The following is the introduction to the text as found in the Collected Works of Sri Ramana Maharshi published by Sri Ramanasramam:
Self-enquiry is the first work the Maharshi ever wrote. It was written about 1901, that is, when he was a young man of about twenty-two. He was already a Jnani (Sage) in perfect realization of the Self, in the resplendent bliss of Divine Knowledge. At that time he was living in Virupaksha Cave on the hill of Arunachala. A number of disciples had already gathered round him. Although he had not actually taken a vow of silence, he seldom spoke, and so wrote his replies to certain questions put to him by Gambhiram Seshayya, one of the earliest devotees. The latter copied them in his diary. After his death this diary was obtained from his brother. The questions and answers were edited by Natanananda and published with Bhagavan’s approval under the name of Vichara Sangraham, or Self-Enquiry. Subsequently they were changed into the form of an essay. The original form has been adopted in the present work.
There is no youthfulness or immaturity in the work. The Master wrote with the authority of full spiritual knowledge, just as in his later years. Like all his expositions, verbal as well as written, this is concerned with practical questions of the path to realization of the Self, never with barren theory. However, it does differ from later expositions in one important respect: that is, that it describes not only the path of Self- enquiry but others also; meditation on one’s identity with the Self and a yogic path based on breath-control. He himself prescribed only Self-enquiry or submission to the Guru. He would say: “There are two ways: ask yourself `Who am I?’ or submit.”
Why did he include the mention of less direct and more elaborate methods in this first exposition? The obvious contingent reason is that the disciple for whom it was written had been reading books about these various methods and asked questions about them. Perhaps also, in a wider sense, it is appropriate that there should first be a general exposition of various methods before the lifelong instruction in that which he prescribed. Certainly the other methods, although described, are scarcely recommended.
The breath control that is described is, of course, not mere physical exercise. It is the spiritual significance of the exercise that makes it an elaborate science. `Science’ is indeed the right word for it, for it is a traditional Indian science of self- purification. This makes it abstruse for the Western reader who has no previous grounding in it, especially as, like all sciences, it has its technical vocabulary which does not permit adequate translation without lengthy notes. One has to remember that in writing this exposition the Maharshi knew that he could count on a technical knowledge of the science in question in the person for whom he wrote. The consolation for Western readers is to remember that he neither recommended nor prescribed this path and in his later works scarcely mentioned it. It is not necessary for them to learn its technicalities.
The following are teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi taken from the text Guru Vachaka Kovai, a text which is widely considered to be the most precise, systematic and authoritative collection of Sri Ramana’s spoken teachings.
I have arranged them in an order with the aim of encouraging Self-Enquiry.
I hope these verses are of help to you,
best wishes
Tom
755.
If without wasting time one starts
And keeps up steady self-enquiry,
One’s life becomes at once ennobled,
One is no more this wretched body,
And there wells up within one’s heart
A sea of bliss supreme.
644.
Those who do not keenly seek
And recognise the Being Awareness
Shining incessant in the heart
Sink deep into delusive maya,
Thanks to the denotative knowledge
Piled up by the mounting ego.
393.
One who has wisely chosen the straight path
Of self-enquiry can never go astray;
For like the bright, clear Sun, the Self
Reveals itself direct to whoso
Turns towards it.
77.
What does one gain, you well may ask,
By giving up the wealth immense
Of worldly pleasure and seeking only
Mere Awareness?
The benefit of true Awareness
Is the unbroken prevalence
Of peace within the heart, the bliss
Of one’s own natural being.
71.
How piteous is the spectacle
Of people wandering in the world’s ways
Aimless, frisky like a goat’s beard
And chafing at the discipline
That leads to permanent freedom.
756.
Barring fruitful self-enquiry
There is, for real mind-control,
No other sadhana whatsoever.
The mind may seem to be controlled
By other methods. But after a while
It will spring up again.
692.
Since it was one’s own past effort
That now has ripened into Fate,
One can with greater present effort
Change one’s Fate.
1186.
Uninterrupted and whole-minded
Concentration on the Self,
Our true, non-dual Being, this
Is mouna, pure, supreme, the goal;
Not at all the lazy mind’s
Inertia which is but a state
Of dark illusion.
186.
Poor seer, who suffers endlessly
Because you still perceive the object,
Not the subject, please look inward,
Not without, and taste the bliss
Of non-duality
878.
The Self alone is the true Eye.
Only of the Self one has
Direct immediate knowledge.
But minds averted from the Self
Look through the senses at a world
Other than the Self and think it can
Be known directly.
190.
You pilgrims, who without discovering
What is within, proceed from place
To place, ever hovering bird-like,
Know Siva supreme is but Awareness,
Absolutely still, abiding
Centred in the Heart.
529.
The jiva’s thirst will vanish only
When the vasanas of the frenzied mind
Die and direct experience comes
Of Pure Awareness.
If mirage water could quench thirst
Then only would knowledge indirect
Satisfy the jiva’s longing.
921.
None can confront and overcome
The mind. Ignore it, then, as something
False, unreal. Know the Self
As the real ground and stand firm-rooted
In it. Then the mind’s movements will
Gradually subside.
694.
Even in this worldly life one’s labours bear
No fruit without abundant faith.
Hence till one merges in the bliss
Supreme and boundless, one’s strong zeal
In sadhana should never slacken.
695.
However great one’s former sins, if one
Repines not, sighing “A sinner am I”
But plunges straight into one’s own Being,
One reaches quick the ocean of bliss
And sports in it.
192.
For the man of dharma seeking
Experience of the state supreme,
The heroic action needed is
To draw in the outward-darting mind
And fix it firmly in the Heart.
193.
If the mind, turned outward and distracted,
Starts observing its own being,
Alienation ends, the vestige ego
Merges in the light of true
Awareness shining in the Heart.
697.
They say that Fate can never bind
Those heaven-bound. What does this mean?
Not an iota of the past can touch
Those who dwell unceasingly
In the firmament of Self-Awareness,
Vast, boundless, frontierless and full.
1059.
The Self, the home of blissful Awareness,
Is an ocean vast of peace serene.
And he whose mind turns inward and dives
Deep within it, gains the infinite treasure
Of its grace.
1062.
The ever-present Self, the radiant
Gem, this is the rarest, richest
Treasure. Look within and find
And hold it fast. Your penury,
The grand illusion, source of every
Trouble on earth, will vanish forthwith.
343.
Those who, diving deep within,
Have found the Self have nothing else
To know. And why? Because they have gone
Themselves beyond all forms and are
Awareness without form.
763.
Only a mind one-pointed, inward turned,
Succeeds in self-enquiry. Weak,
Faltering minds, like green banana trees,
Are not fit fuel to feed this fire.
531.
From questing inward in the heart
Comes knowledge which destroys
All false illusions. Searching books
For pure, clear wisdom is like trying
To cook and eat the picture of a gourd.
532.
Can hunger be appeased by eating
Food cooked over a painted flame?
The end of pain, the bliss of peace,
Results from egoless awareness,
And not at all from verbal wisdom.
533.
Never through argument, but only
By abiding in the heart as pure
Awareness, which lights up and shines
Within the mind, can one enjoy
The thrill, the throb, the bliss supreme
Of being the Self.
612.
