practicing self enquiry?

[Guest guest]

Dear All,

 

 

Reading again - after several years - the interview that has been taken to

David Godman by Rob Sacks,

 

(here: http://www.davidgodman.org/interviews/rs1.shtml )

 

I came across this statement from which one can understand that there are not so

many who take self enquiry to heart and who practice it even if they visit the

ashram. It suddenly struck me that when I traveled to Sri Ramanashram I haven't

met anyone there who practiced the enquiry. I wonder if this is indeed the

situation.

 

in Sri Ramana

 

v

 

 

RS: I often wonder whether Westerners misunderstand Ramana Maharshi. What are

the most common misconceptions about his teachings?

 

 

 

DG: I am not sure how much understanding there is of Ramana Maharshi and his

teachings in the West. He is an iconic figure to a vast number of people who are

following some sort of spiritual path. I think that for many people he

epitomizes all that is best in the Hindu Guru tradition, but having said that, I

think that very few people know much about him, and even fewer have a good grasp

of his teachings. Not many people read books about him nowadays & #65533; I know

that from trying to sell my own & #65533;and even fewer would profess themselves

to be his devotee. I find there is very little interest in his teachings even

among the people who come to visit Ramanasramam. Nowadays, many of the people

who come are spiritual tourists, pilgrims who just travel round India, checking

out all the various ashrams and teachers.About twenty years ago I met a

foreigner here who had come to the ashram for advice on how to do self-inquiry

properly. For several days he couldn't find anyone who was practicing it, even

in Ramanasramam. The people he asked in the ashram office just told him to buy

the ashram's publications and find out from them how to do it. Eventually, he

had what he thought was a bright idea. He stood outside the door of the

meditation hall at Ramanasramam, the place where Sri Ramana lived for over

twenty years, and asked everyone who came out how to do self-inquiry. It

transpired that none of the people inside were doing self-inquiry. They came out

one by one and said, " I was doing japa, " or " I was doing vipassana, " or " I was

doing Tibetan visualizations. "

 

How can there be misunderstandings among people who have never even

bothered to find out the teachings in the first place, or put them into

practice?