UPADESA SAARAM OF RAMANA MAHARSHI – AN APPRECIATION (Verse 20)

[Guest guest]

UPADESA SAARAM OF RAMANA MAHARSHI – AN APPRECIATION (Verse 20)

 

Ahami naasa bhajyahamahantayaa

Sphurati hritswayam parama poornasat

 

Ahaminaasabhaji: When the aham- vritti or the ego consciousness is destroyed

Hrit:the Heart (where the Being or the Self stays,

and)Parama poornasat:(which is) Supreme`-Infinite-Existence,

Swayam sphurati : of its own accord, flashes forth its light of Consciousness

Aham aham tayaa: pulsating

as `I'-`I'.

 

When the ego is destroyed, the Self, which is the Supreme-Infinite-

Existence, shines forth of its own accord (independently) as `I'-`I'.

 

When Spirit and Matter get together in our body, it gives rise to an

intangible but noisy entity called the `I', which is known as the

ego or ahamkar. This ego-self is different from the real Self and

also from the body-mind complex, which by itself is inert. And,

curiously enough, it partakes the characteristics of both Spirit and

Matter (chetena and jada). Shastras call the ego as chit-jada-

granthi.

 

We cannot mix oil and water, but when we grind them together with

gum, we get an emulsion, which looks homogeneous. Here the gum has

been the binding agent between the oil and water. Spirit and Matter

are like oil and water and the binding agent in the former two is

the ego or aham-vritti. Unless the alliance forged between Spirit

and Matter is cut asunder with the sword of detachment and

understanding, the Spirit cannot regain its own independent infinite

dimension.

 

The Maharshi advocates a frontal attack on the ego through a

determined enquiry asking ourselves Who am I? The ego has no actual

form at all when investigated into. Questioning and investigating,

probing and understanding the inner man constitute a death warrant

to the ego. When buddhi exercises discrimination and domination over

matter, the ego recedes into the background and loses its power.

Thus, buddhi in due course breaks the bonds of the ego and the

egocentric desires and engages itself in the pursuit of self-enquiry

until it touches the source of aham-vritti, where the material world

of names and forms dissolves into the ocean of silence. This Silence

is the Self Supreme, where the phenomenal `I' finds itself drowned

in the Real `I', which is beyond the reach of mind and speech.

 

The Maharshi says that when the aham-vritti gets destroyed or

dissolved, the Self spontaneously asserts itself as `aham- aham'

or `I'-`I'. It is the thrilling pulsation of the Consciousness.

(Source: Same as last month)

 

Mahatma Gandhi also says that " the divine music is incessantly going

on within ourselves, but the loud senses drown the delicate music

which is unlike and infinitely superior to anything we can perceive

or hear with our senses. " Through intense questioning about our true

entity (Who am I?), we can gradually reduce and eventually stop the

bewildering and distracting noise caused by our senses, and hear the

Divine music.

 

Julian Johnson in his The Path of the Masters says that the sound of

the abstract is always going within, around and about man. Man does

not hear it as a rule because his consciousness is entirely centered

in his material existence. This sound is called anahad – meaning the

unlimited sound. When this sound is heard, the enchanted listener is

silent and is filled with a great joy. To achieve this, the entire

body and more particularly the mind and astral body must be cleaned,

purified and then attuned to the higher vibrations. After that the

music comes clearly. It takes possession of the soul of the hearer.

It recreates him and he finds himself a citizen of a new world. He

is exalted. He lives anew.

 

prof laxmi narain (prof_narain)

 

Source and courtesy: Sri Ramana Kendram, Hyderabad

This article was published in Sri Ramana Jyothi,

monthly magazine of the Kendram.