Undeluded by whatever else
May come and go, unwinking watch
The Self, because the little fault
Of forgetting for one moment one’s true Being
As Pure Awareness brings tremendous loss.
750.
What we incessantly think of,
That we become. Hence, if we
Keenly seek the Self and think
Of nothing else, the malady
Of birth will cease and all thoughts end.
1029.
Bliss is the very nature of the Self.
Self is the infinitude of Bliss.
All Being is but Bliss.
Knowing this firmly, in the Self
Abide enjoying Bliss forever.
Here are some very important teachings from Annamalai Swami regarding some dangers of meditation and entering into laya, a trance-like state:
A foreign woman came to see Annamalai Swami. While she was prostrating to him she seemed to become unconscious of her surroundings and she remained lying on the floor at his feet for about ten minutes. This was not the first time that she had fallen into this state while in Annamalai Swami’s presence. After watching her for some time, he shouted at her:
Annamalai Swami: You should not go into laya [a trance-like state] like this! It is becoming a habit with you. It may give you some kind of temporary happiness, but it is not a happiness that helps you spiritually. It is the same as sleep. Even worldly activities are better than this laya. Get out of this habit!
[Addressing the other people present]
People occasionally went into states like this in front of Bhagavan [Sri Ramana Maharshi]. He never encouraged them, even the ones who appeared to be in deep meditation. I remember one occasion when Bhagavan noticed a man who had been sitting motionless in the hall for at least an hour, apparently in a deep meditation. Bhagavan was not fooled. He called to Kunju Swami and others who were present, ‘Shout at him, shake him, and when he wakes up, take him on giri pradakshina This is no better than sleep. This state is not good for him. He is just wasting his time sitting like this.’
Bhagavan warned us about this state, and he often cited stories of sadhus who had been stuck in this state for years. One of the most frequently told was a story about a sadhu who asked his disciple for a glass of water. While he was waiting for the man to return, he went into a deep laya state that persisted for many, many years. He was in this state so long, his disciple died, the river changed its course, and different rulers came and went. When he opened his eyes, his first comment was, ‘Where is my glass of water?’ Before he went into laya, this thought was uppermost in his mind, and decades later, this thought was still there.
Bhagavan’s comment on this story was, ‘These states are not helpful. They are not samadhi.’
[The woman who had been in laya then asked the next question:]
Question: Whenever I start meditating, soon after I start, I fall into these states. How can I prevent these laya states from coming and taking me over?
Annamalai Swami: Keep practising self-enquiry. This is the way to avoid laya. The mind usually has two habits; either it is occupied with many thoughts and engaged in activities, or it goes back to sleep. But for some people, there is this third option, falling into this laya state. You should not indulge in it because once it becomes a habit, it becomes addictive.
[Tom – note the habitual nature of going into laya which becomes familiar to the mind and so becomes a familiar state of consciousness:]
It is a pleasant state be in, but if you fall very deeply into it, it becomes very hard to get out of it. You know what this state is like because you have been in it many times. As soon as you feel the first symptoms of an approaching trance, get up and walk around. Don’t remain sitting or lying. Walk around or do some work, and above all, keep up the practice of self-enquiry.
If you practise self-enquiry constantly, you will never find yourself falling into laya. You can conquer this habit. You just need to be attentive and to do self-enquiry.
Here Annamalai Swami gives a similar teaching, this time from the book Living by the Words of Bhagavan, page 345:
Questioner: It is clear that vasanas are not destroyed during sleep. Are they destroyed by nirvikalpa samadhi, or does this state have no effect on them?
Annamalai Swami: Bhagavan taught that we should aim for sahaja samadhi, not nirvikalpa samadhi. He said that it was not necessary to experience nirvikalpa samadhi prior to enjoying sahaja samadhi.
One form of nirvikalpa samadhi is like laya, like deep sleep. There is peace while the samadhi persists, but when the experience is over the mind rises and the vasanas become just as active as before.
Laya [temporary suspension of all mental faculties in a trance-like state] is virtually the same as sleep. Experiencing this state is not helpful to your sadhana. Laya is not meditation, it is unconsciousness; it is tamo-guna in a very strong form. Meditation needs an awake mind, not an unconscious one.
Sleep and laya increase the identification with the mind. You may feel a little peace during laya, but when you wake up from this state the mind becomes very active again and the peace is all lost.
I have taken and arranged the following quotes from Ramana Maharshi’s two works Who Am I? (Nan Yar?) and Self Enquiry (Vichara Sangraham) with a focus on Self Enquiry and how to actually put the method into practice.
In order to do this, we will also look at some of the underpinning theory and also some practical points as to how this can be put into practice in daily life. Bold type and headings have been added by myself
Best wishes
Tom
Enquiry is the way
Ramana Maharshi: As all living beings desire to be happy always, without misery, as in the case of everyone there is observed supreme love for one’s self, and as happiness alone is the cause for love, in order to gain that happiness which is one’s nature and which is experienced in the state of deep sleep where there is no mind, one should know one’s self. For that, the path of knowledge, the inquiry of the form ‘Who am I?’, is the principal means.
Disciple: Master! What is the means to gain the state of eternal bliss, ever devoid of misery?
Ramana Maharshi: Apart from the statement in the Veda that wherever there is body there is misery, this is also the direct experience of all people; therefore, one should enquire into one’s true nature which is ever bodiless, and one should remain as such. This is the means to gaining that state.
Disciple: What is meant by saying that one should enquire into one’s true nature and understand it?
Ramana Maharshi: Experiences such as “I went; I came; I was; I did” come naturally to everyone. From these experiences, does it not appear that the consciousness ‘I’ is the subject of those various acts? Enquiry into the true nature of that consciousness, and remaining as oneself is the way to understand, through enquiry, one’s true nature
How to perform Self-Enquiry – The Theory
Disciple: How is one to enquire: ‘Who am I?’
Ramana Maharshi: Actions such as ‘going’ and ‘coming’ belong only to the body. And so, when one says “I went, I came”, it amounts to saying that the body is ‘I’.
But, can the body be said to be the consciousness ‘I’, since the body was not before it was born, is made up of the five elements, is non-existent in the state of deep sleep, and becomes a corpse when dead? Can this body which is inert like a log of wood be said to shine as ‘I-I’? Therefore, the ‘I’ consciousness which at first arises in respect of the body is referred to variously as self-conceit (tarbodham), egoity (ahankara), nescience (avidya), maya, impurity (mala), and individual soul (jiva) .
Can we remain without enquiring into this? Is it not for our redemption through enquiry that all the scriptures declare that the destruction of ‘self-conceit’ is release (mukti)?
Disciple. Who am I ?
Ramana Maharshi: The gross body which is composed of the seven humours (dhatus), I am not; the five cognitive sense organs, viz. the senses of hearing, touch, sight, taste, and smell, which apprehend their respective objects, viz. sound, touch, colour, taste, and odour, I am not; the five cognitive senseorgans, viz. the organs of speech, locomotion, grasping, excretion, and procreation, which have as their respective functions speaking, moving, grasping, excreting, and enjoying, I am not; the five vital airs, prana, etc., which perform respectively the five functions of in-breathing, etc., I am not; even the mind which thinks, I am not; the nescience too, which is endowed only with the residual impressions of objects, and in which there are no objects and no functioning’s, I am not.
Disciple. If I am none of these, then who am I?
