BHAGAVAN SRI RAMANA'S TALKS

BHAGAVAN SRI RAMANA'S TALKS : J.K. SIVAN

IT IS NOT DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND BHAGAVAN RAMANA IF YOU READ THE QUESTIONS PUT TO HIM AND THE ANSWERS GIVEN BY HIM, SLOWLY, CONCENTRATING ON EACH WORD ATTENTIVELY WITH INVOLVEMENT AND INTEREST TO LEARN.- It is made simple for you. So you will enjoy profusely. JKS

Maharishi Ramana: This ignorance is due to the mistaking of the body for the Self.

Realisation now consists in getting rid of this false idea that one is not realised. Realisation is not anything newly got. It must be already there in order that it may be permanent. Otherwise Realisation is not worth attempting.

After the false notion ‘I-am-the-body’ or ‘I have not realised’

is removed, Supreme Consciousness or the Self alone is left

over, which is however called Realisation in the present state of knowledge. However, the truth is that Realisation is eternal and already there, here and now.

Finally, Realisation amounts to elimination of ignorance and

nothing more or less.

Devotee: My profession requires my stay in my place. I cannot remain in the vicinity of sadhus. Can I have realisation even in the absence of sat sanga as necessitated by my circumstances?

M.: Sat is ‘ aham pratyaya saram’’ = the Self of selves. The sadhu is that Self of selves. He is immanent in all. Can anyone remain without the Self? No. So no one is away from sat sanga.

D: What does samyamana mean in Patanjali Yoga Sutra?

M.: One-pointedness of mind.

D.: By such samyamana in the Heart, chitta samvit is said to result. What does it mean?

M.: Chitta samvit is Atma jnana i.e., Knowledge of the Self.

D.: I think that celibacy and initiation are prerequisites even for a householder in order that he may succeed in self-investigation. Am I right? Or can a householder observe celibacy and seek initiation from a master on occasions only?

M.: First ascertain who the wife and the husband are. Then these questions will not arise.

D.: Engaged in other pursuits, can the mental activities be checked and the query “Who am I?” pursued? Are they not contrary to each other?

M.: These questions arise only in the absence of strength of mind. As the mental activities diminish its strength increases.

D.: Does the Karma theory mean that the world is the result of action and reaction? If so, action and reaction of what?

M.: Until realisation there will be Karma, i.e., action and reaction; after realisation there will be no Karma, no world.

D.: While engaged in Atma vichara (the investigation of the Self), I fall asleep. What is the remedy for it?

M.: Do nama-sankirtana (sing the name of God).

D.: It is ruled out in sleep.

M.: True. The practice should be continued while awake. Directly you wake up from sleep, you must resume it. The sleeper does not care for Atma vichara. So he need not practise anything. The waking self desires it and so he must do it.