The following is taken from the wonderful text Sadhanai Saram (The Essence of Spiritual Practice) written by Sri Sadhu Om, a direct devotee of Sri Ramana’s. This text not only gives us the essence of Sri Ramana Maharshi’s teaching, but also directs us to the true Vedanta teachings. The notes are written by Sri Sadhu Om himself. You can download the full text as a PDF using the above link.

25. When by one’s own inexpressible power one imaginarily sees the one real Self as many objects (the soul, world and God) and thinks oneself to be one among those objects, then one’s own natural self-love, which transcends thought, will assume the form of a thought and will appear to oneself, the individual who imagines thus, as desires for those objects, which are seemingly other than oneself.

Note: What is called “love” is truly nothing but the non-dual love (ananya priya), which the real Self has for itself in the state in which it alone exists and shines. And what is called “desire” is nothing but the dual love (anya priya), which springs towards other objects, which are truly not other than Self, in the state in which the one real Self seems to be many objects. Therefore, the only way to put an end to desire is for one, by means of one’s own perfect freedom (brahma-swatantra), to use one’s own inexpressible power to see Self as one and not as many. In order to see Self thus as One, as it ever really is, one must cease attending to the many objects which seem to be other than oneself, and must instead attend only to the first person singular feeling “I”.

26. Of all things, is not oneself the most beloved? When one limits oneself by imagining oneself to be a body, one sees all these things (the world and God), which are truly nothing but one’s own Self, as objects other than oneself, and hence one has desire for those objects. That desire is only a distorted form of the true self-love that is one’s own very nature.
27. The love, which one always has for oneself, is not a thought; that supreme love is one’s own real Self that is existence-consciousness-bliss (sat-chitananda). When a wrong knowledge rises in the form of a thought whereby one mistakenly sees the one Self as many objects which are seemingly other than oneself, even the true self-love will become a petty thought in the form of desire.
28. When self-love, which is not a thought, forsakes its own real nature of mere being and springs towards other things in the form of desires, it becomes ever-moving thoughts. When love remains as the thought-free love for Self instead of becoming thoughts in the form of desires for other things, that state of Self-abidance is true tapas (austerities or severe spiritual discipline).
29. This original love for Self, which has now become the three desires, will cease to assume the form of thoughts and will remain as supreme bliss only by means of Self-realization, the state in which one sees all the five elements and the entire world constituted by those elements, as not other than oneself.

Note: The three basic human desires are: (1) the desire for relationships (uravu-asai), that is, the desire for relatives, wife, husband, children, friends or any kind of human relationship, whether sensual, emotional or otherwise; (2) the desire for possessions in any form whatsoever (porul-asai); and (3) the desire for praise, that is, the desire for fame, honor, esteem or any kind of appreciation from others (puhazh-asai). The reason for classifying these three desires is explained in more detail in verses 102 to 109 of this text.

30. The love for happiness is only the love for Self, because Self alone is happiness. But if one imagines that this world, which is nothing but Self, is something other than oneself, then on account of self-love the objects of the world will seem to be objects of pleasure, and hence the love for that Self, which appears as objects other than oneself, will assume the form of desire. This is the great wrong.
31. When the true knowledge dawns that everything is only “I”, then the extroverted love which desirously springs towards other objects, will remain pervading everywhere in the form of mere Being and will no longer spring towards anything else. The love that thus remains as mere Being, having ceased to move in the form of thoughts, alone is Siva, who is Self.
32. Since Self is happiness itself, so long as one sees other things, which are in truth only Self (but whose names and forms are a mere appearance), how can one not think that those other things are pleasurable? This alone is the reason why all living beings, beginning with celestial beings and including men and all other creatures, are drowning and burning in the great fire of desires for external objects.
33. When our true nature of mere being is transformed into the nature of rising as an ego, know that the three real aspects of our nature, namely existence, consciousness and bliss, will seemingly become their opposites, namely non-existence, igno12 A Light on the Teaching of Ramana Maharshi rance and misery, and will thus assume the form of the dyads (the pairs of opposites).
34. Just as a single ray of white light becomes seven different colors when it passes through a prism, so the single and undivided existenceconsciousness “I am” is seemingly diffracted into the triads (the triputis, or three factors of objective knowledge, namely the knower, the act of knowing and the objects known) when it passes through the petty senses.
35. When we limit our true nature of undivided existence-consciousness-bliss by wrongly accepting an insignificant body to be “I”, desire arises for those objects of the world that are favorable to this limited “I”, and aversion arises for those objects which are not favorable to it. This desire and aversion are a twofold reflected shadow of our real nature, which is bliss (ananda) or love (priya).

Note: Though in the realm of cause and effect happiness and love appear to be two different things, each being the cause of the other, in the state of Self-knowledge they are realized to be one and the same. That is why existenceconsciousness-bliss (sat-chit-ananda) is alternatively known as being-luminosity-love, or asti-bhatipriya. When our nature to “be” is mistaken as a nature to “rise,” the bliss aspect of our nature appears as the dyad pleasure and pain, which automatically gives rise to desire and aversion, or likes and dislikes. Thus, likes and dislikes are a two-fold reflection of the bliss or love aspect of our true nature.

(Compare with Letters from Sri Ramanasramam of April 11, 1946 (pp. 55) and Sept. 25, 1947 (pp. 253-4); also with Sri Bhagavan’s Tamil translation of Drik-Drisya Viveka, v. 20).

36. Likes and dislikes are a dyad which arises as a reflection of bliss (ananda); existence and nonexistence are a two fold appearance assumed by the ever-indestructible existence (sat); knowledge and ignorance are a dyad which arises as a reflection of consciousness (chit); know this truth by abiding as Self, which is existence-consciousness-bliss.
37. Only by the experience of Self-knowledge will all desires be burnt and destroyed in such a manner that they can never again revive. Nobody has ever overcome the power of desires merely by fighting and struggling for any number of years against the wandering nature of the five senses.
38. Know that this indeed is the reason why our Father, Guru Ramana, always gave the advice “Know yourself” and unfailingly taught the path of Self-inquiry as the most powerful practice (sadhana), and as the only weapon to destroy all the desires existing within us.