Difficulty In Self-Enquiry

[Guest guest]

DIFFICULTY IN SELF-ENQUIRY:

 

In answer to a devotee's query as to how to realise the Self, this enquiry

into the Self being difficult in his opinion, Bhagavan Ramana says - "There is

no reaching the Self. You are already the Self. You are already 'That'. The fact

is that you are ignorant of your blissful state. Ignorance supervenes and draws

a veil over the pure Bliss. Attempts are directed only to remove this ignorance.

This ignorance consists in wrong knowledge. The wrong knowledge consists in the

false identification of the Self with the body, mind, etc. This false identity

must go and there should remain only the Self. "This very doubt, 'Can I

realise', or the feeling, 'I have not realised' are the obstacles. Be free from

these also." (TALKS with Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talk No.251, p.207-208).

As this method is a constant search, it is not to be limited to a few hours

per day as seekers do in the case of Japa, meditation, Puja, etc. The search for

'I' should go on constantly and uninterrupted, even when one is engaged in

worldly activities like professional or domestic duties. Suppose a person who

was travelling by a bus from Chennai to Bombay woke up from a short nap and

found to his consternation that he was unable to recall as to who he was, to

which place he belonged, etc., such a memory-loss is called "amnesia" in medical

terms. He found no clue to his identity from the few clothings and other

possessions in the bag he carried as also in his pockets. There was no visiting

card or any papers or diary, etc. He was racking his brain for hours but to no

avail. He was nearing Bombay and had very little money in his pocket. How

panicky he would have become! Will he confine his searching in mind to one hour

or two or will he continue it for hours till he recollects his

identity? In the same way, the search for 'I' has to be a continuous affair as

if it is life and death affair (which it is). In this connection, I remember an

anecdote about Schoppenhoeur, a famous philosopher: From his school days, he was

always engaged, whether in the classroom or in his house, in serious

contemplation about answer to a few questions, viz. "Who am I, Where have I come

from? What am I doing here?", etc. He was thoroughly obsessed about getting

answers to these questions. Once he was sitting in his house fully dressed, lost

in his usual contemplation. At midnight, involuntarily he got out of his house

and began walking in the street and through somebody's private garden full of

fruit bearing trees. When the watchman with a lantern in his hand espied this

stranger walking with his hat on, at that time of the night, he mistook

Schoppenhoeur to be a poacher and ran towards him from behind, shouting, "Hey,

who are you?", Schoppenhoeur turned round, ran towards the

watchman and holding his hands exclaimed, "Oh Lord, these are the very

questions I have been asking myself for years and have not been able to get any

answers. You are also asking me the same questions, my dear man". Such an

obsession and persistence are necessary for the path. It is a 24 hours job

daily.

Just as a person who has forgotten his name and all other particulars is fully

obsessed with recollecting his identity and will not bother about eating even

normal food not to speak of delicious dishes and also about any other worldly

temptations, when Self-enquiry continues, automatically it results in

'Vairagya', ie. a contempt for wealth, fame, ease, pleasure, etc. In other paths

like VEDANTA, Vairagya becomes a pre-requisite for the practice and it is very

difficult to cultivate it. ( TALKS with Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talk No27, p.26 ).

Here, it is a by-product of 'Self Enquiry'.

 

[Excerpts from - Golden Guidelines to "Who am I" - by Swami Shantananda Puri,

publisher : Parvathamma C.P.Subbaraju Setty Charitable Trust.]

 

Send instant messages to your online friends http://in.messenger.