called the Heart, the same as the Self.

(Talks, 383).

On being questioned if there is a medicine to cure the disease of avidya (ignorance), Maharshi replies: “What is medicine for? It is only to restore the patient the original state of health. Does Guru hold you by the hand and whisper something in the ear. You imagine him to be like yourself. Because you are a body you think that he is also a body in order to do something tangible” (Talks, 387). However, you must have a particular outlook out of the three “outlooks”: The Vyavaharika, in which the man sees the world in all its variety, imagines the creator and believes in himself as the subject. He learns the existence of the creator and tries to reach him in order to gain immortality. He more or less admits the One Reality underlying all these phenomena. The phenomena are due to the play of the power of maya, which is the sakti (power) of Ishvara or the activity of Reality. Second, there is the Pratibhasika: The jagat (world), jiva (the individual) and Ishvara (God) are cognized by the seer only. They do not have any existence independent of him. So there only one jiva, be it the individual or God. All else is simply a myth. Finally, there is the Paramarthika outlook, that is ajatavada (no-creation doctrine) which admits of no second. There is no reality or absence of it, no seeing and gaining, no bondage or liberation.

Maharshi speaks about the mirror, which cannot be a mode of bondage or liberation. It reflects objects and yet not real because they cannot remain apart from the mirror. Similarly, the world is said to be a reflection in the mind as it does not remain in the absence of mind. The question arises: if the mirror is a reflection, there must be a real object, there must be a real object known as the universe in order that it might be reflected in the mind. However, it is not. Hence, the dream illustration is set forth. The dream world has no objective existence How then it is created. Some mental impressions should be admitted. They are called vasanas. How were the vasanas in the mind? The answer is: they were subtle. “Just as a whole tree is contained in a seed, so the world is in the mind” (Talks, 430).

A seed is the product of the tree which must have existed one in order that it may be reproduced. So the world also must have been there some time. But the answer is no. There must have been several incarnations to gather the impressions which are re-manifested in the present form. One must have existed before he does now. Admitting the existence of the world one must admit a seer who is no other than himself. Let him find himself so that he may know the relation between the world and the seer. When one seeks the Self and abides as the Self there is no world to be seen. What then is the Reality? It is the seer only and not the world.. Such being the truth men continue to argue on the basis of the reality of the world.

According to Maharshi, the mind is only “a bundle of thought” (Talks, 192). They have their roots in the “I”-thought ”Whoever investigates the origin of the “I” thought, for him the ego perishes. The true “I” is then found shining by itself.. All of which are only mental concept. “You are now identifying yourself with a wrong “I,” which is the “I-thought.” This “I-thought” rises and sinks, wheras the true significance of the “I” is beyond both. There cannot be a break in your being. You, who slept, are also now awake. There was not unhappiness in your deep sleep. Whereas it exists now. What is it that has happened now so that this difference is experienced? There was no “I-thought” in your sleep, whereas it is present now. The true “I” is not apparent and the false-“I” is parading itself. This false “I” is the obstacle to your right knowledge. Find out wherefrom this false “I” arises. Then it will disappear. You will be only what you are—that is, the absolute Being.

Just as a seeds swells up before sprouting and then sprouts and grows, so also the Absolute Consciousness projects light, manifests as the ego and grows up as the body and the universe.

Chit                                          =Absolute

Mahat                                       =projected consciousness (swollen seed)

Ahankara                                 = ego

Manas                                      =mind

Aham Idam =body world

To the question, “Is it the same as cosmic consciousness?” Maharshi says, “Yes, it is so before the birth before the ego and the universe. It comprises them all. Just as all the pictures thrown on the screen are visible by the light projected from a spot, so also the body and the other objects are all visible in that reflected consciousness. It is …[the] cosmic consciousness.” (Talks, 152-153). Cosmic consciousness is behind the ego. It may be called Ishvara (God), and the ego is jiva. Ishvara may also be said to be the Absolute. There is no difference there.

Para                                         =Absolute

Isvara                                          =Cosmic consciousness (Mahat)

Jiva________Jagat                        = Individual consciousness and the world

Replying to the question, “How to search for the mind?” Maharshi says, “The mind is only a bundle of thoughts” (Talks, 192). The thoughts have their roots in the “I-thought”. Whoever investigates the origin of the “I-thought,” for him the ego perishes. This is the true investigation. The true “I” is then found shining by itself. All doubts are only mental concepts. The “I-thought” rises and sinks, whereas the true significance of “I” is beyond birth. There cannot be a break in your being. You, who slept, are also now awake. There is no unhappiness in your deep sleep. Whereas it exists now. What is it that has happened now so that this difference is experienced? There was no “I-thought” in your sleep, whereas it is present now. The true “I” is not apparent and the false “I” is parading itself. This false “I” is the obstacle to your right knowledge. Find out wherefrom this false “I” arises. Then it will disappear. You will be only what you are—the Absolute Being.

Maharshi talks about surrender to the Absolute Being. “It is enough that one surrenders oneself. Surrender is to give oneself up to the original cause of one’s being. Do not delude yourself by imagining such source to be some God outside you. One’s source is within yourself. Give yourself up to it…[S]eek the source and merge in it.” (Talks, 182). An individual cannot be the Supreme and enjoy the Bliss of that state. The individuality, therefore, must be maintained on the one hand and God-head on the other so that enjoyment may result. “It is enough,” Maharshi says, “that one surrenders oneself. Surrender is to give oneself up to the original cause of one’s being. Do not delude yourself by imagining such source to be some God outside you. One’s source is within oneself … you should seek the source and merge in it. Because you imagine yourself to be out of it, you raise the question “Where is the source?” (Talks, 182). Devotion, according to Maharshi, is nothing more than knowing oneself.

Works Cited:

Cohen, S. Reflections on Talks With Ramana Maharshi. Tiruvannamalai: Sri Ramanashramam, 2009

Mahadevan, T.M.P. Ramana Maharshi and His Philosophy of Existence. Tiruvannamalai: Sri Ramanasramam, 1010

Maharshi, Ramana. Talks With Ramana Maharshi. Tiruvannamalai: Sri Ramanasramam, 2013

Maharshi, Ramana, Who Am I?. Tiruvannamalai: Sri Ramanasramam, 2010

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