Ramana Maharshi: After negating all of the above-mentioned as ‘not this’, ‘not this’, that Awareness which alone remains – that I am
Disciple: What is the nature of the Self?
Ramana Maharshi: What exists in truth is the Self alone. The world, the individual soul, and God are appearances in it. like silver in mother-of-pearl, these three appear at the same time, and disappear at the same time. The Self is that where there is absolutely no ‘I’ thought. That is called ‘Silence’ The Self itself is the world; the Self itself is ‘I’; the Self itself is God; all is Siva, the Self.
Disciple: Is it not possible for God and the Guru to effect the release of a soul?
Ramana Maharshi: God and the Guru will only show the way to release; they will not by themselves take the soul to the state of release.
Disciple: Is it any use reading books for those who long for release?
Ramana Maharshi: All the texts say that in order to gain release one should render the mind quiescent; therefore their conclusive teaching is that the mind should be rendered quiescent; once this has been understood there is no need for endless reading.
In order to quieten the mind one has only to inquire within oneself what one’s Self is; how could this search be done in books? One should know one’s Self with one’s own eye of wisdom. The Self is within the five sheaths; but books are outside them. Since the Self has to be inquired into by discarding the five sheaths, it is futile to search for it in books. There will come a time when one will have to forget all that one has learned.
How to perform Self-Enquiry – The Method
Therefore, making the corpse-body remain as a corpse, and not even uttering the word ‘I’, one should enquire keenly thus: ‘Now, what is it that rises as ‘I’’. Then, there would shine in the Heart a kind of wordless illumination of the form ‘I’ ‘I’. That is, there would shine of its own accord the pure consciousness which is unlimited and one, the limited and the many thoughts having disappeared. If one remains quiescent without abandoning that (experience), the egoity, the individual sense, of the form ‘I am the body’ will be totally destroyed, and at the end the final thought, viz. the ‘I’-form also will be quenched like the fire that burns camphor [ie. without leaving any sediment]. The great sages and scriptures declare that this alone is release.
Disciple: How will the mind become quiescent?
Ramana Maharshi: By the inquiry ‘Who am I?’. The thought ‘who am I?’ will destroy all other thoughts, and like the stick used for stirring the burning pyre, it will itself in the end get destroyed. Then, there will arise Self-realization.
Disciple What is the means for constantly holding on to the thought ‘Who am I?’
Ramana Maharshi: When other thoughts arise, one should not pursue them, but should inquire: ‘To whom do they arise?’ It does not matter how many thoughts arise. As each thought arises, one should inquire with diligence, ‘To whom has this thought arisen?’. The answer that would emerge would be ‘To me’. Thereupon if one inquires ‘Who am I?’, the mind will go back to its source; and the thought that arose will become quiescent.
With repeated practice in this manner, the mind will develop the skill to stay in its source.
When the mind that is subtle goes out through the brain and the sense-organs, the gross names and forms appear; when it stays in the heart, the names and forms disappear. Not letting the mind go out, but retaining it in the Heart is what is called ‘inwardness’ (antarmukha). Letting the mind go out of the Heart is known as ‘externalisation’ (bahir-mukha).
Thus, when the mind stays in the Heart, the ‘I’ which is the source of all thoughts will go, and the Self which ever exists will shine.
Whatever one does, one should do without the egoity ‘I’. If one acts in that way, all will appear as of the nature of Siva (God).
Even if one thinks constantly ‘I’ ‘I’, one will be led to that place.
The mind should not be allowed to wander towards worldly objects and what concerns other people.
The world should be considered like a dream.
Disciple: How long should inquiry be practised?
Ramana Maharshi: As long as there are impressions of objects in the mind, so long the inquiry ‘Who am I?’ is required.
As thoughts arise they should be destroyed then and there in the very place of their origin, through inquiry.
If one resorts to contemplation of the Self unintermittently, until the Self is gained, that alone would do. As long as there are enemies within the fortress, they will continue to sally forth; if they are destroyed as they emerge, the fortress will fall into our hands.
But thoughts still arise…
Disciple: When one enquires into the root of ‘self conceit’ which is of the form ‘I’, all sorts of different thoughts without number seem to rise; and not any separate ‘I’ thought.
Ramana Maharshi: …Whatever thoughts arise as obstacles to one’s sadhana (spiritual discipline) – the mind should not be allowed to go in their direction, but should be made to rest in one’s self which is the Atman; one should remain as witness to whatever happens, adopting the attitude ‘Let whatever strange things happen, happen; let us see!’ This should be one’s practice. In other words, one should not identify oneself with appearances; one should never relinquish one’s self.
This is the proper means for destruction of the mind (manonasa) which is of the nature of seeing the body as self, and which is the cause of all the aforesaid obstacles.
This method which easily destroys egoity deserves to be called devotion (bhakti), meditation (dhyana), concentration (yoga), and knowledge (jnana).
Disciple: The residual impressions (thoughts) of objects appear wending like the waves of an ocean. When will all of them get destroyed?
Ramana Maharshi: As the meditation on the Self rises higher and higher, the thoughts will get destroyed.
Disciple: Is it possible for the residual impressions of objects that come from beginningless time, as it were, to be resolved, and for one to remain as the pure Self?
Ramana Maharshi: Without yielding to the doubt “Is it possible, or not?”, one should persistently hold on to the meditation on the Self. Even if one be a great sinner, one should not worry and weep “O! I am a sinner, how can I be saved?”; one should completely renounce the thought “I am a sinner”; and concentrate keenly on meditation on the Self; then, one would surely succeed.
Disciple: Are there no other means for making the mind quiescent?
Ramana Maharshi: Other than inquiry, there are no adequate means. If through other means it is sought to control the mind, the mind will appear to be controlled, but will again go forth. Through the control of breath also, the mind will become quiescent; but it will be quiescent only so long as the breath remains controlled, and when the breath resumes the mind also will again start moving and will wander as impelled by residual impressions.
Can we do enquiry in daily life in the world?
Disciple: Is the aforesaid Self-experience possible, even in the state of empirical existence, for the mind which has to perform functions in accordance with its prarabdha (the past karma which has begun to fructify)?
Ramana Maharshi: A Brahmin may play various parts in a drama; yet the thought that he is a Brahmin does not leave his mind. Similarly, when one is engaged in various empirical acts there should be the firm conviction “I am the Self”, without allowing the false idea “I am the body, etc.” to rise.
If the mind should stray away from its state, then immediately one should enquire, “Oh! Oh! We are not the body etc.! Who are we?” and thus one should reinstate the mind in that (pure) state. The enquiry ‘Who am I?’ is the principal means to the removal of all misery and the attainment of the supreme bliss. When in this manner the mind becomes quiescent in its own state, Self-experience arises of its own accord, without any hindrance. Thereafter sensory pleasures and pains will not affect the mind. All (phenomena) will appear then, without attachment, like a dream. Never forgetting one’s plenary Self-experience is real bhakti (devotion), yoga (mind-control), jnana (knowledge) and all other austerities. Thus say the sages.
Disciple: When there is activity in regard to works, we are neither the agents of those works nor their enjoyers. The activity is of the three instruments (i.e., the mind, speech, and body). Could we remain (unattached) thinking thus?
