The following is taken from Aham Sphurana 19th July 1936

A convivial, middle-aged Caucasian asked –
Questioner: I understand that according to Bhagavan, Reality refers to consciousness unsullied by thought.

Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi: What you comprehend, or think you are able to apprehend, can never be Reality. That suble space in which this fleeting you, as you are now falsely imagining yourself to be, ceases to exist, so exposing the actual, permanent you lying underneath as true Being, is Reality.

Q.: It is said that this mountain Arunachala posseses a powerful spiritual energy. If I carry away rocks from the mountain back home, will the mountain’s power accompany me? From which portion of the Hill should rocks be gathered for maximum beneficious effect?

B.: Is there any use in going on rock-hunting expeditions? The contumacious [Tom: stubborn and disobedient] mind must be introverted and destroyed. That [regaining the natural state of Self] is the only worthwhile thing to do in life.

Q.: I am interested in experimenting with alternate forms of medicine. What is Bhagavan’s opinion on Hahnemann’s system of ‘Like-cures-like.’? How can diluting a substance make its effect upon the patient more potent?

B.: [no answer]

Q.: What is Bhagavan’s opinion on the present German Chancellor? Today morning I met a Brahmin in this place, who confidently asserts that he is a divine incarnation, or a servile instrument in God’s hands, meant to ruthlessly put down injustice wherever it occurs in the world, commencing from Germany. Is deployment of violence justified to root out injustice? Does not Mr. Gandhi advocate –

At that moment, an excited voice, in strained English, suddenly announced into the air from the back of the Hall –

‘I am convinced that Sri Hitler and Sri Bhagawan are in the same supreme state of Brahmajnana [Tom: Brahman-knowledge, ie. self-knowledge]. But perhaps Hitler may be a Brahma-rakshasha [Tom: an evil spirit arisen from a sinful or fallen Brahmin].Nevertheless he is also a Jnani, nothing inferior to that… Has not his deputy said, “Do not seek Hitler with the mind. It is through the Heart that you shall succeed in finding Him.”? Is this not Bhagawan’s teaching verbatim, when people question Him about finding God? Hitler may use violent methods because it is his ordained style of functioning. Nonetheless, He is an avatar. I know… Consider his inspiring words – “It is a necessity of human evolution that the individual should be imbued with the spirit of sacrifice in favour of the common weal, and that he should not be influenced by the morbid notions of those knaves who pretend to know better than Nature and who have the impudence to criticize her decrees.”, “The Strong is Mightiest Alone.”, “Man has become great through perpetual struggle. In perpetual peace his greatness must decline.”, “He who would live must fight. He who does not wish to fight in this world, where perpetual struggle is the only permanent law of life, has not the right to exist.”, “The sledgehammer of fate which strikes down the one so easily suddenly finds the counter-impact of Steel when it strikes at the other.”, and many more. Are these not the words of a Jnani? Is it not self-evident that it must be so? If Bhagavan will give permission I want to read out more, so that everyone can be benifitted by these holy words uttered by a great Jnani.’

There was no response from Bhagavan. The brahmin retreated into silence.

Q.: Yes, this is the man. What is to be made out of his outlandish claims? Is Herr Hitler really a divine instrument in God’s hands?

B.: நாம் எல்ேலாேம அவரால் ஆட்ைவக்கப்பட்ட ைகப்பாைவகள் தாேன. [All sentient beings are verily divine instruments in the hands of the Supreme Lord {Parameshwara}.]

Q.: Sri Bhagawan wears only underwear. I hear, whilst living in the Hill, He was totally nude. What is the philosophy behind it? Is it aversion to luxury? Will being nude help in Realising the Self?

B.: Mental nudity is the way to the Self.

Q.: And what is that?

B.: Mind denuded of vrittis.

Q.: What is a vritti?

B.: A strand of modification in and of pure consciousness.

Q.: Still, what is the reason Bhagavan won’t wear any clothes?

B.: Have you come all the way from the New World only to ask this question?

Q.: It is said that the Jnani never sleeps. Is it true? Do you never sleep?

B.: On the other hand, I am always asleep. I have permanently put myself to Eternal Sleep from which no waking could ever be possible.

Q.: Bhagavan is now talking to me. How can he be asleep? Is he talking in his sleep, then?

B.: Yes.

Q.: I am beginning to guess there is a hidden layer of meaning in all your answers…

B.: The Jnani’s mind is asleep in Brahman. It is awake to Brahman but unaware of anything else – rather, there is no ‘anything else’ for him, apart from Brahman, to be aware of. “I” am not talking to “you”; these [are appearances that] are inseperable from Brahman. Their substratum or vasthu [Tom: truth or reality] is Brahman only. There cannot be a not-Brahman. What IS, is only Brahman. What IS NOT, cannot BE. Thus the import of Sri Krishna’s wisely enunciated words: Nasatho vidyathey bhavo nabhavo vidyathey sathaha [Tom: ‘Of the unreal, there is no being; of the Real, there is no non-being…’ This is the first section of Bhagavad Gita verse 16.2]

Q.: The yogi smears his body all over with ash from the crematorium. What is the purpose?

