(One of the most beautiful men of this
century was Maharishi Raman. He was a simple man, uneducated, but he did not
accept the ideology, the religion in which he was born. When he was only
seventeen years of age he left his home in search of truth. He meditated for
many years in the hills of Arunachal in south India, and finally realized
himself. - OSHO)
Who
Am I? , Bhagavan freely used technical terms in
many of his answers. Many philosophical works begin with a statement about the
nature of happiness and the means by which it can be attained or
discovered.
Every living
being longs to be perpetually happy, without any misery. Since in everyone the
highest love is alone felt for oneself, and since happiness alone is the cause
of love, in order to attain that happiness, which is one's real nature and
which is experienced daily in the mindless state of deep sleep, it is necessary
to know oneself. To achieve that, enquiry in the form 'Who am I?' is the
foremost means.
'Who am I?' The
physical body, composed of the seven dhatus, is not 'I’. The
five sense organs… and the five types of perception known through the senses…
are not 'I'. The Devoid of sensory knowledge and activity, even this [state] is
not 'I'. After negating all of the above as 'not I, not I', the knowledge that
alone remains is itself 'I'. The nature of knowledge is sat-chit-ananda [being-consciousness-bliss].
Vasanas is
a key word in Who
am I? It
can be defined as, 'the impressions of anything remaining unconsciously in the
mind; the present consciousness of past perceptions; knowledge derived from
memory; latent tendencies formed by former actions, thoughts and speech.' In a
broader context it may also include indulging in any mental activity such as
daydreaming or fantasizing, where the content of the thoughts is derived from
past habits or desires.
(This
paragraph of Who am I? Has
an interesting history. Sivaprakasam Pillai's original question was 'Who am
I?', the first three words of the paragraph. Bhagavan's reply, which can be
found at the end of the paragraph, was 'Knowledge itself is ''I''. The nature
of knowledge is sat-chit-ananda.'
)
Ramana Maharhshi was a guru of
international renown from southern India who taught during the first half of
the twentieth century. He was born in 1879 near Madurai, Tamilnadu. His father
was a farmer. The family was religious, giving ritual offerings to the family
deity and visiting temples.
Ramana was largely disinterested in school and absent-minded
during work. He had a marked inclination towards introspection and
self-analysis. He used to ask fundamental questions about identity, such as the
question "who am I?". He was always seeking to find the answer to the
mystery of his own identity and origins.
In the summer of 1896, Ramana went into an altered state of
consciousness which had a profound effect on him. He experienced what he
understood to be his own death, and later returned to life.
He also had spontaneous flashes of insight where he
perceived himself as an essence independent of the body. During these events,
he felt himself to be an eternal entity, existing without reliance on the
physical body or material world.
Ramana recommended renunciation of enjoyment of physical and
mental pleasures as a means of entering into a state where the oneness of the
self and cosmos could be perceived. He also felt that a person who is not
attached to the results of his actions can live in the world like an actor that
plays his or her part but is immune to emotional disturbance, because he
realizes he is only play-acting on the stage of life.
Ramana developed cancer and when his devotees voiced concern
about losing him, he responded with the statement "I am not going
anywhere, where shall I go? I shall be there where I am always." He died
in April, 1950, sitting in lotus position. The final word that passed from his
lips was t he sacred syllable OM.
The French photographer Cartier-Bresson was visiting
Ramana's ashram as Ramana neared death. He noted the following astronomical
event which appeared in the night sky over the sacred mountain Arunachala as
Ramana died:
[ Osho
on Ramana Maharshi
Osho - Happiness and
suffering happen due to our past actions. So do not think that physical
suffering or happiness will not happen to those who have become liberated while
living.
Ramana Maharshi died of cancer. It was very painful, naturally. It was a deep
malady -- there was no way of escaping it. Many doctors came, and they were
very puzzled because the whole body was torn with pain but there was no sign of
any pain in his eyes. His eyes remained the same serene lakes as ever. Through
his eyes only the witnessing self arose; it was the witnessing self that
looked, that observed.
Doctors would ask, "You must be in great pain?" Ramana would reply,
"Yes there is great pain, but it is not happening to me. I am aware that
there is great pain happening to the body; I know that there is great pain
happening. I am seeing it, but it is not happening to me."]
Ramana’s Teachings
Ignorant of the Self
Truly
there is no cause for you to be miserable and unhappy. You yourself impose
limitations on your true nature of infinite being and then weep that you are
but a finite creature. Then you take up this or that sadhana to transcend the
nonexistent limitations. But if your sadhana itself assumes the existence of
the limitations, how can it help you to transcend them? Hence I say know that
you are really the infinite, pure Being, the Self Absolute. You are always that
Self and nothing but that Self. Therefore, you can never be really ignorant of
the Self; your ignorance is merely a formal ignorance... Know then that true
Knowledge does not create a new Being for you; it only removes your
"ignorant ignorance." Bliss is not added to your nature; it is merely
revealed as your true and natural state, eternal and imperishable. The only way
to be rid of your grief is to know and be the Self.
