ramana maharshi

Ramana Maharshi on those who ridicule idol-worship or image-worship | Non-duality | Bhakti

~ Tom Das ~ 4 Comments

Also see:

Does Jnana (or Self-Enquiry) lead to Bhakti (or Self-Surrender) or the other way round?

Non-dual devotion, worship and prayer

Here we see Sri Ramana Maharshi’s teaching on those who ridicule and denounce idol-worship or image-worship as follows in Guru Vachaka Kovai verse 208:


208

O you that ridicule idol-worship, having not discovered through heart-melting love its secret, how is that you [daily] worship the filthy idol of your body as ‘I’?


Commentary on this verse by Sri Sadhu Om:

It is generally believed that idol worship is to mistake an idol as God and to treat it accordingly, offering it a bath, cloth, food, and all hospitality; but to mistake a body as Self, and to treat it accordingly, is also a form of idol worship. Indeed to treat and love a body as ‘I’ is the primal mistake which leads to all other forms of idol worship. So it is clear that we are all idol-worshippers, even if we take pride in scorning those that worship temple idols.

As long as one takes one’s body as ‘I’, there is no wrong in also worshipping an idol as God, and until one feels that it is wrong to treat one’s body as ‘I’, one should not be scornful and criticize others for treating an idol as God.

If one first roots out and destroys the ‘I am the body’ notion, one is then in a position to criticize idol worship, if such criticism is necessary [in the light of Jnana such criticism will of course be clearly seen as unnecessary].

If God is everywhere, why do we have to turn within? Why can’t we see God in the World? How is God to be seen? Sri Ramana Maharshi

~ Tom Das ~ 4 Comments

Also see:

Ramana Maharshi: how to abide as the Self

The need to turn within according to Advaita Vedanta

‘We must see Brahman in everything and everywhere’ is also not quite correct

The following is from Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talk no. 244:

Question: How is God to be seen?

Sri Ramana Maharshi: Within. If the mind is turned inward God manifests as inner consciousness.

Tom: here Bhagavan Sri Ramana gives us the essential teaching – God is to be found within – not outside, meaning not in the body, mind or world, but within, meaning in the non-conceptual Self that is the Subject. As Ramana himself wrote in the text ‘Who Am I?’:

Question: When will the realization of the Self be gained?
Answer: When the world which is what-is-seen has been removed, there will be realization of the Self which is the seer.

And in the same text, Who Am I?, in the answer to question 16 it is written:

‘the Self itself is God’

However, the questioner poses a seemingly logical question, namely that if God is everywhere, why cannot be see God everywhere? Why the need to look within when we can just as easily look outside at ‘God’s creation’, through our senses and see God there? Let us see:

Q: God is in all – in all the objects we see around us. They say we should see God in all of them.

Sri Ramana Maharshi: God is in all and in the seer. Where else can God be seen? He cannot be found outside. He should be felt within. To see the objects, mind is necessary. To conceive God in them is a mental operation. But that is not real. The consciousness within, purged of the mind, is felt as God.

Tom: here Sri Ramana is stating that to see God outside is merely to see a projection of the mind, for according to Sri Ramana, as we shall see shortly, all objective phenomena are mere thoughts, or projections of the mind, much like a dream objects are projection of the mind. An alternative explanation is that to see God in objective phenomena is actually a subtle act of the mind, a conceptual framework we are overlaying onto objects.

However, the questioner persists in pursuing their line of enquiry by challening Sri Ramana – are not various objects beautiful? Are not colours lovely to look at? Can we not see God in these objects too? Let us see:

Q: There are, say, beautiful colours. It is a pleasure to watch them. We can see God in them.
Sri Ramana Maharshi: They are all mental conceptions.
Q: There are more than colours. I mentioned colours only as an example.
Sri Ramana Maharshi: They are also similarly mental.

Tom: the questioner states that we can see God in objects and through the senses, but Sri Ramana dismisses this as mere concepts. The questioner, having raised objective qualities such as colour, then having raised other senses, not just colour now goes onto the body and the mind:

Q: There is the body also – the senses and the mind. The soul makes use of all these for knowing things.
Sri Ramana Maharshi: The objects or feelings or thoughts are all mental conceptions. The mind rises after the rise of the I-thought or the ego. Wherefrom does the ego rise? From the abstract consciousness or Pure intelligence.

Tom: Here Sri Ramana again states that the body, senses and mind are all mental conceptions (or mental projections), as are all objects, feelings and thoughts.