B.: To remember: ‘One day I shall likewise be reduced into ash.’

Q.: Why keep on reflecting upon such a macabre truth?

B.: To get rid of the idea, ‘I am this body.’; so long as such an idea, or any other vritti, remains, Realisation cannot be had, even in dreams.

Q.: How, and why, did the Absolute Self or ‘the Brahman’ fall from his high state of Godhood, and become the mind?

B.: He never fell.

Q.: What then is to account for the existence of the mind?

B.: Its own ignorance.

Q.: How did that ignorance arise?

B.: On the false strength of the one who meaninglessly asserts, ‘I am ignorant.’.

Q.: If the assertion ‘I am ignorant.’ is wrong, all are then Jnanis.

B.: Quite so.

Q.: I am also a Jnani like Bhagavan, then? Am I not a mere mortal?

B.: In fact, all are only Jnanis – at least in my vision it is so. One who feels otherwise should ask himself, ‘Who is the one who admits the apparent truth of his own ignorance?’.

Q.: Back to Who-am-I? again, I see!

B.: It is the only useful thing to do.

Q.: What is the purport of this investigation? I mean – what does it aim to reach?

B.: Subjective awareness maintained without volition and without effort is the objective of Atma-vichara.

Q.: If everything is a dream, right now what is the position? I mean: Is Bhagavan appearing in my dream? Or am I appearing in Bhagavan’s dream?

B.: Bhagavan does not dream. He is the Real.

Q.: So it is I who have imagined the great Ramana Maharshi, thus bringing him into existence! How great I must be, to have created not only this whole cosmos, but also Ramana Maharshi himself!

B.: [laughs]

Q.: You see the – pardon me – the absurdity of your thesis that the world is a dream… ?

B.: The world of name and form is the merest of illusions. Only the substratum underlying it is Real and True. Only by right Experience can this be further understood.

Q.: Can you give me ‘the saktipada’? It is said to be transfer of psychic energy from master to pupil.

B.: Who is the master and who is the pupil? In whose point of view?

Q.: I humbly pray that my request be considered favourably.

B.: Catch hold of the “I-Current” and remain still. It will give you all you need.

Q.: How to discover this psychic current?

B.: Once all thoughts have subsided, a steady stream of subjective consciousness remains as the residue. Hold on to it without effort and without volition. It will lead you to the Goal invariably.

Q.: There is said to have lived a saint called ‘Sadasiva Brahmendral’ in South India. He is said to have bodily manifested at the same measured time, at various different locations, perfectly simultaneously! Further, according to the same legend or story, once for some reason the King of the land became furious with him and ordered that his arms be chopped off. This was done.

The saint merely picked up the severed arms with his mouth, and holding them by the skin, betwixt his rows of teeth, demurely walked away from the place, blood trailing along in his wake. Even the slightest twitch of pain could not be observed in him. The king then begged for forgiveness. The saint said nothing; he seemed to be unaware of his environment; he would not even care to look at anyone. Just then, a beetle was about to drown in the pool of blood lying on the ground. Moved by compassion for the hapless creature, the saint dropped his severed arms from his mouth; instead of falling on the ground, the arms magically attached themselves in their original positions, and functioned normally! The saint rescued the beetle, which everyone else noticed only now, and went his way as if nothing at all had happened. What are we to make out of this story? Many otherwise normal people seem to believe in it!

B.: The world is under no obligation to produce forth only those events which lie within the horizon of your ability to comprehend.

Q.: So the supernatural… is real?

B.: Only as real as you are – you as the body or mind.

Q.: If I also try to get occult or thaumaturgic powers such as reading others’ thoughts, moving physical objects using the mind, manifesting objects and making them vanish, predicting the future, spontaneously coming to know of events happening far away, transmutation of base metals into gold, etc., will they carry me towards or away from Realisation of the Brahman?

B.: The latter.

Q.: Why so – may I know?

B.: Because the powers are exercised using the mind. Patanjali himself says, Bahirakalpita vrittir mahavideha tataha prakashavaranakshayaha [Tom: The ‘great bodiless state’ is a state of ‘mind’ that functions outside the body and is unimagined. From this, the covering of the light is destroyed.]. From this it is obvious that the Atman will never reveal itself unless and until one has transcended the mind in its entireity. Whilst I was living in Virupaksha-cave, in 1902 or 1903, a man came who showed me many tricks of the sort you mention. Then he drove Palanisamy out, and showed me his crowing act. Do you know what this crowning act was?

Q.: I am eager to hear it.

