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OCTOBER 2013
PRABUDDH JIVAN
39
Thus Spake Ramana Maharshi
'Who Am I?
interest in it, much less any inclination to dwell Tiruchuli, 50 kms southwest of Madurai and Raman permanently in it." Maharishi's birth site, is considered holy ground. Sage He left Madurai for Arunachala (Tiruvannamalai), Gautama did penance here for cursing his wife Ahalya. the holiest of holy places and surrendered himself to Named Venkataraman at birth, his parents were Vakil Shiva (Sri Arunachaleswara). At one point, his widowed Sundaram lyer and Alagammal. The old midwife said mother begged him to return with her. He then wrote, she saw a flash of light from the mother's womb at the on a piece of paper, "The Ordainer controls the fate of time of delivery. His childhood was spent in the souls in accordance with their past deeds, their company of friends but his father died and when he prarabdha karma. Whatever is destined not to happen was 16, in 1896, he was overcome with a sudden fear will not happen, try how hard you may. Whatever is of death. By self-inquiry, he penetrated into his very destined to happen will happen, do what you may to soul and its truth.
stop it. This is certain. The best course, therefore, is He narrated his experience thus: "The shock of the for one to be silent (resigned)." fear of death drove my mind inwards and I said to the sum and essence of Ramana Maharshi's myself mentally, without actually framing the words: teachings are in the book 'Who am I?': "Now death has come; what does it mean? What is it Who am I? that is dying? This body dies.' And I at once dramatized I am pure Awareness. This Awareness is by its very the occurrence of death. I lay with my limbs stretched nature Being-Consciousness-Bliss (Sat-Chit-Ananda). out stiff as though rigor mortis had set in and imitated If the mind, which is the instrument of knowledge and a corpse so as to give greater reality to the enquiry. I is the basis of all activity, subsides, the perception of held my breath and kept my lips tightly closed so that the world as an objective reality ceases. Unless the no sound could escape, so that neither the word 'l' or illusory perception of the serpent in the rope ceases, any other word could be uttered, 'Well then,' I said to the rope on which the illusion is formed is not perceived myself, 'this body is dead. It will be carried stiff to the as such. (This analogy is based on a traditional story burning ground and there burnt and reduced to ashes. of a man who sees a rope at twilight and mistaking it for a But with the death of this body am I dead? Is the body serpent is afraid without cause.) Similarly, unless the l'? It is silent and inert but I feel the full force of my illusory nature of the perception of the world as an personality and even the voice of the l' within me, apart objective reality ceases, the vision of the true nature of from it. Sol am Spirit transcending the body. The body the Self, on which the illusion is formed, is not obtained. dies but the Spirit that transcends it cannot be touched The mind is a wondrous power residing in the Self. It by death. This means I am the deathless Spirit.' All causes all thoughts to arise. Apart from thoughts, there this was not dull thought; it flashed through me vividly is no such thing as mind. Therefore, thought is the as living truth which I perceived directly, almost without nature of mind. Apart from thoughts, there is no thought-process. I was something very real, the only independent entity called the world. In deep sleep there real thing about my present state, and all the conscious are no thoughts, and there is no world. In the states of activity connected with my body was centred on that waking and dream, there are thoughts, and there is a I'. From that moment onwards the l'or Self focused world also. attention on itself by a powerful fascination. Fear of Just as the spider emits the thread (of the web) out of death had vanished once and for all. Absorption in itself and again withdraws it into itself, likewise the mind the Self continued unbroken from that time on. Other projects the world out of itself and again resolves it thoughts might come and go like the various notes of into itself. When the mind leaves the Self, the world music, but the l' continued like the fundamental sruti appears. Therefore, when the world appears, the Self note that underlies and blends with all the other notes. does not appear, and when the Self appears (shines) Whether the body was engaged in talking, reading, or the world does not appear. anything else, I was still centred on 'T'. Previous to that
O RESHMA JAIN crisis I had no clear perception of my Self and was not
The Narrators consciously attracted to it. I felt no perceptible or direct
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