Ramana Maharshi: After the mind has been made to stay in the Self which is its Deity, and has been rendered indifferent to empirical matters because it does not stray away from the Self, how can the mind think as mentioned above? Do not such thoughts constitute bondage? When such thoughts arise due to residual impressions (vasanas), one should restrain the mind from flowing that way, endeavour to retain it in the Self-state, and make it turn indifferent to empirical matters. One should not give room in the mind for such thoughts as: “Is this good? Or, is that good? Can this be done? Or, can that be done?” One should be vigilant even before such thoughts arise and make the mind stay in its native state. If any little room is given, such a (disturbed) mind will do harm to us while posing as our friend; like the foe appearing to be a friend, it will topple us down.
Is it not because one forgets one’s Self that such thoughts arise and cause more and more evil? While it is true that to think through discrimination, “I do not do anything; all actions are performed by the instruments”, is a means to prevent the mind from flowing along thought vasanas, does it not also follow that only if the mind flows along thought vasanas that it must be restrained through discrimination as stated before?
Can the mind that remains in the Self-state think as ‘I’ and as ‘I behave empirically thus and thus’? In all manner of ways possible one should endeavour gradually not to forget one’s (true) Self that is God. If that is accomplished, all will be accomplished.The mind should not be directed to any other matter. Even though one may perform, like a mad person, the actions that are the result of prarabdha-karma, one should retain the mind in the Self-state without letting the thought ‘I do’ arise. Have not countless bhaktas (devotees) performed their numerous empirical functions with an attitude of indifference?
Is there any way of adoring the Supreme which is all, except by abiding firmly as that!
Vasistha: The self ignorantly imagines an egotistic existence, even as if gold, forgetting its goldness, might think it is a ring and weep and wail “Alas, I have lost my goldness”.
Rama: Holy sir, how can this ignorance and egotism arise in the self?
Vasistha: Rama, one should ask questions concerning the reality only, not concerning the unreal. Neither goldless ringness nor limited egotism exists in truth. When the goldsmith sells the ring, he weighs out the gold, for it is gold. If one were to discuss the existence of the ringness in the ring, and the finite form in the infinite consciousness, then one has to compare it with the barren woman’s son.
The existence of the unreal is unreal: it arises in ignorance and vanishes when inquired into. In ignorance one sees silver in the mother-of-pearl, but it cannot serve as silver even for a moment! As long as the truth that it is mother-of-pearl is not seen, the ignorance lasts. Even as one cannot extract oil from sand and even as one can obtain only gold from the ring, there are no two things here in this universe: the one infinite consciousness alone shines in all names and forms.
Such indeed is the nature of this utter ignorance, this delusion and this world-process: without real existence there is this illusory notion of egotism. This egotism does not exist in the infinite self. In the infinite self there is no creator, no creation, no worlds, no heaven, no humans, no demons, no bodies, no elements, no time, no existence and no destruction, no ‘you’, no ‘I’, no self, no that, no truth, no falsehood (none of these), no notion of diversity, no contemplation and no enjoyment. Whatever is, and is known as the universe, is that supreme peace.
There is no beginning, no middle and no end: all is all at all times, beyond the comprehension of the mind and speech. There is no creation. The infinite has never abandoned its infinity. That has never become this. It is like the ocean, but without ocean’s movement. It is self-luminous like the sun, but without activity.
In ignorance, the supreme being is viewed as the object, as the world. Even as space exists in space, one with space, even so what appears to be the creation is Brahman existing in Brahman, as Brahman. The notions of far and near, of diversity, of here and there are as valid as the distance between two objects in a mirror in which a whole city is reflected.
Ramana Maharshi: The Self is all. Are you apart from the Self? Or can the work go on without the Self? The Self is universal: so, all actions will go on whether you strain yourself to be engaged in them or not. The work will go on of itself. Thus Krishna told Arjuna that he need not trouble to kill the Kauravas; they were already slain by God. It was not for him to resolve to work and worry himself about it, but to allow his own nature to carry out the will of the higher power.
Q: But the work may suffer if I do not attend to it.
Ramana Maharshi: Attending to the Self means attending to the work. Because you identify yourself with the body, you think that work is done by you. But the body and its activities, including that work, are not apart from the Self. What does it matter whether you attend to the work or not? Suppose you walk from one place to another: you do not attend to the steps you take. Yet you find yourself after a time at your goal. You see how the business of walking goes on without your attending to it. So also with other kinds of work.
Q: It is then like sleep-walking.
Ramana Maharshi: Like somnambulism? Quite so. When a child is fast asleep, his mother feeds him; the child eats the food just as well as when he is fully awake. But the next morning he says to the mother, “Mother, I did not take food last night”. The mother and others know that he did, but he says that he did not; he was not aware. Still the action had gone on.
A traveller in a cart has fallen asleep. The bulls move, stand still or are unyoked during the journey. He does not know these events but finds himself in a different place after he wakes up. He has been blissfully ignorant of the occurrences on the way, but the journey has been finished. Similarly with the Self of a person. The ever-wakeful Self is compared to the traveller asleep in the cart.
In Sri Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi’s Upadesa Saram (The Essence of Instruction), we have in concise form all we need to know in order to attain liberation in this life. The teaching is densely packed in, making the teaching all the sweeter for the ripe seeker of Truth.
Here you will find universal teachings for enlightenment, the true Vedanta.
That said, two other of Ramana’s texts which compliment this are Nan Yar? (Who am I?) and Ulladu Narpadu (Forty Verses on Reality). Together, in my view, these three texts form a comprehensive complete teaching for liberation in concise form. I also highly recommend reading The Path of Sri Ramana which explains in detail the entire path to liberation.
The translation into Engish from the original Sanskrit is by Professor K. Swaminathan – this is the same translation found in the Collected Works of Sri Ramana Maharshi published by Sri Ramana Ashramam. I have made some comments (in italicised red) which hopefully make the teachings clearer, but have attempted to keep these to a minimum so the actual force, beauty and true meaning of the text is not diluted and lost amidst my verbiage!
Action yields fruit, For so the Lord ordains it. How can action be the Lord? It is insentient.
Cause and effect (‘action’ and ‘fruit’ respectively, or karma) is essentially a mechanical process, insentient, subject to change, and not at all the Divine. Put differently, the world of cause and effect is not, in essence, the Self or the Lord. The world of cause and effect, or karma, is all non-Self.
2. The fruit of action passes. But action leaves behind Seed of further action Leading to an endless ocean of action; Not at all to moksha.
This here is a very important verse. All actions are limited, and therefore give rise to limited effects. These effects then in turn become the cause for another limited effect, and so on. Limited actions cannot give rise to That, in which there are no limits, so no limited actions can lead to Moksha. The unstated implication is THAT which we are looking for -The Absolute, Brahman, call IT what you will – THAT is already fully and completely here – no action is required to attain the Self, as we are already THAT. Delving around in the world of objects and cause and effect will not lead to Liberation, which already IS.
3. Disinterested action Surrendered to the Lord Purifies the mind and points The way to moksha.
Becoming increasingly disinterested in things that happen in the world, carrying out your social and ethical duties whilst surrendering all to Him – this is conducive to Liberation.
4. This is certain: Worship, praise and meditation, Being work of body, speech and mind, Are steps for orderly ascent.
Bhagavan gives us a hierarchy of spiritual practices, starting with worship (which utilises the body), then going to use praise (which utilises speech), and then to the higher practice of meditation (which utilises the mind).
