T.M.P. Mahadevan on Self-Inquiry (a short selection)

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BHAGAVAN RAMANA

by

T. M. P. MAHADEVAN, M. A., Ph.D.

Professor of Philosophy, University of Madras

 

The inquiry 'Who am I?' is not to be regarded as a mental effort to

understand the mind's nature. Its main purpose is 'to focus the entire mind

at its source'. The source of the 'pseudo-I' is the Self. What one does in

Self-inquiry is to run against the mental current instead of running along

with it, and finally transcend the sphere of mental modifications. When the

'pseudo-I' is tracked down to its source, it vanishes. Then the Self shines

in all its splendour - which shining is called realization and release.

The cessation or non-cessation of the body has nothing to do with release.

The body may continue to exist and the world may continue to appear, as in

the case of the Maharshi. That makes no difference at all to the Self that

has been realized. In truth, there is neither the body nor the world for

him; there is only the Self, the eternal Existence (sat), the Intelligence

(cit), the unsurpassable bliss (ananda). Such an experience is not entirely

foreign to us. We have it in sleep, where we are conscious neither of the

external world of things nor of the inner world of dreams. But that

experience lies under the cover of ignorance. So it is that we come back to

the fantasies of dream and of the world of waking. Non-return to duality is

possible only when nescience has been removed. To make this possible is the

aim of Vedanta. To inspire even the lowliest of us with hope and help us out

of the Slough of Despond, is the supreme significance of such illustrious

exemplars as the Maharshi.