March Part 16

 301

https://selfdefinition.org/ramana/Talks-with-Sri-Ramana-Maharshi--complete.pdf

Mr Parkhi

D.: Since I have not realised the Self I say that I do not understand my permanent state of trance. 

M.: This is only a repetition. That is the obstruction. This arises because you think that the non-self is you. That is the mistake. 

Do not take the non-self to be the Self. Then the Self will be evident to you.

D.: I understand it theoretically but not practically. 

M.: There are no two selves - for the self to speak of the non-realisation of the Self.

D.: It is still theoretical to me. How shall I get the trance? 

M.: Trance is only temporary in its effects. There is happiness so long as it lasts. After rising from it the old vasanas return. Unless the vasanas are destroyed in sahaja samadhi (effortless samadhi), there is no good of trance. 

D.: But trance must precede sahaja samadhi? 

M.: Trance is the natural state. Although there are activities and phenomena, yet they do not affect the trance. 

If they are realised to be not apart from the Self, the Self is realised. 

Where is the use of trance, unless it brings about enduring peace of mind? 

Know that even now you are in trance whatever happens. 

That is all.

..........

D.: But how shall I do it? A scholar remarked: Yato vacho nivartante aprapya manasa saha (where words fail to reach, along with the mind). The questioner retorted: It is also said manasaiva aptavyam (to be realised with the mind only).

 M.: Yes. The Pure Mind, i.e. the mind free from thoughts is the Self. The pure mind is beyond the impure mind.

301

D.: If trance be my natural state, why is it said that trance is necessary to be got before Realisation?

M.: That means that one should be aware of his eternal state of trance. Inattentiveness to it is ignorance. Pramado vai mrtyuh (inattention is death itself).

D.: How can I be attentive without getting trance beforehand? 

M.: Very well. If you are so anxious for trance any narcotic will bring it about. Drug-habit will be the result and not liberation. There are vasanas in the latent state even in trance. The vasanas must be destroyed. 

Another devotee: Can there be Self-Realisation before the vasanas are entirely destroyed? 

M.: There are two kinds of vasanas: 

(1) bandha hetuh, causing bondage for the ignorant, and 

(2) bhoga hetuh, giving enjoyment for the wise. The latter do not obstruct realisation. 

D.: Are the Self-realised persons reborn? e.g., Vamadeva, Jada Bharata, etc. 

M.: The Realised ones cannot be reborn. Rebirth is due to vasanas which are binding. But they are destroyed in the state of Self-realisation.

D.: Are we to take it that they had gone to the stage of kevala nirvikalpa but not to sahaja nirvikalpa? 

M.: Yes.

 D.: If only vasanas for enjoyment do not obstruct the state of realisation and if one can look upon the events of the world without his state of bliss being disturbed, it means that attachment alone is bondage. Am I right? 

M.: Yes, quite. Attachment is bondage. Attachment disappears with the elimination of the ego.

D.: Realisation is said to be helped by Guru’s Grace. 

M.: Guru is none other than the Self.

D.: Krishna had Sandipini for his Guru and so Rama had Vasishta. 

M.: Guru is said to be external for the seeker. 

The in-turn of the mind is brought about by the Guru. 

Since the seeker is outward-bent he is advised to learn from a Guru whom he will in due course find to be the Self. 

D.: May I have Guru’s Grace?

 M.: Grace is always there.

D.: But I did not feel the same. 

M.: Surrender will make one understand the Grace. 

D.: I have surrendered heart and soul. I am the best judge of my heart. Still I do not feel the Grace.

 M.: If you had surrendered the questions would not arise. 

D.: I have surrendered. Still the questions arise.

 M.: Grace is constant. 

Your judgement is the variable. 

Where else should the fault lie? 

D.: I must be enabled to surrender myself. 

M.: Thayumanavar has said: “Glory to Thee for enabling me to discuss so much and follow Thy words so far!”

Talk 318.

A Hindi gentleman asked how the fear of death could be got over. 

M.: Find out if you were born before you think of death. Only he who is born could die. You are as good as dead even in sleep. What fear is there of death? 

D.: How are we in sleep? 

M.: Ask the question in sleep. You recall the experience of sleep only when you are awake. You recall that state by saying “I slept happily”. 

D.: What is the instrument by which we experience that state? 

M.: We call it Mayakarana as opposed to the antahkarana to which we are accustomed in our other states. The same instruments are called differently in the different states, even as the anandatman of sleep is termed the vijnanatman of the wakeful state.

D.: Please furnish me with an illustration for the mayakarana experiencing the ananda. 

M.: How can you say “I slept happily”? The experience is there to prove your happiness. There cannot be the remembrance in the wakeful state in the absence of the experience in the sleep state.

D.: Agreed. But please give me an illustration.