We are not to greedily jump straight to meditation as it is the higher practice, unless we are naturally ripe for this, but to start where we are for ‘orderly ascent’. In the next few verses Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi will explain these practices to us in greater detail:
6. Better than hymns of praise Is repetition of the Name; Better low-voiced than loud, But best of all Is meditation in the mind.
The practice becomes, in time, increasingly subtle, starting from coarser practices involving the body and then speech, to subtler practices of the mind, as per verse 4.
7. Better than spells of meditation Is one continuous current, Steady as a stream, Or downward flow of oil.
Over time, meditation should move from the sporadic to the continuous. A wonderful traditional metaphor of a continuous current of a river or a steady stream of oil as it is poured is used so there is no mistake as to what this means: continuous meditation means continuous meditation. What what exactly is this meditation, and how can it be done? Worry not! Bhagavan will explain all to us in later verses. How lucky we are to have these beautiful teachings of His!
8. Better than viewing Him as Other, Indeed the noblest attitude of all, Is to hold Him as the ‘I’ within, The very ‘I’.
A key part of the teachings is this – to realise that all is non-separate from Him. Furthermore, He is none other that the essence of You, the ‘I’ within. In earlier verses such as 5 and 6 it may be thought that God is an entity external to you. However here it is made clear that you are not praising a divine entity that is separate from your Being. All this is implied in verses 20 and 23, and more clearly stated in verse 26.
The next verse also continues this same theme, but going one step further, the form of devotion and worship becoming ever more subtle and direct:
10. Absorption in the heart of being, Whence we sprang, Is the path of action, of devotion, Of union and of knowledge.
For the more intellectually inclined, this verse can be illuminating. Bhagavan is stating here, in line with the Upanishads (eg. Amritabindu Upanishad verses 2-5) and Bhagavad Gita (eg Chapter 5 verse 4), that all the main yogas are, at this stage in the practice, essentially one and the same.
Abiding as the Self IS the path of action, abiding as the Self IS Devotion, abiding as the Self IS Yoga (‘union’), abiding as the Self IS Knowledge.
Amritabindu Upanishad, verse 5: ‘The mind should be prevented from functioning, until it dissolves itself in the heart. This is Jnana, this is Dhyana, the rest is all mere concoction of untruth.’
Bhagavad Gita 5.4: ‘Only the ignorant say that the yoga of knowledge and the yoga of devotional action are different, wise people do not. One who is perfectly established in one, obtains the result of both.’
11. Holding the breath controls the mind, A bird caught in a net. Breath-regulation helps Absorption in the heart.
A key teaching that regulation of the breath is a useful aid to Abiding as Self. The invitation is to take up this advice an incorporate it into your practice.
12. Mind and breath (as thought and action) Fork out like two branches. But both spring From a single root.
Both the mind and breath or actions, in fact all phenomena, arise from a single Source. The implication is that finding the source of the mind can also be done by finding the source of the breath.
laya vinaśane ubhaya-rodhane
laya-gataṃ punar bhavati no mṛtam
13. Absorption is of two sorts; Submergence and destruction. Mind submerged rises again; Dead, it revives no more.
The implication is that death of mind is the goal, rather than just a mere temporary quiescence of mind. Next the method by which the mind can be killed is given:
naṣta-manasot-kṛṣṭa yoginaḥ
kṛtyam asti kiṃ svasthitiṃ yataḥ
15. Mind extinct, the mighty seer Returns to his own natural being And has no action to perform.
Yoga Vasishta, one of Ramana’s favourite traditional texts, says ‘Supreme Bliss cannot be experienced through contact of the senses with their objects. The supreme state is that in which the mind is annihilated through one-pointed enquiry.’ and elsewhere it also states ‘Every moving or unmoving thing whatsoever is only an object visualised by the mind. When the mind is annihilated, duality (i.e. multiplicity) is not perceived.’
Now we are half-way through the text. The essential teaching has already been given and the text could end here. However, in the second half further elucidation and clarification will be lovingly dispensed:
16. It is true wisdom For the mind to turn away From outer objects and behold Its own effulgent form.
What is true wisdom? It is for the mind to turn away from all objects and phenomena and abide as the Self.
Some confusion may arise as to how the mind, the nature of which is thought (verse 18), can behold it’s ‘own effulgent form’. When the mind is turn outward, occupied with objects such as thoughts, feelings, the body and the outer world of objects, it is called the mind. When the mind is no longer occupied with these things, it is none other than the Self.
Ramana states In Day by Day with Bhagavan: ‘The mind turned inwards is the Self; turned outwards, it becomes the ego and all the world’
Yoga Vasishta states: ‘Consciousness which is undivided imagines to itself desirable objects and runs after them. It is then known as the mind.’ and also elsewhere states: ‘After knowing that by which you know this (world) turn the mind inward and then you will see clearly (i.e. realize) the effulgence of the Self.’ and elsewhere states: ‘O Rama, the mind has, by its own activity, bound itself; when it is calm it is free.’
mānasaṃ tu kiṃ mārgaṇe kṛte
naiva mānasaṃ mārge ārjavāt
17. When unceasingly the mind Scans its own form There is nothing of the kind. For every one This path direct is open.
Another key verse here. The insight here is that the mind is not a real entity, just an imagined one. When searched for, it cannot be found as a distinct entity. What a wonderful and essential teaching is presented here! It is further expounded on in the next two verses:
19. When one turns within and searches Whence this ‘I’ thought arises, The shamed ‘I’ vanishes – And wisdom’s quest begins.
The above verse states this is but the beginning of self-enquiry, ‘the quest’. How do we proceed after we have searched for the source of the I-concept and found it to be non-existent? Let us see:
20. Where this ‘I’ notion faded Now there as I–I, arises The One, the very Self, The Infinite.
The Self is defined as that in which there is no I-concept, no concept of a ‘me’. This can only be realised non-verbally through practice and direct experience.
21. Of the term, ‘I’, the permanent import Is That. For even in deep sleep Where we have no sense of ‘I’ We do not cease to be.
A pointer here that what is known as ‘I’ is actually none other than THAT, ie. God or the Absolute, the Infinite – the Self. Ramana states in Who Am I? (Nan Yar?) ‘By a steady and continuous investigation into the nature of the mind, the mind is transformed into That to which ‘I’ refers; and that is in fact the Self’
Even in deep sleep, whilst there is no I-concept, we still exist do we not? This gives us a clue as to our True Essential Nature (True Self).
22. Body, senses, mind, breath, sleep – All insentient and unreal – Cannot be ‘I’, ‘I’ who am the Real.
Rather late on in the text Ramana introduces to us the teaching of discerning the Self from the non-Self (Viveka, or Atma-anatma-viveka). The essence of what we are, which does not change, which is ever-present and ‘Real’, cannot be that which changes and that which has no consciousness of its own (ie. ‘insentient’). The real is that which illuminates the unreal, ie. is consciousness or sentient.
