Sri Ramana maharshi - Who am I? ( # 9 )

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Question: Is it not possible for God or the Guru to effect the release of the

soul ?

 

God and Guru are, in truth, not different. Just as the prey

that has fallen into jaws of the tiger cannot escape, so those who

have come under the glance of the Guru's grace will never be

foresaken. Nevertheless, one should follow without fail the path

shown by the Guru.

Remaining firmly in Self-abidance, without giving the least

scope for the rising of any thought other than the thought of the Self,

is surrendering oneself to God. However much of a burden we throw

on God, He bears it all. Since the one supreme ruling power is

performing all activities, why should we, instead of yielding ourselves

to it, think, ' I should not act in this way; I should act in that way '?

When we know that the train is carrying all the freight, why should

we, who travel in it, suffer by keeping our own small luggage on our

heads instead of putting it down and remaining happily at ease?

 

[ Sri David Godman's comments:

In the last three sections Bhagavan has used three terms, 'swarupa

dhyanam' ( meditation on one's real nature ), 'swarupa smaranai'

( remembrance of one's real nature ), and 'atma chintanai' ( the thought of

the Self ) to indicate the process by which one becomes aware of the Self.

They should not be understood to mean that one should try to focus one's

attention on the Self, for the real Self can never be an object of thought. The

benedictory verse of 'Ulladu Narpadu' explains what Bhagavan meant by such

terms. It asks the question, 'How to meditate on that reality which is called

the Heart?' since that reality alone exists, and it answers by saying, 'To

abide in the Heart as it really is, is truly meditating.' That is to say, one can

be the Heart by 'abiding as it is', but one cannot experiance it as an object

of attention.

This interpretation is confirmed by the sentance in the last extract from Who

am I? in which Bhagavan equates 'atma chintanai' (the thought of the Self)

with 'atma nishta' (Self-abidance).

In a similar vein Bhagavan remarks later in the essay that 'always keeping

the mind fixed in the Self alone can be called self-enquiry'.]

 

................contd

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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