THE AWAKENING OF THE OVERSELF:

[Guest guest]

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.

THE BOOK WRITTEN AT THE BEHEST OF SRI RAMANA MAHARSHI

(Concluding part)

 

 

The first part, which appeared in October, mentions how Sri Ramana

prompted Paul Brunton to write the book – The Secret Path. The

following is the concluding part of abstracts from the book. It may

be noted that the author has used the word `Overself' for Atman.

 

THE AWAKENING OF THE OVERSELF: The awakening to spiritual

consciousness is something which cannot be developed by a mechanical

and measured system alone. Grace is the essential pre-requisite for

enlightenment. Yet you cannot supply it. Grace may fall on a man who

has lived what the world may call a sinful life, and change his

heart, mind and consciousness very rapidly. Grace may withhold itself

from a man who has spent twenty years reading books after books on

religion and philosophy. Yet for all this it is not an arbitrary

force; it possesses its own laws and ways of working. To obtain this

grace we must ask for it. We may even have to force down on our

knees, at unexpected hour of day or night, to pray that the Light be

granted to us. If you feel an urge to weep when praying for the

Overself's Grace, then let the tears flow as copiously as they come

forth. Do not hold them back. There is great spiritual merit in

weeping for the visitation of a higher power.

When Grace arises from our own Overself, the latter sets up a

certain urge in the heart and begins to lead our thoughts into

certain channels. We begin to be dissatisfied with our life as it is;

we begin to aspire to something better and we commence a quest for a

higher truth. We must cast ourselves prostrate at the feet of the

Real Self and pray for its grace. When the fire of divine aspiration

awakens in our heart, we may know that some modicum of Grace has been

granted to us.

We who are servants of that high king must wait upon his

mood. Grace is a gift, a favour to be received from the god within.

The spirit takes its own time. Matthew Arnold, a famous British poet

says: We cannot kindle when we will / The which in the heart resides…

The ripening of the soul for the profound experience of union with

the Overself

takes place gradually as does the ripening of fruit. The Overself

makes no demand of man other than he opens his inner eyes and

perceive its existence.

Once we push the gate of the mind slightly ajar and let the light

stream in, the of life becomes silently revealed to us.

Find yourself – your Overself, and you will begin to find the meaning

of life and begin to unveil the mystery of the universe.

Those who have taken the peep through the door of our own being, are

dumbfounded. Man as a spiritual being possesses a capacity for wisdom

which is infinite; a resource of happiness which is startling. It is

the indestructible element in him, the silent and eternal witness, to

whom he must render homage. It is a light which no power can

extinguish.