RAMANA MAHARISHI

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

IGNORANCE & LIBERATION

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 that you will enjoy His teaching profusely. JKS

Devotee: Maharishi, how to conquer desire, anger, etc.?

Maharishi Ramana: Desire or lust, anger, etc., give you pain. Why? Because of the ‘I’ conceit; this‘I’-conceit is from ignorance; ignorance from differentiation; differentiation from the notion of the reality of the world and this again from ‘I-am-the-body’idea. The last can be only after the rise of the ego. The ego not arising, the whole chain of mishaps disappears. Therefore prevent the rise of the ego. This can be done by remaining in your own real nature; then lust, anger, etc., are conquered.

D.: So then all these have their root in ignorance.

M.: Quite so. Ignorance gives rise to error, error to conceit, etc.

What is ignorance? Can it be of Pure Brahman which is only the Self or Pure Knowledge? Only let the questioner know his own Self, i.e., be the Knowledge; this question will not arise. Because of ignorance he raises the question. Such ignorance is of the questioner and not of the Self. The sun seen, no darkness persists.

There is hoarded wealth in an iron safe. The man says it is his

own; the safe does not say so. It is the ownership-conceit that is

responsible for the claim.

Nothing is independent of the Self, not even ignorance; for

ignorance is only the power of the Self, remaining there without

affecting It. However it affects the ‘I’-conceit, i.e., the jiva.

Therefore ignorance is of the jiva.

How? The man says, “I do not know myself.” Are there then two

selves - one the subject and the other the object? He cannot admit it. Is then ignorance at an end for him? No. The rise of the ego is itself the ignorance and nothing more.

D: “Does the sage, liberated while alive (Jivanmukta), see the world? Is he affected by Karma?

M: What is liberation after being disembodied? Is one liberated only after being disembodied or even while alive in the body? Should the body of the sage resolve itself in light or disappear from view in any other manner? Can he be liberated though the body is left behind as a corpse?”

Their questions are endless. Why worry oneself in so many ways? Does liberation consist in knowing these?

Therefore I say to them, “Leave liberation alone. Is there bondage? Know this. See yourself first and foremost.”