23. सत्त्वभासिका चित्क्ववेतरा ।
सत्तया हि चिच्चित्तया ह्यहम् ॥ २३॥
sattva-bhāsika citkva vetarā
sattyā hi cit cittayā hyaham
23. For knowing That which is There is no other knower. Hence Being is Awareness; And we all are Awareness.
Awareness needs no second light to illuminate it. Indeed there is no second thing apart from the Self that can know the Self, for the Self is One and All, and there is nothing outside of or apart from it. We may need a light source to illuminate a common everyday object in darkness, but the sun needs no secondary light source to be seen. It is self-shining. Similarly the Self is self-shining. It needs no other to know itself. To know the Self, THAT, is not really a knowing in that there is no second object to be known (for the Self is non-dual), but ‘knowing the Self’ really is just BEING the Self, or BEING AWARENESS.
24. ईशजीवयोर्वेषधीभिदा ।
सत्स्वभावतो वस्तु केवलम् ॥ २४॥
īśa-jīvayor veṣa-dhī-bhidā
sat-svabhāvato vastu kevalam
24. In the nature of their being Creature and creator are in substance one. They differ only In adjuncts and awareness.
Ramana makes some clarifications here so we are clear on what is being said. He is stating that the nature of the individual or jiva (ie. ‘creature’ which is actually a translation of jiva) is the same as the essential nature of God or Ishvara (‘creator’, which is a translation of Isa or Isvara, ie. the Lord). The difference is only in the phenomenal appearance, but both are in essence BEING-AWARENESS. This reasoning is taken further in the next verse:
25. Seeing oneself free of all attributes [objects] Is to see the Lord, For He shines ever as the pure Self.
Therefore, if you ‘see’ yourself devoid of all phenomena and ‘attributes’, which means to be aware but to be devoid of thoughts, feelings, body and worldly objects, then you are seeing your essential nature, which is to see God (Isa or Ishvara). Your essential nature is Him. Remember, the word seeing doesn’t mean you are seeing something, for there is no duality here. Ramana, out of his love and compassion for us, tells us as follows:
26. To know the Self is but to be the Self, For it is non-dual. In such knowledge One abides as that.
He reminds us that this is not a dualistic knowing (of objects), but just BEING THAT. The word ‘know’ is just a dualistic phrase used, dualistic as it implies a knower and something that is known, whereas here there is no knower or known, just BEING-AWARENESS. Ramana continues to make it clear for us:
27. That is true knowledge which transcends Both knowledge and ignorance, For in pure knowledge Is no object to be known.
True Knowledge is simply a synonym for the Self, and there are no objects in the Self or apart from the Self. There is only the Self.
The Amritabindu Upanishad says, in verse 4: ‘The mind severed from all connection with sensual objects, and prevented from functioning out, awakes into the light of the heart, and finds the highest condition.’
28. Having known one’s nature one abides As being with no beginning and no end In unbroken consciousness and bliss.
Importantly, this state is to be ‘abided in’, for want of better wording, meaning that we are not to be attracted to sense-objects and become involved with thoughts and feelings and things (ie. the world) and so give birth to the mind (see verse 16 and commentary), but to remain in Truth as Truth, as BEING-AWARENESS (sat-chit) devoid of any objects, which is known as BLISS (written as sukha here, which means happiness in Sanskrit, often called ananda, which also means happiness.)
bandha muktyatītaṃ paraṃ sukham
vindatīhajī vastu daivikaḥ
29. Beyond bondage and release, Is steadfastness In service of the Lord.
Again, like in verse 28, verse 29 implies a continuance in remaining in this stateless state which is transcendent to both liberation and bondage, which are both to do with phenomenal existence. In verse 28 the language of knowledge is used, ‘Having known one’s nature…’. here in verse 29 the language of devotion is used. In verses 1 and 2 Ramana has hinted that the world of insentient objects is not the way, and in verse 10 Ramana has already told us that true devotion and true knowledge are simply to abide as sat-chit-ananda devoid of adjuncts or phenomena. This is written here poetically as ‘steadfast service of the Lord’. Continue to abide as the Self, That which is beyond dualities of liberation and bondage, That in which there is no change, That which is the nature of ‘unbroken Consciousness and Bliss’ (verse 28).
aham-apetakaṃ nija-vibhānakam
mahadidaṃ tapo ramaṇa vāgiyam
30. All ego gone, Living as that alone Is penance good for growth, Sings Ramana, the Self.
Remaining as the Self, that in which there is no ego, is the only way to Moksha. It is the culmination of the path of devotion, knowledge, yoga and action. It is both the highest Knowledge and highest Devotion and also beyond knowledge and devotion.
To abide as the Self that is of the nature sat-chit-sukha, until the ego is destroyed, never to arise again (cf. verses 13-15) is Moksha (liberation) itself.
This is one of a series of introductory articles found on the homepage of tomdas.com. Please also see the recommended reading list here.
This post authoritatively summarises the essential liberating teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi in relatively concise form. Please take the time to read and study this material in order to gain benefit from it.
The text ‘Guru Vachaka Kovai’, also known as ‘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 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.’
Bold text has been added by myself for emphasis, and I have included a few comments from Sri Sadhu Om when further explanation may be helpful. As usual my own comments are added in italicised red – I hope they are of benefit.
May these verses illuminate the path for earnest seekers of realisation!
I prostrate to Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi, from whose lips these teachings graciously fell, and also to Dearest Muruganar who faithfully recorded these jewels
I bow to Sri Ramana, the Lord Himself, whose Grace is ever-present everywhere
I give myself unto dear Bhagavan, whose light shines as the Self within our Heart, whose true form is Pure Consciousness, Silence, the Sadguru (True Teacher) within and without
! Om Namo Bhagavate Sri Ramayana Om !
Introduction
The Self is ever-attained:
8. The benefit of this Light of Supreme Truth is the understanding that there is not the least thing such as ‘attainment’, since the Supreme Self is the Ever-Attained One Whole. Thus the mental wanderings caused by striving towards Dharma, Artha, and Kama are also removed.
Sri Sadhu Om: Up till now the shastras [scriptures] have prescribed, as the rightful goals of human life, the following four aims:
-Dharma: the practice of righteous social duties. -Artha: the acquisition of wealth through righteous means. -Kama: the satisfaction of desires within righteous limits. -Moksha: liberation, the natural state of abiding as Self.
This work, The Light of Supreme Truth shows us now that the first three worldly aims are futile and transitory, and thus it removes our wandering mental efforts to attain them. We may however still think, “Is not mental effort at least needed to obtain Moksha?” but again this Light shows us the meaninglessness of striving to ‘attain’ Self, which is ever-attained, and instead it recommends the cessation of all mental activity, thereby fixing us in the eternal, motionless and ever-attained State of Self.
The unreality of the world
The world does not exist:
23. The Realised who do not know anything as being other than Self, which is absolute Consciousness, will not say that the world, which has no existence in the view of the Supreme Brahman, is real.
28. O aspirants who hide yourselves away fearing this world, nothing such as a world exists! Fearing this false world which appears to exist, is like fearing the false snake which appears in a rope.
87. Self appearing as the world is just like a rope seeing itself as a snake; just as the snake is, on scrutiny, found to be ever non-existent, so is the world found to be ever non-existent, even as an appearance.
The world only appears to exist due to ignorance/maya/mind:
34. The deceptive I-am-the-body idea alone makes the world, which is an appearance of names and forms, seem real, and thereby it at once binds itself with desires [for the world].