An actor
Even
if you try not to do your duty you will be perforce obliged to do it. Let the
body complete the task for which it came into being. Sri Krishna also says in the Gita, whether Arjuna liked
it or not he would be forced to fight. When there is work to be done by you,
you cannot keep away; nor can you continue to do a thing when you are not
required to do it, that is to say, when the work allotted to you has been done.
In short, the work will go on and you must take your share in it -- the share
which is allotted to you Like an actor playing his part in a drama: free from
duality.Stay quit
In
accordance with the prarabdha of each, the One whose
function it is to ordain makes each to act. What will not happen will never
happen, whatever effort one may put forth. And what will happen will not fail
to happen, however much one may seek to prevent it. This is certain. The part
of wisdom therefore is to stay quiet.
Wanting
to reform the world without discovering one's true self is like trying to cover
the world with leather to avoid the pain of walking on stones and thorns. It is
much simpler to wear shoes.
Eating,
bathing, going to the toilet, talking, thinking, and many other activities
related to the body are all work. How is it that the performance of one
particular act is alone (considered) work? To be still is to be always engaged
in work. To be silent is to be always talking.
We
loosely talk of Self-realization, for lack of a better term. But how can one
realize or make real that which alone is real? All we need to do is to give up
our habit of regarding as real that which is unreal. All religious practices
are meant solely to help us do this. When we stop regarding the unreal as real,
then Reality alone will remain, and we will be That.
["The heritage of India is enriched
with numberless saints and yogis. Ramana Maharshi represents that tradition and
his spiritual greatness is guiding millions of people. Such masters light the
path and bring solace to suffering humanity."
-
The Dalai Lama]
Meditation
Why
should you trouble yourself about the future? You do not even properly know
about the present. Take care of the present, the future will take care of
itself.
There
are no impediments to meditation. The very thought of such obstacles is the
greatest impediment.
Seek the seeker.
The
world is so unhappy because it is ignorant of the true Self. Man's real nature
is happiness. Happiness is inborn in the true Self. Man's search for happiness
is an unconscious search for his true Self. The true Self is imperishable;
therefore, when a man finds it, he finds a happiness which does not come to an
end.
Know
Thyself. All else will be known to thee of its own accord. Discriminate between
the undying, unchanging, all-pervading, infinite Atma and the ever-changing,
phenomenal and perishable universe and body. Enquire, "Who am I?"
Make the mind calm. Free yourself from all thoughts other than the simple
thought of the Self or Atma. Dive deep into the chambers of your heart. Find
out the real, infinite "I". Rest there peacefully forever and become
identical with the Supreme Self.
The
Self is only one. Do you feel hurt if you blame yourself or scorn yourself for
your errors? If you hold the Self there is no second person to scorn you. When
you see the world you have lost hold of the Self. On the contrary, hold the
Self and the world will not appear.
Under whatever name or form we
worship It, It leads us on to knowledge of the nameless, formless Absolute.
Yet, to see one's true Self in the Absolute, to subside into It and be one with
It, this is the true Knowledge of the Truth.
Carl Jung says Sri
Ramana is a true son of the Indian earth. He is genuine and, in addition to
that, something quite phenomenal. In India he is the whitest spot in a white
space. What we find in the life and teachings of Sri Ramana is the purest of
India; with its breath of world-liberated and liberating humanity, it is a
chant of millenniums...
Carl Jung in
his foreword, 'Sri Ramana and his message to modern man', has published in the
book, The Spiritual Teaching of Ramana Maharshi]
The ego is non-existent
There are only two ways to conquer destiny or to be independent of it.
One is to enquire whose this destiny is and discover that only the ego is bound
by it and not the Self, and that the ego is non-existent. The other way is to
kill the ego by completely surrendering to the Lord, realizing one's
helplessness and saying all the time, 'Not I, but Thou, oh Lord', giving up all
sense of 'I' and 'mine' and leaving it to the Lord to do what he likes with
you.
Effacement of the ego
Surrender can never be regarded as complete so long as the devotee
wants this or that from the Lord. True surrender is the love of God for the
sake of love and nothing else, not even for the sake of salvation. In other
words, complete effacement of the ego is necessary to conquer destiny, whether
you achieve this effacement through Self-enquiry or through bhakti marga. The
spark of spiritual knowledge (jnana) will consume all creation. Since all the
countless worlds are built upon the weak or non-existent foundation of the ego,
they all disintegrate when the atom-bomb of knowledge falls on them.
Not mine
Surrender
is giving oneself up to the original cause of one's being. Do not delude
yourself by imagining this source to be some God outside you. One's source is
within oneself. Give yourself up to it. That means that you should seek the
source and merge in it. Because you imagine yourself to be out of it, you raise
the question, 'Where is the source'?
