The following excerpt is from the text Aham Sphurana 14th August 1936 – you can download the entire text here
Questioner: Is your teaching the same as Sri Ramakrishna’s?
Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi: Absolutely.
Q.: If I-am-God is the Truth, does it not amount to arrogance?
B.: It does not mean you – as you incumbently imagine yourself to be – are God. It means, God is the Real “I”.
Q.: There is a self which is co-eval with the personality and attaches itself to the body. This is known as the mind. Then there is the Parabrahman mentioned in the Vedanta. This is known as the Impersonal Essence of man. Which is my true self? Can I have more than one self?
B.: The mind is a phantom. In the Impersonal Essence the mind is nowhere to be found.
Q.: How to reach it?
B.: There is nobody there to reach it. Thus there is no reaching it. Subside and let the Light shine forth. Subside as the mind and shine as the Self.
Q.: Practically what is the method for it?
B.: The investigation, ‘Who-am-I?’.
Q.: But this investigation also is made with mind only.
B.: It commences no doubt in the mind. It ends in no-mind.
Bhagavan asked Major Chadwick to read out ‘Who-am-I?’ to him in French. This was done and the creature listened carefully, cocking his huge head against a meagre shoulder, so that his left ear should be better exposed to the sounds emanating from Chadwick’s lips. Presently he extracted a small ear-trumpet from the folds of his laborious clothes and grooved the ear-piece of the same into his left ear.
The bell of the contraption was positioned to face Major Chadwick.’s direction. Bhagavan looked at the surprised faces in the Hall and laughed. Presently –
Q.: What is the authority for saying that the world is a dream? Where is the proof, I mean?
B.: Did you exist in sleep?
Q.: Yes.
B.: Do you exist now?
Q.: Yes.
B.: Then what is the difference [in the 2 states]?
Q.: I am not aware of my body and world [in sleep].
B.: Being aware of the body and world is called dreaming. Remain unaware of them now also. That verily is Jnana or Reality. This alone is the state of true wakefulness.
Q.: But how can we call this world a dream?
B.: Why not?
Q.: There are so many people on the Earth. If it is a dream, whose dream might it be?
B.: Yours.
Q.: But why pick me out specifically? For instance it may even be the dream of the amiable Monsieur Chadwick here.
B.: Only you are there.
Q.: What about you, then, sir?
B.: No, I am not here or there. I AM. There is no here or there or anywhere. I AM THAT I AM.
Q.: I comprehend not.
B.: Evidence produced by the sensory organs is merely mental in nature. All knowledge of diversity is fictitious mental information. Your Being is Real. There is nothing else.
Q.: I want proof.
B.: If proof is given to you, how will you be able to believe it?
Q.: I comprehend not.
B.: The proof given to you, if any, is also going to be mere mental information only.
Q.: What can be believed, then, as true?
B.: Whatever is believed is false only. Truth is in Being only.
Q.: How to attain this Being?
B.: By giving up the idea that there could be anything to be attained and all other ideas.
Q.: Practically, how can I go about it?
B.: Investigate ‘Who-am-I?’.
Q.: Will repetition of sacred syllables not be helpful? Do not the sacred incantations of your religion hold some sort of latent spiritual power? By unlocking this power or energy can we not reach the state of Enlightenment?
B.: You have been appraised of the direct method.
Q.: The others are by-lanes or diversions?
B.: Yes.
Q.: Should food restrictions be followed by a seeker after Enlightenment? Can I eat pork?
B.: Try to thrive on grain and fruit.
Q.: Can the investigation of ‘Who-am-I?’ be done in your presence only? If I do it at, say, Nantes, would I able to succeed in Enlightening myself? Is your physical presence needed? In order so as to bring about a successful outcome to the practise, I mean?
B.: It is the mind that matters. If the mind is kept steadily poised in introversion, such questions cannot arise even.
Q.: Is worship of, or even belief in, a personal God permissible?
B.: Yes.
Q.: Does it not thwart one’s progress toward Enlighenment?
B.: When you become ripe enough, you will no longer feel that it is you who are praying.
Q.: Is philanthropy a distraction or ought one to try to help the suffering world?
B.: It varies according to the temprament of the individual’s psyche.
Q.: I see. What about my case?
B.: When you see suffering, what thought first crosses your mind?
Q.: “I wish God had created a world in which there was no suffering.”
B.: Those destined to help think – impetuously- “Let me see what I can do here…”.
Q.: Is there any need to officially renounce my affirmed affiliation into the La Rochelle Temple?
B.: No.
Q.: Occasionally I become frightened when my health takes a turn for the worse. How to remain free from such fears?
B.: You already know that for this perishable body made of the elements, destruction is certain one day. Why crib over the inevitable?
Q.: But how do I keep fear at bay?
B.: By not identifying the Self with the body or mind.
Q.: But how to get rid of such erroneous identification?
B.: Only by relentless pursuit of the investigation, ‘Who am I?’.
Then the Distraught One proudly produced a gift for Bhagavan – a small tin box which rattled. Bhagavan opened it and smiled.
Q.: [beaming happily] They are roasted seeds belonging to the St. Ignatius fruit – fruits produced by the tree Strychnos ignatius! Very difficult to obtain ever since the War, sir! Specially procured for your consumption, if I may be permitted to say so, sir!
Tom Das 