Question about Ramana - why did he leave the world?

[Guest guest]

I asked this question on another group,

though they are not dedicated to Ramana,

but are open to all gurus. I thought I

would join this group and ask it here too.

 

I have been pondering why Ramana Maharshi

had to leave the world as a young boy of

16 I think it was, or some young age, and

go sit by himself in seclusion for years.

 

I remember in the story of his biography

that after his facing death and that awakening

that he stayed around at home for awhile, and

even went to school. And then his brother

noticing that he was not interested in the

world, in worldly things, said to him something

like why don't you just renounce the world, you

are not interested in it. And then shortly after

this confrontation, Ramana secretly left home

and found his way to Arunachala, where he spent

the rest of his life.

 

So I find it amazing that Ramana kept his awakening

experience secret from his family, and that they

did not notice anything extraordinary about him

at that time. His brother was actually putting him

down, like saying he was useless, why bother staying

here or going to school. Was it possible for Ramana

to stay in the world, do outwardly the normal things

people do, and yet still be as awake as he was.

 

Why do most go into seclusion and leave the world

after a profound awakening like this? Is it possible

to stay in the world?

 

Did Ramana go off to die? Did he not care at all

about what happened to his physical body, because

he knew he was not his body? Or did he feel he

would survive, but just stay absorbed in the Self.

 

I am most fascinated with his account and especially

this period of his life, after his awakening, and why

he chose to go into seclusion and to totally neglect

his body. I know he was content and didn't need

anything from the world, but there have been other

teachers who stayed in the world. If anybody has any

comments on this, I would love to hear them. Thank

you so much, Steve.

[Guest guest]

Reports are that Ramana

wondered what it would

be like to die. He laid

down and remained still

with this on his mind.

 

At some point in the stillness

he entered a rarefied "air",

became immersed in the void

(the breathless state?)

and he was awakened to

his "I-I", the unified

I, from which the personal

I is formed by social

convention (or coercion).

 

This experience does not

bring with it a "choice"

to leave the world. It

brings a clarity of Self

that sees the "illusion"

of social convention, and

the facade of the personal

I, and its secondary, rather

than primary, nature.

 

One becomes, as Paul

(the biblical Paul) wrote,

"in the world, but not

of it." The god of

what-will-other-people-think

evaporates. The need to

please or conform, or to

be emotionally manipulated,

also disappears.

 

The "awakening" is the Truth

That Sets You Free.

 

The choice to stay socially

engaged, or to go into

reclusion or seclusion,

following awakening

is probably dependent upon

preexisting cultural biases

that are in some way

determinate of how

the awakening is viewed

and "used".

 

Or, more cosmically, it

may be karmically predetermined -

part of the divine play or plan.

 

Jeff

 

 

 

 

, "steve" <spirit5562000

wrote:

>

> I asked this question on another group,

> though they are not dedicated to Ramana,

> but are open to all gurus. I thought I

> would join this group and ask it here too.

>

> I have been pondering why Ramana Maharshi

> had to leave the world as a young boy of

> 16 I think it was, or some young age, and

> go sit by himself in seclusion for years.

>

> I remember in the story of his biography

> that after his facing death and that awakening

> that he stayed around at home for awhile, and

> even went to school. And then his brother

> noticing that he was not interested in the

> world, in worldly things, said to him something

> like why don't you just renounce the world, you

> are not interested in it. And then shortly after

> this confrontation, Ramana secretly left home

> and found his way to Arunachala, where he spent

> the rest of his life.

>

> So I find it amazing that Ramana kept his awakening

> experience secret from his family, and that they

> did not notice anything extraordinary about him

> at that time. His brother was actually putting him

> down, like saying he was useless, why bother staying

> here or going to school. Was it possible for Ramana

> to stay in the world, do outwardly the normal things

> people do, and yet still be as awake as he was.

>

> Why do most go into seclusion and leave the world

> after a profound awakening like this? Is it possible

> to stay in the world?

>

> Did Ramana go off to die? Did he not care at all

> about what happened to his physical body, because

> he knew he was not his body? Or did he feel he

> would survive, but just stay absorbed in the Self.

>

> I am most fascinated with his account and especially

> this period of his life, after his awakening, and why

> he chose to go into seclusion and to totally neglect

> his body. I know he was content and didn't need

> anything from the world, but there have been other

> teachers who stayed in the world. If anybody has any

> comments on this, I would love to hear them. Thank

> you so much, Steve.

>

[Guest guest]

, "steve" <spirit5562000

wrote:

>

> I asked this question on another group,

> though they are not dedicated to Ramana,

> but are open to all gurus. I thought I

> would join this group and ask it here too.

>

> I have been pondering why Ramana Maharshi

> had to leave the world as a young boy of

> 16 I think it was, or some young age, and

> go sit by himself in seclusion for years.

>

 

Namaste S,

 

In the first place after the awakening there was no Ramana as such

and no place to go.

 

However his awakening would have been karmic and due at that time no

matter what he did or how he did it. It happened to him as

everything happens to us. It was his prarabda karma to go to

Arunachala, it was a point of reference or concentration.

 

His family would have noticed no real difference unless they also

were Muktas.

 

Ramana would have seen the 'world' differently as really there was

no Ramana ego to see anything. The Vijnanamayakosa energised by the

Sakti power sees as a Universal Mind. The world would appear as one

appearance on Brahman until the body dropped and then it would have

not have happened at all--only NirGuna Brahman.....ONS...Tony.

[Guest guest]

I have been pondering why Ramana Maharshi

had to leave the world as a young boy of

16 I think it was, or some young age, and

go sit by himself in seclusion for years.

 

 

Good Evening, Friend, and

deep peace, enduring joy to all!

 

Of course, there's no shortage of opinions, but

the only way you'll really know is to ask Ramana.

After all, he himself said that the Guru is within,

and in fact was quite emphatic about that, from what

I can tell of the various reminders he offered folks.

 

Just so, maybe you are looking in the wrong places

for the answer to your question, and of course,

that can be heard as an opinion too, but

it's the internet, so what the hell.

 

When we locate Ramana, we locate ourself,

and then we can see if there is a world

to leave or seclusion to enter.

 

By grace, this is not difficult,

if we simply stick with the program:

 

"Distracted as we are by various thoughts, if we would continually

contemplate the Self, which is Itself God, this single thought would

in due course replace all distraction and would itself ultimately

vanish. The pure Consciousness that alone finally remains is God.

This is Liberation. To be constantly centered on one's own all-

perfect pure Self is the acme of yoga, wisdom, and all other forms of

spiritual practice. Even though the mind wanders restlessly, involved

in external matters, and so is forgetful of its own Self, one should

remain alert and remember:

 

'The body is not I.'

 

'Who am I?' Enquire in this way, turning the mind backward to its

primal state. The enquiry 'Who am I?' is the only method of putting

an end to all misery and ushering in Supreme Beatitude. Whatever may

be said and however phrased, this is the whole truth in a nutshell."

 

Sri Ramana

 

 

LoveAlways