Some contend that just as sugar cannot taste its own sweetness and that
there must be someone to taste and enjoy it, so an individual cannot both be
the Supreme and also enjoy the bliss of that state; therefore the individuality
must be maintained separate from the Godhead in order to make enjoyment
possible. But is God insentient like sugar? How can one surrender oneself and
yet retain one's individuality for supreme enjoyment? Furthermore they also say
that the soul, on reaching the divine region and remaining there, serves the
Supreme Being. Can the sound of the word 'service' deceive the Lord? Does He
not know? Is He waiting for these people's services? Would He not – the Pure
Consciousness – ask in turn, 'Who are you apart from Me that presume to serve
Me'?
[Osho - Not many years ago,
just a few years ago, there was a great Master, Ramana Maharshi -- a Perfect Master, In his DARSHANS -- because
he was a silent man, would speak rarely and very few words -- each morning when he would sit for the
darshan for one hour and people would come to sit with him, a cow would also
come. The cow was so regular that no other disciple was so regular! Regular....
It might rain, it might be summer, it might be winter -- whatsoever! -- the cow
might be ill, or healthy, whatsoever, but the cow was bound to come at the
exact time.
She would come and stand in the verandah and look inside through the window,
her head inside the window, and remain there for one hour, sometimes with open
eyes and sometimes with closed eyes. And sometimes tears flowing... it has
become a miracle!
One day the cow was very ill and could not come -- so Ramana had to go! He had
never gone to visit any other disciple, but for that poor cow he had to go. And
all the disciples said, "What are you doing, Bhagwan?" And he said,
"But I have to go. She was so regular. And I know she wants to come -- the
spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."
And when he went, she was just sitting in the direction of his room looking at
the window from far away. She could not get up, she was dying. And when Ramana
reached, she closed her eyes and tears started flowing. She died. That cow was
the first animal in the whole history of humanity or of consciousness that was
given a farewell as is given to an enlightened person. Ramana was present
there.
Somebody asked Ramana, "Is this cow going to be born as a man?"
Ramana said, "No. She will not need to
be born as a man -- she has passed beyond that. She is not going to be born at
all. She has attained enlightenment."]
(And by knowing himself he
came to know the ultimate bliss -- the ecstasy that surrounded Gautam Buddha,
the enlightenment that was radiating from Mahavira, the joy, the dance of all
those who have awakened. So whoever was asking him, "What are we supposed
to do?" he had only one answer his whole life: "Meditate on `Who am
I?'")
Ramana’s Teachings
Your own Self-Realization is the greatest
service you can render the world
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.
***
Reality must always be real.
It is not with names and forms.
That which underlies these is the reality.
It underlies limitations being itself limitless.
It is not bound.
***
Happiness is your nature.
It is not wrong to desire it.
What is wrong is seeking it outside when it is inside.
***
If the mind is happy, not only the body but
the whole world will be happy.
So one must find out how to become happy oneself.
Wanting to transform the world without discovering one’s true self is like
trying to cover the whole world with leather to avoid the pain of walking on
stones and thorns.
It is much simpler to wear shoes.
***
Mind is consciousness which has put on
limitations. You are originally unlimited and perfect. Later you take on
limitations and become the mind.
***
The Guru is both external and internal.
From the exterior he gives a push to the mind to turn it inwards.
From the interior he pulls the mind towards the Self and helps in the quieting
of the mind. That is the Guru’s grace.
There is no difference between God, Guru and the Self.
***
Nearly all mankind is more or less unhappy
because nearly all do not know the true Self.
Real happiness abides in Self-knowledge alone.
All else is fleeting.
To know one’s Self is to be blissful always.
***
The experience of silence alone is the real
and perfect knowledge.
Know that the many objective differences are not real but are superimpositions
on Self, which is the form of true knowledge.
***
Correcting oneself is correcting the whole
world.
The Sun is simply bright. It does not correct anyone.
Because it shines, the whole world is full of light.
Transforming yourself is a means of giving light to the whole world.
***
It is false to speak of realization.
What is there to realize? The real is as it is always.
We are not creating anything new, or achieving anything we did not have before.
***
Instead of indulging in mere speculation,
devote yourself here and now to the search for the Truth that is ever within
you.
***
Reality is simply the loss of ego.
Destroy the ego by seeking its identity.
Because the ego is no entity it will automatically vanish and reality will
shine forth by itself.
(Ramana Maharshi Centres are spread all over the world and
the Centre at Bangalore is at :
Ramana Maharishi Heritage Building, Post Office Road, Sanjay
Nagar, R.M.V. Extn. 2nd St.
Bangalore -560094)
( Mulla speaks ….
Mulla Nasrudin was getting ready to apply to a local department
store for a job. A friend told him that it was the policy of the store to hire
nobody but Catholic Christians, and that if he wanted a job there, he would
have to lie about being a Catholic Christian. Nasrudin applied for the job and
the personnel man asked him the usual questions. Then he said to the Mulla,
"And what church do you belong to?" "I am a Catholic," said
Nasrudin. "And all my family are Catholics. In fact, my father is a priest
and my mother is a nun, sir.
The judge was questioning Mulla Nasrudin. "I
understand that your wife is scared to death of you," he said.
"That's right, your Honor," said the Mulla. The judge leaned over and
whispered in his ear, "Man to man," he said, "how do you do it?" )
….
