MAHARISHI RAMANA

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 that you will enjoy His teaching profusely.

Two friends sleep side by side. One of them dreams that both

of them travel round the globe and have varied experiences. On waking the dreamer tells the other that both of them have been round the earth. The other treats the story with contempt.

The lady protested that dream and sleep do not make any appeal to her. She was asked why then she should be careful about her bed unless she courted sleep.

She said that it was for relaxation of the exhausted limbs, rather a state of auto-intoxication. “The sleep state is really dull, whereas the waking state is full of beautiful and interesting things.”

What you consider to be filled with beautiful and interesting things is indeed the dull and ignorant state of sleep, according to the Jnani: ‘’Ya nisha sarva bhootanam tasyam jagrati samyami’’.

The wise one is wide awake just where darkness rules for others.You must certainly wake up from the sleep which is holding you at present.

The Self is beyond ignorance and knowledge. It is Absolute.

These doubts do not arise to the Self for it is Pure Consciousness and cannot admit of dark ignorance.

See to whom they arise. Go to their root. See if they arise after you reach their source and hold on to it.

Such discussions are theoretical and there will be no end to them.One must be practical and try to solve the problems for oneself by the method suggested. The method has been pointed out already. Find out to whom the questions arise. They resolve themselves immediately.

The sleep, dream and waking states are mere phenomena

appearing on the Self which is itself stationary and also a state of simple awareness. Can anyone remain away from the Self at any moment? This question can arise only if that were possible.

Devotee: Is it not often said that one is nearer Pure Consciousness in deep slumber than in the waking state?

Maharishi Ramana: The question may as well be: Am I nearer to myself in my sleep than in my waking state? For the Self is Pure Consciousness. No one can ever be away from the Self. The question is possible only if there is duality. But there is no duality in the state of Pure Consciousness.

The same person sleeps, dreams and wakes up. The waking state is considered to be full of beautiful and interesting things. The absence of such experiences makes one say that the sleep state is dull. Before we proceed further let us make this point clear. Do you not admit that you exist in your sleep?

D.: Yes, I do.

M.: You are the same person that is now awake. Is it not so?

D.: Yes.

M.: So there is a continuity in the sleep and the waking states. What is that continuity? It is only the state of Pure Being.

There is a difference in the two states. What is that difference? The incidents, namely, the body, the world and the objects appear in the waking state but they disappear in sleep.