https://selfdefinition.org/ramana/Talks-with-Sri-Ramana-Maharshi--complete.pdf
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D.: How long did it take Maharshi to realise the Self?
M.: This question is asked because the name and form are perceived.
These are the perceptions consequent on the identification of the ego with the gross body. If the ego identifies itself with the subtle mind, as in dream, the perceptions are subtle also. But in sleep there are no perceptions. Was there not the ego still? Unless it was, there cannot be the memory of having slept. Who was it that slept? You did not say in your sleep that you slept. You say it now in your wakeful state.
The ego therefore is the same in wakefulness, dream and sleep.
Find out the underlying Reality behind these states.
That is the Reality underlying these. In that state there is Being alone.
There is no you, nor I, nor he; no present, nor past, nor future.
It is beyond time and space, beyond expression.
It is ever there.
Just as a plantain tree produces shoots at its roots, before yielding fruits and perishing, and these shoots, being transplanted, do the same again, so also the original primeval Master of antiquity (Dakshinamurti), who cleared the doubts of his rishi disciples in silence, has left shoots which are ever multiplying. The Guru is a shoot of that Dakshinamurti. The question does not arise when the Self is realised.
D.: Does Maharshi enter the nirvikalpa samadhi?
M.: If the eyes are closed, it is nirvikalpa;
if open, it is (though differentiated, still in absolute repose) savikalpa.
The ever-present state is the natural state sahaja.
D.: They say that there are many saints in Tibet who remain in solitude and are still very helpful to the world. How can it be?
M.: It can be so.
Realisation of the Self is the greatest help that can be rendered to humanity.
Therefore, the saints are said to be helpful, though they remain in forests. But it should not be forgotten that solitude is not in forests only. It can be had even in towns, in the thick of worldly occupations.
D.: It is not necessary that the saints should mix with people and be helpful to them?
M.: The Self alone is the Reality; the world and the rest of it are not. The realised being does not see the world as different from himself.
D.: Thus then, the saint’s realisation leads to the uplift of humanity without the latter being aware of it. Is it so?
M.: Yes. The help is imperceptible but is still there. A saint helps the whole of humanity, unknown to the latter.
D.: Would it not be better if he mixed with others?
M.: There are no others to mix with. The Self is the one and only Reality.
D.: If there be a hundred Self-realised men will it not be to the greater benefit of the world?
M.: When you say ‘Self’ you refer to the unlimited, but when you add ‘men’ to it, you limit the meaning. There is only one Infinite Self
D.: Is not Maya illusion?
M.: Maya is used to signify the manifestations of the Reality. Thus Maya is only Reality.
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“Why is it said that the knowledge born of hearing is not firm, whereas that born of contemplation is firm?”
M.: On the other hand it is said that hearsay knowledge (paroksha) is not firm, whereas that born of one’s own realisation (aparoksha) is firm.
It is also said that
hearing helps the intellectual understanding of the Truth,
that meditation makes the understanding clear,
and finally that contemplation brings about realisation of the Truth.
Furthermore, they say also that all such knowledge is not firm and that it is firm only when it is as clear and intimate as a gooseberry in the hollow of one’s palm.
There are those who affirm that hearing alone will suffice, because a competent person who had already, perhaps in previous incarnations, qualified himself, realises and abides in peace as soon as he hears the Truth told him only once, whereas the person not so qualified must pass through the stages prescribed above, before falling into samadhi.
Sam: which means one way or another samadhi is mandatory.
D.: How is that Self to be known or realised?
M.: Transcend the present plane of relativity.
A separate being (Self) appears to know something apart from itself (non-Self).
That is, the subject is aware of the object.
The seer is drik; the seen is drisya.
There must be a unity underlying these two, which arises as ‘ego’.
This ego is of the nature of chit (intelligence).
Achit (insentient object) is only negation of chit.
Therefore the underlying essence is akin to the subject and not the object. Seeking the drik, until all drisya disappears, the drik will become subtler and subtler until the absolute drik alone survives. This process is called drisya vilaya (the disappearance of the objective world).
D.: Why should the objects drisya be eliminated? Cannot the Truth be realised even keeping the object as it is?
M.: No. Elimination of drisya means elimination of separate identities of the subject and object. The object is unreal. All drisya (including ego) is the object. Eliminating the unreal, the Reality survives. When a rope is mistaken for a snake, it is enough to remove the erroneous perception of the snake for the truth to be revealed. Without such elimination the truth will not dawn.
D.: When and how is the disappearance of the objective world (drisya vilaya) to be effected?
M.: It is complete when the relative subject, namely the mind, is eliminated. The mind is the creator of the subject and the object and is the cause of the dualistic idea. Therefore, it is the cause of the wrong notion of limited self and the misery consequent on such erroneous idea.
D.: Taking the first part first, how is the mind to be eliminated or relative consciousness transcended?
M.: The mind is by nature restless. Begin liberating it from its restlessness; give it peace; make it free from distractions; train it to look inward; make this a habit. This is done by ignoring the external world and removing the obstacles to peace of mind.
