Fwd: Selections from TALKS WITH SRI RAMANA MAHARSHI-78

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ThePowerOfSilence , " saikali6362 "

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Selections from TALKS WITH SRI RAMANA MAHARSHI-78

 

TALK 390:

 

D.: When I read Sri Bhagavan's works I find that investigation is

said to be the one method for Realisation.

M.: Yes, that is vichara.

 

D.: How is that to be done?

M.: The questioner must admit the existence of his self. " I AM " is

the Realisation. To pursue the clue till Realisation is vichara.

Vichara and Realisation are the same.

 

D.: It is elusive. What shall I meditate upon?

 

M.: Meditation requires an object to meditate upon, whereas there is

only the subject without the object in vichara. Meditation differs

from vichara in this way.

D.: Is not dhyana one of the efficient processes for Realisation?

M.: Dhyana is concentration on an object. It fulfils the purpose of

keeping away diverse thoughts and fixing the mind on a single

thought, which must also disappear before Realisation. But

Realisation is nothing new to be acquired. It is already there, but

obstructed by a screen of thoughts. All our attempts are directed

for lifting this screen and then Realisation is revealed.

If a true seeker is advised to meditate, many may go away satisfied

with the advice. But someone among them may turn round and ask, " Who

am I to meditate on an object? " Such a one must be told to find the

Self. That is the finality. That is Vichara.

D.: Will vichara alone do in the absence of meditation?

M.: Vichara is the process and the goal also. `I AM' is the goal and

the final Reality. To hold to it with effort is vichara. When

spontaneous and natural it is Realisation.

 

TALK 391:

 

The same sannyasi visitor, Swami Lokesananda, asked about samadhi.

M.: (1) Holding on to Reality is samadhi.

(2) Holding on to Reality with effort is savikalpa samadhi.

(3) Merging in Reality and remaining unaware of the world is

nirvikalpa samadhi.

(4) Merging in Ignorance and remaining unaware of the world is

sleep. (Head bends but not in samadhi).

(5) Remaining in the primal, pure natural state without effort

is sahaja nirvikalpa samadhi.

D.: It is said that one remaining in nirvikalpa samadhi for 21 days

must necessarily give up the physical body.

M.: Samadhi means passing beyond dehatma buddhi (I-am-the-body idea)

and non-identification of the body with the Self is a foregone

conclusion.

There are said to be persons who have been immersed in nirvikalpa

samadhi for a thousand years or more.

 

TALK 394:

 

D.: How is the mind to be stilled?

M.: Looking at the mind with the mind, or fixing the mind in the

Self, brings the mind under control of the Self. D.: Is there any

yoga, i.e., a process for it?

M.: Vichara (investigation) alone will do.

 

TALK 396:

 

A Dutch lady, Mrs. Gongrijp, an ardent theosophist, who had worked

long in Java and is now living in Adyar, came here for a short

visit. She asked: Theosophy speaks of tanha, meaning thirst for

rebirth.

What is its cause?

M.: Thirst for rebirth is the desire to be reborn so as to end

successive births. The spirit is at present moribund; it must be

revived so that rebirth may take place after the present apparent

death. Forgetfulness of your real nature is the present death;

remembrance of it is the rebirth. It puts an end to successive

births. Yours is eternal life.

D.: I take tanha to mean `clinging to life' - the desire for eternal

life.

M.: No doubt it is so. How does the desire arise? Because the

present state is unbearable. Why? Because it is not your true

nature. Had it been your real nature no desire would disturb you.

How does the present state differ from your real nature? You are

spirit in truth. However that spirit is wrongly identifying itself

with the gross body. The body has been projected by the mind; the

mind itself has originated from the spirit. If the wrong

identification ceases, there will be peace and permanent untellable

bliss.

D.: Life is of the body and rebirth is to incarnate in another

body.

M.: Mere change of body produces no effect. The ego associated with

this body is transferred to another body. How can that satisfy

anyone?

Moreover, what is life? Life is existence which is your Self. That

is life Eternal. Otherwise can you imagine a time when you are not?

That life is now conditioned by the body and you wrongly identify

your being with that of the body. You are life unconditioned. These

bodies attach themselves to you as mental projections and you are

now afflicted by `I-am-the-body' idea. If this idea ceases you are

your Self.

Where or how were you before being born? Were you in sleep? How

were you? You exist then too without the body. Then the ego arises,

and then the mind which projects the body. `I-amthe-body' idea is

the result. Because the body exists you say that it was born and

that it will die, and transfer the idea to the Self saying that you

are born and that you will die. In fact you remain without the body

in sleep; but now you remain with the body. The Self can remain

without the body, but the body cannot exist apart from the Self.

`I-am-the-body' thought is ignorance; that the body is not apart

from the Self is knowledge. That is the difference between knowledge

and ignorance.

The body is a mental projection, the mind is the ego; and the ego

rises from the Self. So the body-thought is distracting and strays

away from the Self. For whom is the body or the birth? It is not for

the Self, the Spirit. It is for the non-self which imagines itself

separate. So long as there is the sense of separation there will be

afflicting thoughts. If the original source is regained and the

sense of separation is put an end to, there is peace. Consider what

happens when a stone is thrown up. It leaves its source and is

projected up, tries to come down and is always in motion until it

regains its source, where it is at rest. So also the waters of the

ocean evaporate, form clouds which are moved by winds, condense into

water, fall as rain and the waters roll down the hill in streams and

rivers, until they reach their original source, the ocean, reaching

which they are at peace. Thus, you see, wherever there is a sense of

separateness from the source there is agitation and movement until

the sense of separateness is lost. So it is with yourself. Now that

you identify yourself with the body you think that you are separate

from the Spirit - the true Self. You must regain your source before

the false identity ceases and you are happy.

Gold is not an ornament, but the ornament is nothing but gold.

Whatever shape the ornament may assume and however different the

ornaments are, there is only one reality, namely gold. So also with

the bodies and the Self. The single reality is the Self. To identify

oneself with the body and yet to seek happiness is like attempting

to cross a river on the back of an alligator. The body identity is

due to extroversion and the wandering of the mind. To continue in

that state will only keep one in an endless tangle and there will be

no peace. Seek your source, merge in the Self and remain all

alone.

Rebirth means discontent with the present state, and desire to be

born where there will be no discontent. Births, being of the body,

cannot affect the Self. The Self remains over even after the body

perishes. The discontent is due to the wrong identity of the Eternal

Self with the perishable body. The body is a necessary adjunct of

the ego. If the ego is killed the eternal Self is revealed in all

its glory.

The body is the Cross. Jesus, the son of man, is the ego or `I am-

the-body' idea. When he is crucified, he is resurrected as the

Glorious Self - Jesus, the Son of God! — " Give up this life if thou

wouldst live "

 

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