COLLECTED WORKS OF RAMANA MAHARSHI BOOK FULL

`I-I'? Therefore, the `I-consciousness' which at first arises in respect of the body is referred to variously as self-conceit (tarbodham), egoity (ahankara), nescience (avidya), maya, impurity (mala), and individual soul (jiva). But, can the body be said to be the consciousness `I', since the body was not before it was born, is made up of the five elements, is nonexistent in the state of deep sleep, and becomes a corpse when dead? Can this body which is inert like a log of wood be said to shine as And so, when one says, `I went, I came', it amounts to saying that the body is `I'. M: Actions such as `going' and `coming' belong only to

From these experiences, does it not appear that the consciousness `I' is the subject of those various acts? Enquiry into the true nature of that consciousness, and remaining as oneself is the way to understand, through enquiry, one's true nature. M: Experiences such as, `I went I came I was I did' come This is the means to gaining that state.Д: What is meant by saying that one should enquire into one's true nature and understand it? There is a body there is misery, this is also the direct experience of all people therefore, one should enquire into one's true nature which is ever bodiless, and one should remain as such. Master: Apart from the statement in the Vedas that wherever Is there any way of adoring the Supreme which is all, exceptДisciple: Master! what is the means to gain the state of eternal bliss, ever devoid of misery? It is not necessary for them to learn its technicalities. The consolation for Western readers is to remember that he neither recommended nor prescribed this path and in his later works scarcely mentioned it. One has to remember that in writing this exposition the Maharshi knew that he could count on a technical knowledge of the science in question in the person for whom he wrote. This makes it abstruse for the Western reader who has no previous grounding in it, especially as, like all sciences, it has its technical vocabulary which does not permit adequate translation without lengthy notes. `Science' is indeed the right word for it, for it is a traditional Indian science of self- purification. It is the spiritual significance of the exercise that makes it an elaborate science. The breath control that is described is, of course, not mere Certainly the other methods, although described, are scarcely recommended. Perhaps also, in a wider sense, it is appropriate that there should first be a general exposition of various methods before the lifelong instruction in that which he prescribed.

Why did he include the mention of less direct and moreД®laborate methods in this first exposition? The obvious contingent reason is that the disciple for whom it was written had been reading books about these various methods and asked questions about them. He would say: 'There are two ways: ask yourself ` Who am I?' or submit.' He himself prescribed only Self-enquiry or submission to the Guru. However, it does differ from later expositions in one important respect: that is, that it describes not only the path of Self- enquiry but others also meditation on one's identity with the Self and a yogic path based on breath-control. Like all his expositions, verbal as well as written, this is concerned with practical questions of the path to realization of the Self, never with barren theory.

COLLECTED WORKS OF RAMANA MAHARSHI BOOK FULL

The Master wrote with the authority of full spiritual knowledge, just as in his later years. There is no youthfulness or immaturity in the work. The original form has been adopted in the present work. Subsequently they were changed into the form of an essay. The questions and answers were edited by Natanananda and published with Bhagavan's approval under the name of Vichara Sangraham, or Self-Enquiry. After his death this diary was obtained from his brother. Although he had not actually taken a vow of silence, he seldom spoke, and so wrote his replies to certain questions put to him by Gambhiram Seshayya, one of the earliest devotees. A number of disciples had already gathered round him. At that time he was living in Virupaksha Cave on the hill of Arunachala. He was already a Jnani (Sage) in perfect realization of the Self, in the resplendent bliss of Divine Knowledge. It was written about 1901, that is, when he was a young man of about twenty-two.

Self-enquiry Self-enquiry is the first work the Maharshi ever wrote.

Collected works of ramana maharshi book