He then goes on to give a teaching given in the aforementioned text ‘Who Am I?’, that the first though is the ‘I-thought’ also known as the ego, and only once this has risen can other thoughts or objective phenomena arise such as the body, the mind and the world. In this way Bhagavan Sri Ramana is repeating his teaching, a teaching also taught in the Upanishads and by Sri Shankara, that the body-mind-world is actually a projection of ego or ignorance.

What is the source of this ego or I-thought? It is the Self, or Pure Consciousness as he refers to it here. The word ‘pure’ denotes the absence of arisising objective phenomena, which is consistent with the teaching explained in my above paragraph.

Later in the same dialogue (Talk 244) Sri Ramana explains that the ego or ‘I-thought’ gives rise to (or projects out) the mind, and the mind then projects out a body:

Sri Ramana Maharshi: The sense of body is a thought; the thought is of the mind, the mind rises after the ‘I-thought’, the ‘I-thought’ is the root thought. If that is held, the other thoughts will disappear. There will then be no body, no mind, not even the ego.
Q: What will remain then?
Sri Ramana Maharshi: The Self in its purity.

Tom: We can see that Sri Ramana is re-iterating that the body and mind are both projections of thought, and that their root is the ego, also known as the I-thought. When this ego-root (ie. ignorance) is cut down, by self-enquiry, all thoughts cease and the Self remains in its purity. As the body, mind and ego are all thoughts, Bhagavan Sri Ramana here explicitly states that in Self-Realisation there is no body, mind or ego. All that remains is the pure Self, again ‘pure’ denoting the lack of objective phenomena such as body, mind, world, feelings, sensations, etc.

As always, please do not simply accept teachings at face value. It is always good to read teachings in their proper context, so I encourage you to not just accept my commentary above, but to read the full talk for yourself so you can see it in its context. You will find many other valuable teachings in this talk too, such as Sri Ramana’s exposition of the three states and how he equates deep sleep with the Self, how he says that the world is a mere dream, his insistence that Self-Enquiry is the easiest path, and that Happiness or Pleasure or God can only truly be found Within.


Seven Steps to Awakening | PDF download | Michael Langford | Sri Ramana Maharshi | Nisargadatta Maharaj | Shankara | Yoga Vasistha

~ Tom Das ~ 2 Comments

One of the best books ever written for spiritual liberation/self-realisation is the Seven Steps to Awakening, compiled by Michael Langford, incorporating teachings from Sri Ramana Maharshi, Sri Muruganar, Sri Sadhu Om, Sri Vasistha and Sri Shankara to name a few.

It is one of my recommended books for liberation. Of particular interest is the introduction to the text which is very instructive. As with other books by Michael Langford, all of which are highly recommended, the style may not suit everyone, but serious seekers of liberation will hopefully find the content to be of great benefit and overlook any perceived stylistic deficits.

I am therefore sharing the full text here as a PDF (see below), but I highly recommend you buy a paper copy of the book for yourself to support the author.

It is best read together with The Most Direct Means to Eternal Bliss, another book also by Michael Langford.

Again, please do read the introduction, reflect upon the teachings therein and follow the suggestions given.

Namaste and best wishes!

You can download the entire text as a PDF here

Gaining a deeper understanding of Sri Ramana Maharshi’s teachings: Sri Muruganar, Sri Sadhu Om & Lakshmana Sarma

~ Tom Das ~ 1 Comment

To my knowledge, the only living human being who was said by Sri Ramana Maharshi to have attained Self-Realisation was Sri Muruganar, a devotee of Sri Ramana’s for over 25 years.

Muruganar also was one of 2 people who had personal one-to-one tuition from Sri Ramana on the actual deeper meaning of the teachings (the other person was K. Lakshmana Sarma).

Muruganar recorded Sri Ramana’s teaching in the text Guru Vachaka Kovai, which is said by Sri Ramana Ashram to be ‘the most precise, systematic and authoritative exposition of Sri Bhagavan’s teaching, explaining step by step the theory, the practice and the experience of jnana, the Truth supreme which is Being as Life Eternal, Pure Awareness, Perfect Bliss. Thus, the most comprehensive collection of the Maharshi’s sayings is Guru Vachaka Kovai…’

Sri Sadhu Om spent many years with Sri Ramana Maharshi and after Sri Ramana’s death he spent many years with Muruganar. Muruganar said that Sri Sadhu Om was the only person who really understood Sri Ramana’s teachings. Sri Sadhu Om wrote several books on Sri Ramana’s teachings such as The Path of Sri Ramana and Sadhanai Saram (the essence of spiritual practice) and translated them into English himself.