D.: How is restlessness removed from the mind?
M.: External contacts - contacts with objects other than itself - make the mind restless.
Loss of interest in non-Self, (vairagya) is the first step.
Then the habits of introspection and concentration follow. They are characterised by control of external senses, internal faculties, etc. (sama, dama, etc.) ending in samadhi (undistracted mind).
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Talk 27.
D.: How are they practised?
M.: An examination of the ephemeral nature of external phenomena leads to vairagya. Hence, enquiry (vichara) is the first and foremost step to be taken.
When vichara continues automatically, it results in a contempt for wealth, fame, ease, pleasure, etc.
The ‘I’ thought becomes clearer for inspection.
The source of ‘I’ is the Heart - the final goal.
If, however, the aspirant is not temperamentally suited to Vichara Marga (to the introspective analytical method), he must develop bhakti (devotion) to an ideal - may be God, Guru, humanity in general, ethical laws, or even the idea of beauty.
When one of these takes possession of the individual, other attachments grow weaker, i.e., dispassion (vairagya) develops.
Attachment for the ideal simultaneously grows and finally holds the field.
Thus ekagrata (concentration) grows simultaneously and imperceptibly - with or without visions and direct aids. In the absence of enquiry and devotion, the natural sedative pranayama (breath regulation) may be tried. This is known as Yoga Marga.
If life is imperilled the whole interest centres round the one point, the saving of life. If the breath is held the mind cannot afford to (and does not) jump at its pets - external objects. Thus there is rest for the mind so long as the breath is held. All attention being turned on breath or its regulation, other interests are lost. Again, passions are attended with irregular breathing, whereas calm and happiness are attended with slow and regular breathing. Paroxysm of joy is in fact as painful as one of pain, and both are accompanied by ruffled breaths. Real peace is happiness. Pleasures do not form happiness.
The mind improves by practice and becomes finer just as the razor’s edge is sharpened by stropping.
The mind is then better able to tackle internal or external problems. If an aspirant be unsuited temperamentally for the first two methods and circumstantially (on account of age) for the third method, he must try the Karma Marga (doing good deeds, for example, social service). His nobler instincts become more evident and he derives impersonal pleasure. His smaller self is less assertive and has a chance of expanding its good side. The man becomes duly equipped for one of the three aforesaid paths. His intuition may also develop directly by this single method.
D.: How long can the mind stay or be kept in the Heart?
M.: The period extends by practice.
D.: What happens at the end of the period?
M.: The mind returns to the present normal state. Unity in the Heart is replaced by variety of phenomena perceived. This is called the outgoing mind. The heart-going mind is called the resting mind.
D.: Is all this process merely intellectual or does it exhibit feeling predominantly?
M.: The latter.
D.: How do all thoughts cease when the mind is in the Heart?
M.: By force of will, with strong faith in the truth of the Master’s teaching to that effect.
D.: What is the good of this process?
M..: (a) Conquest of the will - development of concentration. (b) Conquest of passions - development of dispassion. (c) Increased practice of virtue - (samatva) equality to all.
D.: Distractions result from inherited tendencies. Can they be cast off too?
M.: Yes. Many have done so. Believe it! They did so because they believed they could. Vasanas (predispositions) can be obliterated. It is done by concentration on that which is free from vasanas and yet is their core.
D.: How long is the practice to continue?
M.: Till success is achieved and until yoga-liberation becomes permanent. Success begets success. If one distraction is conquered the next is conquered and so on, until all are finally conquered. The process is like reducing an enemy’s fort by slaying its man-power - one by one, as each issues out.
D.: What is the goal of this process?
M.: Realising the Real.
D.: What is the nature of the Reality?
M.: (a) Existence without beginning or end - eternal.
(b) Existence everywhere, endless, infinite.
(c) Existence underlying all forms, all changes, all forces, all matter and all spirit. The many change and pass away (phenomena), whereas the One always endures (noumenon).
(d) The one displacing the triads, i.e. the knower, the knowledge and the known. The triads are only appearances in time and space, whereas the Reality lies beyond and behind them. They are like a mirage over the Reality. They are the result of delusion.
D.: If ‘I’ also be an illusion, who then casts off the illusion?
M.: The ‘I’ casts off the illusion of ‘I’ and yet remains as ‘I’. Such is the paradox of Self-Realisation.
The realised do not see any contradiction in it. Take the case of bhakti - I approach Iswara and pray to be absorbed in Him. I then surrender myself in faith and by concentration. What remains afterwards?
In place of the original ‘I’, perfect self-surrender leaves a residuum of God in which the ‘I’ is lost.
This is the highest form of devotion (parabhakti), prapatti, surrender or the height of vairagya.
You give up this and that of ‘my’ possessions. If you give up ‘I’ and ‘Mine’ instead, all are given up at a stroke. The very seed of possession is lost. Thus the evil is nipped in the bud or crushed in the germ itself.
Dispassion (vairagya) must be very strong to do this.
Eagerness to do it must be equal to that of a man kept under water trying to rise up to the surface for his life.
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