Fwd: Letters from Sri Ramanasramam 34

[Guest guest]

ThePowerOfSilence , " ramana_bhakta_0 "

<ramana_bhakta_0 wrote:

 

1st February, 1946

 

(34) BOOKS

 

One morning in 1944, a disciple approached Bhagavan

 

with an air of supplication and said, " Bhagavan, I would like

 

to read books and find out a path whereby I can attain mukti,

 

but I do not know how to read. What shall I do? How can I

 

realise mukti? " Bhagavan said, " What does it matter if you

 

are illiterate? It is enough if you know your own Self. " " All

 

people here are reading books, but I am not able to do that.

 

What shall I do? " he said.

 

Stretching out his hand towards the disciple, Bhagavan

 

said, " What do you think the book is teaching? You see

 

yourself and then see me. It is like asking you to see yourself

 

in a mirror. The mirror shows only what is on the face. If

 

you see the mirror after washing your face, the face will

 

appear to be clean. Otherwise the mirror will say there is

 

dirt here, come back after washing. A book does the same

 

thing. If you read the book after realising the Self, everything

 

will be easily understood. If you read it before realising the

 

Self, you will see ever so many defects. It will say, `First set

 

yourself right and then see me.' That is all. First see your

 

Self. Why do you worry yourself about all that book

 

learning? "

 

The disciple was satisfied and went away encouraged.

 

Another disciple who has the courage to ask questions on

 

such matters, took up the thread of the conversation and

 

said, " Bhagavan, you have given him a peculiar

 

interpretation. " Bhagavan replied, " What is peculiar in it?

 

It is all true. What books did I read when I was young?

 

What did I learn from others? I was always immersed in

 

meditation. After some time, Palaniswamy used to bring from

 

various people a number of books containing Vedantic

 

literature and used to read them. He used to make many

 

mistakes in reading. He was elderly and was not well-read.

 

He was however anxious to read. He used to read with

 

tenacity and religious faith. Because of that I used to feel

 

happy. So, when I took those books in order to read them

 

myself, and tell him what was in them, I found that what all

 

was written therein had already been experienced by myself.

 

I was surprised. I wondered, `What is all this? It is already

 

written here in these books about myself.' That was so in

 

every one of those books. As whatever is written there has

 

already been experienced by myself, I used to understand

 

the text in no time. What took him twenty days to read, I

 

used to finish reading in two days. He used to return the

 

books and bring others. That was how I came to know about

 

what was written in the books. "

 

One of the disciples said, " That is perhaps why

 

Sivaprakasam Pillai, while writing Bhagavan's biography,

 

referred to Bhagavan even at the outset as `One who is a

 

Brahma Jnani without knowing the name of Brahman'. "

 

Bhagavan said: " Yes, Yes, that is right. That is why it is said

 

that one should first know about oneself before reading a

 

book. If that is done, it will be known that what is written in

 

the book is only an epitome of what is really experienced by

 

oneself. If one does not see one's Self but reads a book, one

 

finds a number of defects. " " Is it possible for all to become

 

like Bhagavan? The use of a book at least helps one to set

 

right one's defects, " said the disciple. " That is so. I did not

 

say that reading is no help. I merely said that there is no

 

need for illiterate people to think they can never attain moksha

 

on that account and thereby feel disheartened. See how

 

depressed he was when he asked me. If the facts are not

 

explained properly, he will feel still further depressed, " said

 

Bhagavan.

 

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