35. Since this world of dyads and triads appears only in the mind, like the illusory ring of fire formed [in darkness] by whirling the single point of a glowing rope-end, it is false, and it does not exist in the clear sight of Self.
‘Dyads’ refers to seer/seen or perceiver/perceived or knower/known, ie. subject/object; ‘triads’ refers to seer/seeing/seen or perceiver/perceiving/perceived or knower/knowing/known, ie. subject/verb/object. Ramana is stating that this division of the world into dyads or triads only appears due to ‘the mind’, ie. ignorance. Another way of stating the above is that the world/ego/ignorance only exists due to a lack of self-enquiry/self-attention:
156. The reason for our mistake of seeing a world of objects in front of us is that we have risen as a separate ‘I’, the seer, due to our failure to attend to the vast perfection of Self-Consciousness, which is our Reality.
36. O worldly-minded man who is unable to understand the wise reasoning and the teachings of Sages about the Supreme Knowledge, if properly scrutinised, this big universe of delusion is seen to be nothing but the illusive play of the vasanas [mental tendencies] within you.
ie. like a dream, the world is merely a projection of the mind and is unreal, also see below:
84. All that is perceived by the mind was already within the heart. Know that all perceptions are a reproduction of past tendencies now being projected outside [through the five senses].
40. How does this false and villainous vast world, that cheats and ravages the minds of all people [except the wise], come into existence? Because of no reason other than our own mistake in falling away from, instead of clinging to, Self-attention.
ie. the world is created through ignorance, ie. it is maya, see below:
55. The appearance of this world, like the illusory appearance of a dream, is merely mental and its truth [therefore] can be known correctly only by the Supreme Consciousness that transcends Maya, the mind.
Ignorance is not real and never existed:
86. Do not ask, “Why does Self, as if confused, not know the Truth that It is Itself which is seen as the world?” If instead you enquire, “To whom does this confusion occur?”, it will be discovered that no such confusion ever existed for Self!
87. Self appearing as the world is just like a rope seeing itself as a snake; just as the snake is, on scrutiny, found to be ever non-existent, so is the world found to be ever non-existent, even as an appearance.
100. Although Guru Ramana taught various doctrines according to the level of understanding of those who came to Him, we heard from Him that ‘Ajata’ alone is truly His own experience. Thus should you know.
Sri Sadhu Om: ‘Ajata’ is the knowledge that nothing – neither the world, soul nor God – ever comes into existence, and that ‘That Which Is’ ever exists as IT is.
The body
The body, being part of the world, is also a non-existent illusion:
97. The body exists only in the view of the mind, which is deluded and drawn outwards by the power of Maya. In the clear view of Self, which is a single vast Space of Consciousness, there is no body at all and it is therefore wrong to call Self ‘Dehi’ or ‘Kshetrajna’ [the owner or knower of the body]
Kshetra means ‘field’ and ‘jna’ is the root of the verb ‘to know’, so kshetrajna means ‘knower of the field’. These terms were used by Sri Krishna in Chapter 13 of the Bhagavad Gita when he explains to Arjuna that the body is the ‘kshetra’ or field but what we really are is the knower of the body/field, kshetrajna. Here Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi goes one step further by stating that the idea of kshetra and kshetrajna or deha (body) and dehi (owner of the body) are too just dualistic ideas of the mind. Whilst they are useful teachings at one level, these dualistic notions are ultimately more ignorance.
B1. Give up thinking that the loathsome body is ‘I’. Know Self, which is eternal Bliss. Cherishing the ephemeral body as well as trying to know Self is just like using a crocodile as a raft to cross a river.
[Tom – compare to: ‘Whoever seeks to realise the Self by devoting himself to the nourishment of the body, proceeds to cross a river by catching hold of a crocodile, mistaking it for a log.’ Shankara, Vivekachudamani, verse 84]
126. Instead of attending to Sat-Chit-Ananda, the subtlest, which is beyond the reach of speech or mind, to spend one’s life attending merely to the welfare of the gross body is just like drawing water with great difficulty from a well in order to water some useless grass [instead of paddy].
127. Those who take to the petty life, mistaking the body as ‘I’, have lost, so to speak, the great life of unlimited Bliss in the Heart, which is ever waiting to be experienced by them.
The ego
The ego is another illusory phenomena, a ‘picture on the screen’:
159. The life of the filthy ego, which mistakes a body both as ‘I’ and as ‘my place’, is merely a false imagination seen as a dream in the pure, real, Supreme Self.
160. This fictitious jiva, who lives as ‘I [am the body]’, is also one of the pictures on the screen.
Happiness is not in the world
We all want to be happy; the easy way is to attend to the Self, ie. self-attention, which is the noble path of self-enquiry; the difficult way (that doesn’t work) is to attend to the world, ‘the field of the five senses’:
72. Longing for a tiny grain of pleasure, people toil so hard using the mind to plough the field of the five senses, but they never wish for the flood of Bliss which is the fruit that comes by ploughing the Heart, the Source of the mind, with [simple] Self-attention. Ah, what a wonder!
Do not seek happiness in the world – you will ‘drown’ in maya:
128. Not knowing that the world in front of them brings only great harm, those who take it to be real and a source of happiness will drown in the ocean of birth and death, like one who takes hold of a floating bear as a raft.
74. Only when the world’s allurement is lost will true Liberation be possible [and its allurement cannot be lost unless it is found to be unreal]. Hence, to try to foist reality upon this world is to be just like an infatuated lover who tries to foist chastity upon a prostitute.
Note, the above notion that we have to lose our allurement with the world may seem difficult, but by merely attending to the Self, as outlined below, dispassion (vairagya) towards the world and love for Self/Bhagavan will naturally develop:
The only true practice/teaching
The only true way is to attend to the Self. This means to turn within, away from phenomenal objects and towards the Subject-Self. This is Jnana (knowledge), this is Dhyana (meditation), this is Bhakti (devotion/love):
175. The only worthy occupation is to thoroughly absorb the ego by turning Selfward and, without allowing it to rise, to thus abide quietly, like a waveless ocean, in Self-Knowledge, having annihilated the delusive mind-ghost, which had been wandering about unobstructed.
Do not attend to objects – attend to the subject!
186. O miserable and extroverted people, failing to see the seer, you see only the seen! To dissolve duality by turning inwards instead of outwards is alone Blissful.
Do not attend to objects – how? By attending to the Subject-Self!
187. O mind, it is not wise for you to come out [in the form of thoughts]; it is best to go within. Hide yourself deep within the Heart and escape from the tricks of Maya, who tries to upset you by drawing you outwards.
189. Since it is only the notion of duality that spoils Bliss and causes misery, to avoid yielding to the attractions of that notion and to thus arrest all chitta vrittis is alone worthwhile.
‘Chitta’ means mind or consciousness and ‘vritti’ means ‘wave’. Chitta vrittis are therefore the various waves or modulation of our consciousness such as thoughts and perceptions. The famous phrase ‘yoga chitta vritti nirodha’ occurs in Verse 2 of Chapter 1 of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. Here Patanjali, the so-called Father of Yoga defines what yoga is. It roughly translates as ‘Yoga means stilling the modulations of consciousness’ or ‘Yoga means to still the mind’
190. O people, not knowing that Shiva is dwelling within you, you fly about like birds from one holy place to another [seeking His Darshan]. Consciousness, when abiding still in the Heart, is the Supreme Shiva.
