The way-of-self enquiry

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Sri Ramana Maharshi

– The Way of Self-enquiry (1879 –1950)

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His Biography (1)

Sri Ramana Maharshi was born on December 30, 1879, as Venkataraman Iyer, in a village called Tiruchuli, about 30 miles south of Madurai, in southern India, into a middle-class family.

His father died when he was twelve, and he lived with his uncle in Madurai, where he attended American Mission High School.

His classmates remember that he had a strong tendency for religious ecstasy even as a student. Others remember his abnormally deep sleeping habits that led to playing tricks on the young Venkataraman while he was asleep. Apart from that, he was described as strong, quiet and intelligent.

At age 16, he became spontaneously self-realized.

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Six weeks later he ran away from home, to be

close to the holy hill of Arunachala, near

Tiruvannamalai, in Southern India, where he

would remain for the rest of his life.

Upon arrival at Tiruvannamalai, for several

years he stopped talking and spent many hours

each day in Samadhi, in a small cell under the

Tiruvannamalai Temple.

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His Biography (2)

When he began speaking again, people came to

ask him questions, and he soon acquired a

reputation as a sage.

In 1907, when he was 28, one of his early

devotees named him Bhagavan Sri Ramana

Maharshi, Divine Eminent Ramana the Great

Seer, and the name stuck.

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Eventually he became world-famous, and an

ashram was built around him, which is still

functioning today, known as

Ramanashramam, with many permanent or

temporary residents, and hundreds of people

visiting it each day throughout the year.

Sri Ramana Maharshi died of cancer in 1950,

at the age of 70.

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B&W Photos of Sri Ramana Maharshi

at 21 in his 60’s

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About His Self-Realization (1) At age 16, he heard somebody mention

"Arunachala." Although he didn't know what the word meant (it's the name of a holy hill associated with the god Shiva) he became greatly excited.

At about the same time he came across a copy of Sekkilar's Periyapuranam, a book that describes the lives of Shaivite saints, and became fascinated by it.

In the middle of 1896, at age 16, he was suddenly overcome by the feeling that he was about to die. He lay down on the floor, made his body stiff, and held his breath. "My body is dead now," he said to himself, "but I am still alive." In a flood of spiritual awareness he realized he was spirit, not his body. He exclaimed:

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From that moment onwards the 'I' or

Self focused attention on itself by a

powerful fascination. Fear of death had

vanished once and for all. Absorption in

the Self continued unbroken from that

time on. Whether the body was engaged

in talking, reading or anything else, I

was still centered on 'I'.

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About His Self-realization (2)

I knew nothing, had learned nothing before I came here. Some mysterious power took possession of me and effected a thorough transformation. I knew nothing and planned nothing.

When I left home in my 17th year, I was like a speck swept on by a tremendous flood. I knew not my body or the world, whether it was day or night. It was difficult even to open my eyes. The eyelids seemed to be glued down. My body became a mere skeleton. Visitors pitied my plight as they were not aware how blissful I was.

It was after years that I came across the term Brahman when I happened to look into some books on Vedanta brought to me. Amused, I said to myself, 'Is this known as Brahman!?!’

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Tiruvannamalai & its Temple

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His Guru – the Holy Mountain Arunachala

Ramana Maharshi didn't

have a human guru (other

than “the guru” within

himself).

He often said that his

guru was Arunachala, a

holy mountain in South

India, near the town

Tiruvannamalai.

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The Legend of Arunachala

In the legend of Arunachala, Vishnu represents the ego or individuality and Brahma the mentality, while Shiva is Atma, the Spirit. The main purport of the legend is that Shiva once appeared as an infinite column of light. Because the column of Light was so dazzling and impossible to look upon, both Brahma and Vishnu prayed to Shiva to take a more benevolent and accessible form so that all beings could worship Him and realize the goal of life. Shiva accordingly took the form of the Arunachala Hill, declaring:

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Shiva accordingly took the form of the

Arunachala Hill, declaring:

"As the moon derives its light from the sun, so

other holy places will derive their sanctity from

Arunachala. This is the only place where I have

taken this form for the benefit of those who

wish to worship me and obtain illumination.

Arunachala is OM itself. I will appear on the

summit of this hill every year at Kartikai in the

form of a peace giving beacon."

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Kartikai is that day of the year when the constellation

of Kartikai (the Pleiades) is in conjunction with the

full moon - usually in November. On that night each

year a huge bonfire is built on top of the hill and

appears from a distance as a great fiery beacon. It is

observed throughout the area and especially by the

thousands of devotees who circumambulate the hill,

like a living garland, slowly moving along the eight

mile trail that surrounds the base of the holy hill.

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His Teaching Method

Ramana Maharshi taught a method called self-

enquiry, in which the seeker focuses continuous

attention on the I-thought, in order to find its

source, asking the question (koan?) Who am I?

In the beginning this requires effort, but

eventually something deeper than the ego takes

over and the mind dissolves in the heart center.

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His Best-known Quotes (1)

Ask yourself “Who am I?” - and pursue this

enquiry to its source. Knowing the pure Self

is moksha, liberation from ignorance and

suffering.

