Some Teachings of Bhagavan

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Some Teachings of Ramana Maharshi Selected from Talks

 

Guru is the Self. Sometimes in his life a man becomes dissatisfied and not

content with what he has, he seeks the satisfaction of his desires through

prayer to God. His mind is gradually purified until he longs to know God, more

to obtain his grace than to satisfy his worldly desires. Then, God's grace

begins to manifest. God takes the form of a Guru and appears to the devotee,

teaches him the truth and, moreover, purifies his mind by association. The

devotee's mind gains strength and is then able to turn inward. By meditation it

is further purified and it remains still without the least ripple. That calm

expanse is the Self. The master is within; meditation is meant to remove the

ignorant idea that he is only outside. If he is a stranger whom you await, he is

bound to disappear also. What is the use of a transient being like that? But so

long as you think you are separate or that you are the body, an external master

is also necessary and he will appear

to have a body. When the wrong identification of oneself with the body ceases,

the master will be found to be none other than the Self. So long as you seek

Self-realization the Guru is necessary.

 

Guru is the Self. Take Guru to be the real Self and your self as the individual

self. The disappearance of this sense of duality is the removal of ignorance. So

long as duality persists in you the Guru is necessary. Because you identify

yourself with the body, you think that the Guru is also a body. You are not the

body, nor is the Guru. You are the Self and so is the Guru. This knowledge is

gained by what you call Self-realisation. For one who, due to rare, intense and

abundant love, has complete faith in the glance of grace bestowed by the Guru,

there will be no suffering and he will live in this world like Puruhuta (a name

if Indra, the king of the gods). Peace, the one thing which is desired by

everyone, cannot be attained in any way, by any one, at any time or in any

place, unless stillness of mind is obtained through the grace of the Sadguru.

Therefore, always seek that grace with a one-pointed mind.

 

A realised one sends out waves of spiritual influence, which draw many people

towards him. Yet he may sit in a cave and maintain complete silence. We may

listen to lectures upon truth and come away with hardly any grasp of the

subject, but to come into contact with a realized one, though he speaks nothing,

will give much more grasp of the subject. He never needs to go out among the

public. If necessary he can use others as instruments. Silence is ever speaking.

It is a perennial flow of language, which is interrupted by speaking. These

words I am speaking obstruct that mute language. For example, there is

electricity flowing in a wire. With resistance to its passage, it glows as a

lamp or revolves as a fan. In the wire it remains as electric energy. Similarly

also, silence is the eternal flow of language, obstructed by words. What one

fails to know by conversation extending to several years can be known instantly

in silence, or in front of silence.

Dakshinamurti and his four disciples are a good example of this. This is the

highest and most effective language. There are two kinds of Siddhis and one kind

may well be a stumbling block to realization. It is said that by Mantra, by some

drug possessing occult virtues, by severe austerities or by samadhi of a certain

kind, powers can be acquired. But these powers are not a means to

Self-knowledge, for even when you acquire them, you may quite well be in

ignorance.

 

 

 

 

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