Self-knowledge - the easiest thing there is

[Guest guest]

"On one occasion G.V. Subbaramayya questioned Bhagavan about 'Atma

Vidya.' [self-knowledge; one of Sri Ramana's work] which begins:

'Self-knowledge is an easy thing, the easiest thing there is.'

Subbaramayya wondered why, if it was so easy, we didn't realise it.

This was something we all wondered about.

 

I then quoted to Bhagavan verse three, chapter seven, of the Bhagavad

Gita, wherein Sri Krishna says,

'Of thousands of men, some rare soul strives to realise Me;

of those striving yogis, again, some rare one (devoting himself

exclusively to me) knows Me in reality.'

 

I thought if Atma Vidya (Self-knowledge) was so easy, as Bhagavan's

song suggests, why did Krishna make this declaration in the Gita?

 

Bhagavan looked at us with compassion and, smiling confidently, said,

'What is written in Atma Vidya is true. Why do you doubt it? It is as

clear as a gooseberry in the palm of your hand.'

 

When he spoke to us like this, with such certitude and conviction, we

were filled with unflinching faith and self-confidence in our ability

to attain the ideal he taught us. Moreover, he sat before us as the

living example of that ideal, a perfect soul, absorbed in the purity

and peace of the Absolute Reality. What more did we need in life? How

blessed we all felt!"

 

(Balarama Reddy: My Reminiscences, p. 120f)

 

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