From "Letters from Ramanasramam"

[Guest guest]

The following posting was sent to me by Sri V.Ganesan which I pass on .Regards

to all , Alan

 

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> A questioner asked, "Is it true that all spiritual practices, as is said,

merge into

> the path of Self-Enquiry ?"

>

> "Yes," replied Bhagavan, "the enquiry Who Am I ? is the beginning and

the end

> of the teachings of Vedanta. It is said that only he who has the

assets of the

> four kinds of spiritual practices is fit for Vedantic enquiry. Of the

four categories

> of practice, the first is the knowledge of the Self and the non-Self

(Atma and anatma).

> That means a knowledge that the Self is eternal (nitya) and that the

world is unreal

> (mithya)

> How to know this is the question. It is possible to know this by

enquiry as to

> Who Am I ? and what is the nature of my Self ! Usually, this

procedure is suggested at

> the beginning of the spiritual practice, but generally it does not

carry conviction.

> So, all sorts of other spiritual practices are resorted to and it is

only ultimately,

> as a last resort, that the practiser takes to Self-Enquiry. The

alphabets, A B C D E

> etc.,

> are learnt while young. If it is stated that these letters are the

fundamentals for all

> eduction and that there is no need to study for B.A., M.A., will

people listen

> to such advice ? It is only after studying and passing these

examinations that

> it will be realized that all that has been studied is contained in

those fundamental

> letters, A B C D E etc. Are not all the Scriptures contained in the

elementary thing,

> the alphabets ? That it is so, is only known after learning by heart

the Scriptures.

> It is the same with every one of these things. There are a number of

rivers; some flow

> straight, some wind and twist zig-zag, but all of them ultimately

become merged in the

> Ocean. In the same way, all paths become merged in the path of

Self-Enquiry,

> just as all languages become merged in Silence (mouna). Mouna means

> continuous speech; it does not mean that it is a vacuum. It is the

speech of the

> Self, identifying with the Self. It is Self-luminous. Everything is

in the Self. "

>

> -- from Letters from Sri

Ramanasramam, p.286 & 275)

>

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