THE STATE WE CALL REALIZATION IS SIMPLY being oneself, not knowing anything or becoming anything. If one has realized, he is That which alone is, and which alone has always been. He cannot describe that state. He can only be That. Of course we loosely talk of Self-realization for want of a better term. That [...]
FOR ALL THOUGHTS THE SOURCE IS THE `I-thought’. The mind will merge only by Self-enquiry `Who am I?’ The thought `Who am I?’ will destroy all other thoughts and finally kill itself also. If other thoughts arise, without trying to complete them, one must enquire to whom did this thought arise. What does it matter [...]
EXISTENCE OR CONSCIOUSNESS IS THE ONLY reality. Consciousness plus waking we call waking. Consciousness plus sleep we call sleep. Consciousness plus dream we call dream. Consciousness is the screen on which all the pictures come and go. The screen is real, the pictures are mere shadows on it. The Self and the appearances therein, as [...]
One of Ramana Maharshi’s most frequent comments was that there were only two reliable methods for attaining Self-Realization; one could either pursue self-enquiry or one could surrender.
An almost equally common statement was that jnana and bhakti are ultimately the same. This second statement is usually interpreted to mean that whichever of the two paths one [...]
At the young age of sixteen, when He was not even aware of the fact ‘This is the sadhana of Self-enquiry that directly bestows the experience of Brahman’, it so happened one day that, without any prior intention, Sri Ramana embarked upon this sadhana! On that day as if He were about to die, a [...]
from The Path of Sri Ramana - Part One, Chapter 7 by Sri Sadhu Om
“On hearing the expression ‘Self-enquiry’ [atma-vichara], people generally take it to mean either enquiring into the Self or inquiring about the Self. How to do so? Who is to inquire into the Self, or who is to inquire about Self? What [...]
Every living being longs always to be happy, untainted by sorrow; and everyone has the greatest love for himself, which is solely due to the fact that happiness is his real nature. Hence, in order to realize that inherent and untainted happiness, which indeed he daily experiences when the mind is subdued in deep sleep, [...]
“Who am I?” is the title given to a set of questions and answers bearing on Self-enquiry. The questions were put to Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi by one Sri M. Sivaprakasam Pillai about the year 1902. Sri Pillai, a graduate in Philosophy, was at the time employed in the Revenue Department of the South Arcot [...]
For all thoughts the source is the `I-thought’. The mind will merge only by Self-enquiry `Who am I?‘ The thought `Who am I?l?’ will destroy all other thoughts and finally kill itself also. If other thoughts arise, without trying to complete them, one must enquire to whom did this thought arise. What does it matter [...]
from: Be As You Are: The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi by David Godman
Sri Ramana Maharshi’s philosophical pronouncements were very similar to those upheld by the followers of Advaita (non-dualistic) Vedanta, an Indian philosophical school which has flourished for well over a thousand years. Sri Ramana Maharshi and the Advaitins agree on most theoretical matters [...]