Jnana Drishti 2 / Ramana

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Part Two

 

Question: You some times say the Self is silence. Why is this?

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: For those who live in Self as the beauty devoid

of thought, there is nothing, which should be thought of. That which

should be adhered to is only the experience of silence, because in

that supreme state nothing exists to be attained other than oneself.

 

Question: What is Mouna (silence)?

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: That state which transcends speech and thought is

mouna. That which is, is mouna. How can mouna be explained in words?

 

Sages say that the state in which the thought " I " (the ego) does not

rise even in the least, alone is Self (swarupa) which is silence

(mouna). That silent Self alone is God; Self alone is the jiva

(individual soul). Self alone is this ancient world.

 

All other kinds of knowledge are only petty and trivial knowledge; the

experience of silence alone is the real and perfect knowledge. Know

that the many objective differences are not real but are mere

superimpositions on Self, which is the form of true knowledge.

 

Question: As the bodies and the selves animating them are everywhere

actually observed to be innumerable how can it be said that the Self

is only one?

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: If the idea `I am the body' is accepted, the

selves are multiple. The state in which this idea vanishes is the Self

since in that state there are no other objects. It is for this reason

that the Self is regarded as one only.

 

Since the body itself does not exist in the natural outlook of the

real Self, but only in the extroverted outlook of the mind which is

deluded by the power of illusion, to call Self, the space of

consciousness, Dehi (the possessor of the body) is wrong.

 

The world does not exist without the body, the body never exists

without the mind, the mind never exists without consciousness, and

consciousness never exists without the Reality.

 

For the wise one who has known Self by diving within himself, there is

nothing other than Self to be known. Why? Because since the ego, which

identifies the form of a body as " I " has perished, he (the wise one)

is the formless existence– consciousness.

 

The jnani (one who has realised the Self) knows he is the Self and

that nothing, neither his body nor anything else, exists but the Self.

To such a one what difference could the presence or absence of a body

make?

 

It is false to speak of realisation. What is there to realise? The

Real is as it always is. We are not creating anything new, or

achieving something, which we did not have before.

 

The illustration given in books is this. We dig a well and create a

huge pit. The space in the pit or the well has not been created by us.

We have just removed the earth, which was filling the space there. The

space was there then and is also there now. Similarly we have simply

to throw out all the age-long Samskaras (innate tendencies) which are

inside us. When all of them have been given up, the Self will shine alone.

 

Question: But how to do this and attain liberation?

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: Liberation is our very nature. We are that. The

very fact that we wish for liberation shows that freedom from all

bondage is our real nature. It is not to be freshly acquired. All that

is necessary is to get rid of the false notion that we are bound. When

we achieve that, there will be no desire or thought of any sort. So

long as one desires liberation, so long, you may take it, one is in

bondage.

 

Question: For one who has realised his Self, it is said that he will

not have the three states of wakefulness, dream and deep sleep. Is

that a fact?

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: What makes you say that they do not have the

three states? In saying, `I had a dream; I was in deep sleep; I am

awake', you must admit that you were there in all three states. That

makes it clear that you were there all the time. If you remain as you

are now, you are in the wakeful state; this becomes hidden in the

dream state; and the dream state disappears when you are in deep

sleep. You were there then, you are there now, and you are there at

all times. The three states come and go, but you are always there.

 

It is like a cinema. The screen is always there but several types of

pictures appear on the screen and then disappear. Nothing sticks to

the screen, it remains a screen. Similarly, you remain your own Self

in all the three states. If you know that, the three states will not

trouble you, just as the pictures which appear on the screen do not

stick to it. On the screen, you sometimes see a huge ocean with

endless waves; that disappears. Another time, you see fire spreading

all around; that too disappears. The screen is there on both

occasions. Did the screen get wet with the water or was it burnt by

fire? Nothing affected the screen. In the same way, the things that

happen during the wakeful, dream and sleep states do not affect you at

all; you remain your own Self.

 

Question: Brahman (the Supreme Reality) is said to be sat-chit-ananda.

What does that mean?

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: Yes. That is so. That which is, in only Sat. That

is called Brahman. The lustre of Sat is Chit and its nature is Ananda.

These are not different from Sat. All the three together are known as

Sat-Chit-Ananda.

 

Question: As the Self is existence (Sat) and consciousness (Chit) what

is the reason for describing it as different from the existent and the

non-existent, the sentient and the insentient?

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: Although the Self is real, as it comprises

everything, it does not give room for questions involving duality

about its reality or unreality. Therefore it is said to be different

from the real and the unreal. Similarly, even though it is

consciousness, since there is nothing for it to know or to make itself

known to, it is said to be different from the sentient and the insentient.

 

Sat-Chit-Ananda is said to indicate that the Supreme is not asat

(different from being), not achit (different from consciousness) and

not an ananda (different from bliss). Because we are in the phenomenal

world we speak of the Self as Sat-Chit-Ananda.

 

<http://www.hinduism.co.za/self-.htm>