This above verse refers to those spiritual seekers who, not realising that the True Teacher, Shiva, is within us, go from one teacher to another, from one holy place to another, instead of simply Being Still/Being What You Are/Attending to the Self.
Now Ramana will tell us how we can protect ourselves from the clutches of Maya:
191. The ship would be destroyed by the storm if its sails were spread outside, but it is safe when its anchor is sunk deep into the sea. Similarly, if the mind were sunk deep in the Heart instead of being spread outside, that would be Jnana.
What is true heroism?
192. To arrest the mind – which tries to rush outwards – securely within, is the truly heroic act of the ripe aspirant who wants to see the Supreme Lord in the Heart.
In the above verse ‘securely within’ implies that the mind has turned within towards the Self and is made to rest ‘securely’ there. This is further made clear in the next verse:
193. When the mind [ie. the ego’s attention] which wanders outside, knowing only other objects [2nd and 3rd persons] – begins to attend to its own nature, all other objects will disappear, and then, by experiencing its own true nature [ie. Self], the pseudo-‘I’ will also die.
The above verses described the path using the language of the path of Knowledge (Jnana). Below we will see this is also the path of devotion and love (Bhakti):
204. A peaceful attitude, together with a ‘silent-flow’ of mind towards undeviating abidance in Self, Sat-Chit, is the best worship of Shiva.
205. Saint Markandeya survived death by conquering even Yama, and lived beyond his destined time. Know, therefore, that death can be overcome by worshipping Shiva, the death-killer.
The message here that in worshipping Shiva we can overcome our karma and destiny just as Saint Markandeya overcame Yama, the Lord of Time and Death
291. If one wants to be saved, one is given the following true and essential advice: just as the tortoise draws all its five limbs within its shell, so one should draw the five senses within and turn one’s mind Selfward. This alone is happiness.
Compare with Bhagavad Gita 2.58: ‘One who is able to fully withdraw the senses from their objects, just as a tortoise withdraws its limbs into its shell, is established in Divine Knowledge’.
Here, once again, the method to attain Self-Realisation, which is perfect infinite eternal Happiness, is made clear:
293. Having known for certain that everything which is seen, without the least exception, is merely a dream, and that it [the seen] does not exist without the seer, turn only towards Self – Sat-Chit-Ananda – without attending to the world of names and forms, which is only a mental conception.
The ‘only raft’, meaning the only way:
294. Attention to one’s own Self, which is ever shining as ‘I’, the one undivided and pure Reality, is the onlyraft with which the jiva, who is deluded by thinking “I am the body”, can cross the ocean of unending births.
297. Do not wander outside, eating the scorching sand of worldly pleasures, which are non-Self; come home to the Heart where Peace is shining as a vast, everlasting, cool shade, and enjoy the feast of the Bliss of Self.
Pay homage to the Guru, to Bhagavan Ramana! How? Let us see:
319. One’s merging into the Heart – through the enquiry into the nature of the ego, which is a delusion in the form of mind – is the right worship of the Lotus-Feet of the supreme Mouna-Guru, who is beyond the mind.
Here the path of enquiry and devotion are shown to be the same One Path
Conduct in the world
The advice given is to live your life as a normal and ethical person in the society you find yourself in:
82. It is not right for the Wise One to behave improperly, even though He has known all that is to be known and attained all that is to be attained. Therefore, observe the code of conduct which is befitting to your outward mode of life.
Self-Realisation
296. Having annihilated the delusive mind which always dwells upon worldly things, having killed the restless ego, and having completely erased the worldly vasanas, shine as Shiva, the pure Consciousness Itself. In Self-realisation there is no sense of being a separate individual:
122. Whatever high and wonderful state of tapas one may have attained, if one still identifies oneself with an individuality, one cannot be a Sahaja-Jnani [i.e. One in the State of Effortlessness]; one is only an aspirant of, perhaps, an advanced stage.
Duality, or ‘the world’, which is ignorance and maya, disappears upon realisation of the Self:
114. When the limited light [which is used to project pictures on the cinema screen] is dissolved in the bright sunlight [which enters the cinema], the pictures also will disappear instantaneously. Similarly, when the limited consciousness [chittam] of the mind is dissolved in supreme Consciousness [Chit], the picture show of these three prime entities [God, world and soul] will also disappear.
If the above is true, why do religions talk of these three (ie. God, the world and the individual soul)?
115. Thus, since the Truth of the Source is One, why do all religions [and sometimes even Sages] start their teachings by at first conceding that these three prime entities are real? Because the mind, which is tossed about by objective knowledge, would not agree to believe in the One unless the Sages condescended to teach It as three.
True Knowledge vs intellectual knowledge
133. Enquiring, “Who is this ‘I’ that has learnt all these arts and sciences?”, and thereby reaching the Heart, the ego vanishes along with all its learning. He who knows the remaining Self-Consciousness is the true Pandit; how can others who have not realised It be Pandits?
Pandit is a word often used to describe a scholar who is well versed in all of the scriptures and in interpreting them in a logical way, but who does not necessarily Know the Self. Here Ramana redifined the word Pandit to be only he who Abides as the Self.
134. Those who have learnt to forget all that was learnt, and to abide within, are alone the Truth-Knowers. Others, who remember everything, will suffer with anxiety, being deluded by the false samsara.
141. After knowing that the purport at the heart of all scripture is that the mind should be subdued in order to gain Liberation, what is the use in continuously studying them? Who am I?
144. To be freed from ignorance by mere studies is as impossible as the horns of a horse, unless by some means the mind is killed and the tendencies are thus completely erased by the blossoming of Self-Knowledge.
145. For the jiva’s weak and unsteady mind, which is ever wavering like the wind, there is no place to enjoy bliss except the Heart, its Source; the study of scriptures is, for it, like a noisy shandai [a cattle fair].
Desire and security
149. The experience of Vedanta is possible only for those who have completely given up all desires. For the desirous it is far away, and they should therefore try to rid themselves of all other desires by the desire for God, who is free from desires.
150. The Wise, who know that all worldly experiences are formed by prarabdha alone, never worry about their life’s requirements. Know that all one’s requirements will be thrust upon one by prarabdha, whether one wills them or not.
Prarabdha refers to one’s destiny, which Ramana says will play out regardless of what one wills. Therefore worry not.
Summary verses
293. Having known for certain that everything which is seen, without the least exception, is merely a dream, and that it [the seen] does not exist without the seer, turn only towards Self – Sat-Chit-Ananda – without attending to the world of names and forms, which is only a mental conception.
294. Attention to one’s own Self, which is ever shining as ‘I’, the one undivided and pure Reality, is the onlyraft with which the jiva, who is deluded by thinking “I am the body”, can cross the ocean of unending births.
297. Do not wander outside, eating the scorching sand of worldly pleasures, which are non-Self; come home to the Heart where Peace is shining as a vast, everlasting, cool shade, and enjoy the feast of the Bliss of Self.
296. Having annihilated the delusive mind which always dwells upon worldly things, having killed the restless ego, and having completely erased the worldly vasanas, shine as Shiva, the pure Consciousness Itself.
! Om Namo Bhagavate Sri Ramayana Om !
This article does not go in depth into the nature of liberation. For more on this please see the introductory articles on tomdas.com
Tom Das 