Talks with Ramana Maharshi, January 19, 1936, #1

[Guest guest]

January 19, 1936

 

 

Mr. Ellappa Chettiar, a Member of the Legislative Council from Salem, asked : Is it enough to introvert the mind or should we medidate on "I am Brahman"?

 

Maharshi:

To introvert the mind is the important thing. Buddhists consider the flow of "I"-thought to be Liberation, whereas we say that such flow

proceeds from its underlying substratum - the only Reality. Why should one be meditating the "I am Brahman"? Only the annihilation

of "I" is liberation. But it can be gained only be keeping the "I-I" always in view. Hence, the need for investigation of the "I"-thought. If the "I" is not let go, no blank can result to the seeker [the seeker cannot be grounded in reality]. Otherwise, medidation will end in sleep.

 

There has been only one "I" all along, but what arises from time to time is the false "I"-thought; whereas the intuitive "I" always remains Self-shining, i.e., even before it becomes manifest. The birth of the gross body does not amount to one's own birth; on the

other hand, the birth of the ego is one's own birth. For liberation, nothing new remains to be gained. It is the original state

and this continues unchanged.

 

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D. What is reality?

 

M. Reality must be always real. It is not entangled with forms and names, but is That which underlies these. It underlies limitations, being itself limitless. It is not bound. It underlies unrealities, itself being real. Reality is that which is. It is as it is. It transcends speech and lies beyond such expressions as existence, non-existence, etc.

 

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----------- taken from ------------------------------

 

 

Talks with Ramana Maharshi ,

InnerDirections Publishing , 2000

page 95

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