B.: [in English] He slanted his body. The lower jaw remained on the neck. The rest of his head rolled off. I picked it up and parted the hair in a neat manner. The half-mouth in my hand, somehow produced the sound ‘Thank you!’ – in English. I smiled at it and fitted it back.

I and another in the Hall who could understand English were horrified; the American coolly said –

Q.: Oh! Really! Bhagavan is sure it was not a mere dream?

B.: [waving at the Hall] As much as all this is.

Q.: Will the omnipotent Bhagavan do the same trick himself now and show me, so that I am convinced?

B.: What you should be convinced about is this – such powers are worthless. They lead you away from peace. The illusionist, once his head was safely back on, wept and wept in front of me. He had learnt these tricks from an occultist by serving him like a dog for three decades; only now did he see the pointlessness, the futility and the evil repercussions of it all. Now he was tempted to perform these everywhere. As a result of the distraction, he was unable to find the time for genuine spiritual pursuits. His peace of mind was now totally extinct. He begged me to take the powers away. To that effect, I gesticulated him to circumambulate the Hill that very night. He replied that it was ammavasai that night, hence he would not be able to see his way. I signalled it was all the better that he be not guided by his perfidious senses, but rather by God’s grace. Thanking me, he went away. I never saw him thereafter. A few days later Palanisamy, it seems, chanced to meet him near the Sona theertham. He had followed my advice, and now was bereft of his psychic abilities. He sent his many thanks to me through Palanisamy. I never heard of him since. So, what is the observation? Even one with such advanced powers finds them a nuisance. Thus you should aim for Realisation and Realisation alone.

Q.: But it is all said to be pre-determined: ‘One shall be able to Realise only if destiny permits it.’ Who knows what she permits? I have heard that Bhagavan himself is not even a determinist, but an absolute fatalist. Am I right?

B.: Destiny cannot so much as cause a ripple upon the introverted mind. Let her do what she will with the body. You merge in the Self.

Q.: ‘Destiny is powerless to disturb the introverted mind.’ Very well. Now – has she the power to thwart a mind that is endeavouring to introvert itself? If yes, what is the use of engaging in spiritual practices?

B.: That power goes on diminishing the more and more the introversion becomes intense.

Q.: I will now frame the question in a slightly different way – If everything is predestined, are my thoughts also predestined?

B.: Do you choose to forsake the Self and think, or do you choose to inhere in the Heart? This is the only choice given to you at any given point in time. The only freedom given to you is to turn inward and drown yourself in the Heart. This is the one and only free-will allowed to man.

Q.: I find nowadays that my faculty of memory often gives me the slip. What is the remedy?

B.: Forgetting [also the fact of] your forgetfulness.

Q.: Is it true that for the south-Indian and Japanese people, Realisation comes easily relative to other cultures on the Earth, on account of conducive psychological constitution caused by appropriate upbringing?

B.: It may or may not be true. But can you help your place of birth? Can it be retroactively changed? Impossible. So, make the best out of the prevailing circumstances and try to direct the mind into the Heart here and now. All other pursuits are ultimately proved futile.

Q.: Am I under any moral obligation to Realise the Self? Is it my rightful duty? Or do I have a choice to remain an ignoramus, should I so please? Is it wrong morally not to Realise?

B.: If and once you practically understand the personal-self to be an illusion [or delusion], the inescapable obligation [to Realise] does devolve on you invariably and automatically.

Q.: The direct means to regain the Absolute – according to Bhagavan, it is the one and only ‘Who-am-I?’ investigation, is that not so?

B.: Yes.

Q.: Why so?

At this point, Bhagavan said something to an attendant, whereupon the latter extracted a heavy-looking volume from the book-case in the Hall. The book was handed to Bhagawan. He opened it once and it had opened onto the very page he had been aiming for; this curious knack I have already noticed many times in the master. He handed the open book to the interpreter, and gave him some instructions. Presently the interpreter read as follows –

The following are the words of the Tibetian Yogi Milarepa:

‘Oh! Ignorant mortal! When you run after your thoughts, you are verily a dog chasing a stick. Everytime a stick is thrown, you run after it. Instead be like a lion. The lion, rather than chasing the stick, turns to face the thrower. One only throws a stick at a lion once.

‘Oh! Ignorant mortal! Know this for certain – all worldly pursuits have but one unavoidable and inevitable end, and that is sorrow. Accquisition ends in dispersion, building in destruction, meetings in seperation, births in death, and so on. Knowing this, one should, from the very beginning, renounce accquisition, accumulation, and the like.

‘Oh! Ignorant mortal! How long will you go on dreaming, rotting in this odious marsh of births and deaths? Do you not want to taste the sweet, intoxicating nectar of immortality? For this, investigate your “I”. Do not entertain hopes or ambition for Realisation, but sincerely practise all your life.’

Q.: Are there pre-requisites or qualifications needed for one who wishes to follow this path of inquiry?

B.: Only one – complete absence of belief in the world as an objectively real, self-supporting, or continuous entity.