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His Best-known Quotes (2)

Our real nature is mukti (the liberated state). But

we are imagining that we are bound and are

making various strenuous attempts to become free,

while we are free all the time.

Destroy the power of mind by seeking it. When the

mind is examined, its activities cease

automatically. Look for the source of mind. That

source may be said to be God or Self or

Consciousness. Concentrating on one thought, all

other thoughts disappear; finally that thought also

disappears.

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His Best-known Quotes (3)

If a man considers he is born he cannot avoid

the fear of death. Let him find out if he has

been born or if the Self has any birth. He will

discover that the Self always exists, that the

body which is born resolves itself into thought

and that the emergence of thought is the root

of all mischief. Find where from thoughts

emerge. Then you will abide in the ever-

present inmost Self and be free from the idea

of birth or the fear of death.

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His Dialogues (1)

Q. What happens to the consciousness of a

Realized one in sleep?

A. Such a question arises only in the minds of

unrealized beholders. He [who is realised] has but

One state, which is unbroken throughout all 24

hours, whether in what you call sleeping, or in

waking. As a matter of fact the majority of people

are all asleep, because they are not awake to the

Self.

In a state of deep sleep we lay down our ego

(Ahankara), our thoughts and our desires. If we

could only do all this while we are conscious, we

would realize the Self.

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The best form of Dhyana or Meditation is when

it continues not merely in waking but extends to

dream and deep sleep states. This mediation

must be so intense as to not even allow room for

the idea "I am meditation." As waking and

dreaming are fully occupied by the Dhyana of

such a person, deep sleep may be considered to

be part of the Dhyana.

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His Dialogues (2)

Sannyas is the giving up of the ego; even though a person may be living as a householder within a family circle, the various occurrences of the world will not affect him if his ego is surrendered. Hence dream experiences do not really affect us. The dreamer as he quietly lies in his bed dreams he is in water, but his bed is not really wet. On the other hand, a person though remaining in a Sanyasa ashrama who still has attachment to the body, is a karmi (man of action, not renunciation).

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His Dialogues (3)

Q. It is not so with the appearance of the world. Even after it is repeatedly declared to be false, one cannot avoid satisfying his wants from the world. How can the world be false?

A. It is like one satisfying his dream wants by dream creations. There are objects, there are wants and there are mutual satisfactions. The dream creations are as purposeful as the jagrat world and yet is not considered real. Thus we see that all these illustrations serve a purpose in establishing the stages of unreality. The realized sage finally declares that in the regenerate state, the jagrat state is. Each illustration should be understood in the proper context; it should not be studied as an isolated statement. It is a link in a chain. The purpose of all these illustrations is to direct the seeker's mind towards the One reality underlying them all.

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His Dialogues (4)

Q. In the West people cannot see how sages in solitude can be helpful.

A. Never mind Europe and America. Where are they except in your mind? If you wake up from a dream, do you try to ascertain if the persons of your dream creation are also awake?

Q. If sleep be such a good state, why does one not like to be always in it?

A. One is always in sleep only. The present waking state is no more that a dream. A dream can take place only in sleep. Sleep underlies these states. The appearance of a state is again a dream which is in its turn, in another sleep. In this way, these states of dream and sleep are endless. Similar to these states, birth and death are also dreams in a sleep.

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After sleep ego arises and there is wakefulness.

Simultaneously thoughts arise. Where from?

They must spring from the conscious Self.

Apprehending this even vaguely helps in the

extinction of the ego, after which is realization

of the ONE INFINITE EXISTENCE. In that

state there are no individuals other than the

Eternal Existence. Abide in the ever inherent

Self and be free from the idea of birth or fear of

death.

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Some Books About Sri Ramana Maharshi (1)

This superb compilation of Ramana Maharshi's writings and

dialogues is the best available single volume about his

teachings. It covers all aspects of Sri Ramana's teachings and

arranges them in the order preferred by Sri Ramana himself,

with the most important or highest teachings first.

This small book contains the best English translation of

Ramana Maharshi's most important work and the most

sophisticated academic discussion of Ramana Maharshi's

teachings that have been done to date. The book's author,

T.M.P. Mahadevan, was a devotee of Ramana Maharshi and

a distinguished academic expert on Advaita.

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Some Books about Sri Ramana Maharshi (2)

For serious students of Sri Ramana Maharshi, this is the

Bible, the most comprehensive single volume of Sri

Ramana's teachings. It contains 668 pages of transcripts of

conversations he held between 1935 and 1939 with visitors

who traveled to south India from all over the world to ask

for advice from the man whom many regard as the greatest

realized teacher of the twentieth century.

The definitive version of Sri Ramana Maharshi's teachings is

contained in his writings such as Forty Verses on Reality.

Unfortunately, his works aren't easy to read. Most of them are

written in a terse, classical style of Tamil poetry which is not

easily understood even by many educated Tamils. In order to

understand him, most of us must therefore rely on translations

and commentaries. This book is possibly the best of that kind

because it was written by a skilled Tamil poet who was also a

close disciple of Sri Ramana Maharshi.

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Group Photo

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Recent Photos of Arunachala & Ramanashramam

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Thank You

Ivan Frimmel

Cell: 082-454-0311

E-mail: [email protected]

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Ivan Frimmel presents