K. Lakshmana Sarma, another long time devotee of Sri Ramana’s, was the only other person (other than Sri Muruganar) to have 1 to 1 tuition on the true meaning of Sri Ramana’s teachings; this tuition lasted several years. Lakshmana Sarma was often unhappy to see people misinterpreting and misunderstanding Sri Ramana’s teachings and he wrote several books such as Maha Yoga and a commentary on 40 verses on reality to explain Sri Ramana’s true teachings, and he translated them into English himself.

Most people, when they hear the teachings, their ego-mind immediately distorts the teaching, and this often converts a liberating teaching into a non-liberating teaching. So the person recording the teaching is of utmost importance if we want to understand the true teaching that will lead to liberation.

I therefore recommend you read the above texts if you want to discover a truly liberating teaching, free from distortion, that will quickly and effectively lead to liberation, which is eternal bliss and the cessation of suffering.

We also have the texts that Sri Ramana Maharshi himself wrote.

You may be pleased to know that I have compiled all of the above (and some more), which you can download for free, on my Recommended Reading List.

The above text has also been added as an appendix to the recommended reading list

Does Jnana (or Self-Enquiry) lead to Bhakti (or Self-Surrender) or the other way round? Sri Ramana Maharshi

~ Tom Das ~ 4 Comments

This is one of a series of introductory articles – please see the homepage of tomdas.com for more introductory articles.

Some say that self-enquiry eventually culminates in surrender, and others say the opposite. Which is true? By the way, Self-Enquiry can also be referred to the path of Jnana (Knowledge or Wisdom) and Self-Surrender is also known as the path of Bhakti (love or devotion).

Ramana Maharshi has sometimes said it one way, and other times another, and other times said they are the same path. Again, which of these is true?

Let us see definitively what Sri Ramana says about this (surrender = Bhakti; Self-enquiry = jnana) in Guru Vachaka Kovai*, a text that is widely considered to be the most authoritative, reliable and comprehensive collection of the verbal teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi:

722. When scanned, bhakti supreme and jnana
Shine as in their essence one.
Saying that one of them is but
A means to the other is only due
To understanding neither.

723. Even those who know may sometimes seem
To honour this saying and so prefer
One or the other of these paths.
This is in order to prevent
Some seeker half-way on one path
From giving it up and choosing the other.

724. When one adopting self-enquiry
Reaches the journey’s end and gains
Samadhi’s bliss, it is solely due
To the grace of God, one’s inmost Self,
Life of one’s life.

725. Unless the Self, the God within,
By power of grace pulls in the mind,
Who has the strength through his own effort
To stop the rogue mind’s outward drift
And merge it in the Heart and so
Gain peace?

728 To tell the truth, God’s grace supreme
And the keen quest “Who am I?”,
Which means abidance in the Heart,
Will work together as mutual aids
And bring one to the state of oneness
With the Self supreme.

729 This maya world-dream will not end
Unless the Self within speaks out.
The enquiry, “Who is the dreamer
Of this dream?” is prayer addressed
To Him to speak and wake us up.

730. It is said that meditation
On one’s own being [Tom: ie. Self-enquiry] is supreme
Devotion to all-transcending God,
Because, though spoken of as two,
They are in substance one.

731. The way of knowledge and the way of love
Are interwoven close. Don’t tear
Asunder these inseparables.
But practise both together holding
In the heart the two as one.

Meditation on the Self
Is devotion to the Lord
Supreme, since He abides as this,
Our very Self.
– SRI BHAGAVAN 13

*Guru Vachaka Kovai, or The Garland of Guru’s sayings, is widely considered to be the most authoritative, reliable and comprehensive collection of the verbal teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi. Here is what Ramana Ashram states about the Guru Vachaka Kovai in the foreword of their publication of it:

‘[Guru Vachaka Kovai] provides the most precise, systematic and authoritative exposition of Sri Bhagavan’s teaching, explaining step by step the theory, the practice and the experience of jnana, the Truth supreme which is Being as Life Eternal, Pure Awareness, Perfect Bliss. Thus, the most comprehensive collection of the Maharshi’s sayings is Guru Vachaka Kovai.’

The paths of knowledge and love are more fully explained in the text The Path of Sri Ramana which you can download for free here. This is one of the few texts that goes into detail into both the paths of knowledge and love.

Also see:

Non-dual devotion, worship and prayer

Ramana Maharshi on those who ridicule idol-worship or image-worship

The paths of Devotion and Knowledge – Bhakti vs Jnana | Advaita Vedanta

Bhakti Yoga as a complete path to Final Liberation

Sri Ramana Maharshi: the necessity of Meditation