Ramana Maharshi's central teaching

[Guest guest]

Their central teaching is that the path of Self-enquiry is the direct way to

Self-realization. The sense of 'I' is natural and common to all, but few

care to enquire into the actual nature of this 'I'. We take it for granted

and employ such empirical phrases as 'I came', 'I went', 'I did' or 'I was'.

What is this 'I'? What am I? It is not difficult to see that the body is not

'I'. It did not exist before birth and will not survive death. In deep sleep

there is no body-consciousness. Even while waking I am aware that I have the

body and therefore I cannot be the body. What is more difficult is to see

that the mind or ego is not 'I'. It springs from ignorance, being a

superimposition on the Self. The I-thought is the first thought to arise,

and the mind is the same as the ego. Ordinarily it goes out through the

sense-channels and apprehends and enjoys external objects, but it must be

made to turn inwards and enquire into the nature and source of itself. This

can only be done with a still mind. This enquiry "is the only method of

putting an end to all misery and ushering in supreme Beatitude. Whatever may

be said and however phrased, this is the whole truth in a nutshell."4

____________________

4 - From Self-Enquiry, in The Collected Works.