M.: How can it be described? If you dive into water for recovering an article you speak of its recovery only after rising out of the water. You do not say anything while remaining sunk in water.

D.: I do not have fear in sleep whereas I have it now. 

M.: Because dwiteeyadvai bhayam bhavati - fear is always of a second one. Of what are you afraid? 

D.: By reason of the perception of the body, the senses, the world, Isvara, doership, enjoyment etc.

 M.: Why do you see them if they cause fear? 

D.: Because they are inescapable. 

M.: But it is you who sees them. For whom is the fear? Is it for them? 

D.: No, it is for me. 

M.: Because you see them, you fear them. Do not see them and there will be no fear. 

D.: What then should I do in the waking state? 

M.: Be the Self; there will be no second thing to cause you fear.

D.: Yes. Now I understand. If I see my Self, then the sight is warded off the non-self and there is happiness. Yet there is the fear of death. 

M.: Only the one who is born should die. See if you have been born at all in order that death should threaten you.

Talk 319. 

Mr. Sridhar, a Hindu from Goa, asked: What is kousalam (skill) in Yogah karmasu kousalam (yoga is skill in action). How is that gained? M.: Do actions without caring for the result. Do not think that you are the doer. Dedicate the work to God. That is the skill and also the way to gain it.

D.: Samatvam yoga uchyate (Equanimity is yoga). What is that equanimity? 

M.: It is unity in diversity. The universe is now seen to be diverse. See the common factor (sama) in all the objects. When that is done equality in the pairs of opposites (dwandwani) naturally follows. It is the latter which is however spoken of as equanimity ordinarily.

D.: How is the common factor to be perceived in the diversity?

M.: The seer is only one. They do not appear without the seer. There is no change in the seer, however much the others may change. Yogah karmasu kousalam = Skill in work is yoga, Samatvam yoga uchyate = Equanimity is yoga, Mamekam saranam vraja = Only surrender to Me, Ekamevadwiteeyam = Only one without a second, representing Karma, Yoga, Bhakti and Jnana convey the same meaning. They are only the single Truth presented in different aspects.

Mr. Ekanatha Rao: Is Grace necessary for it? 

M.: Yes. 

D.: How to gain Divine Grace? 

M.: By surrender. 

D.: Still I do not feel Grace. 

M.: Sincerity is wanting. Surrender should not be verbal nor conditional. Passages from St. Justinian were read out to illustrate these statements. Prayer is not verbal. It is from the heart. To merge into the Heart is prayer. That is also Grace. 

The Alwar says: “I was all along seeking Thee. But on realising the Self I find you are the Self. The Self is my all, and so you are my All.”

...............

D.: Impurities of limitation, ignorance and desire (anava, mayika, and kamya) place obstacles in the way of meditation. How to conquer them? 

M.: Not to be swayed by them. 

D.: Grace is necessary. 

M.: Yes, Grace is both the beginning and the end. 

Introversion is due to Grace.

 Perseverance is Grace. 

 Realisation is Grace. 

That is the reason for the statement: Mamekam saranam vraja (only surrender to Me).

If one has entirely surrendered oneself is there any part left to ask for Grace? He is swallowed up by Grace. 

D.: The obstacles are powerful and obstruct meditation. 

M.: If a Higher Power is recognised and surrendered to, how will they obstruct you? If you say “They are powerful,” the source of their Power must be held so that they do not obstruct you.

306

Talk 320. 

In the course of an informal conversation Sri Bhagavan pointed out that,

 Self-Realisation is possible only for the fit. 

The vasanas must be eliminated before jnana dawns. 

One must be like Janaka for jnana to dawn.

 One must be ready to sacrifice everything for the Truth. 

Complete renunciation is the index of fitness.

306

D.: I do not know anything of my sleep experience. 

M.: But you know that it was happiness. Otherwise you would not be saying “I slept happily”. When there is no thought, no ‘I’, and nothing In fact except yourself, you are happy. That is the whole Truth. This is exactly what is conveyed by the Mahavakya Tatvamasi (You are That). Find your Self: and then “That” is known. 

D.: How is that Brahman? 

M.: Why do you want to know of Brahman apart from yourself? The scripture says “You are That”. 

The Self is intimate to you and you cannot indeed be without the Self. 

Realise it. 

That is the Realisation of Brahman also. 

D.: But I am unable to do it. I am too weak to realise my Self. 

M.: In that case surrender yourself unreservedly and the Higher Power will reveal Itself. 

D.: What is unconditional surrender? 

M.: If one surrenders oneself there will be no one to ask questions or to be thought of. 

Either the thoughts are eliminated by holding on to the root-thought ‘I’ or 

one surrenders oneself unconditionally to the Higher Power. 

These are the only two ways for Realisation.

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310

.......in the scheme of things? In as much as it witnesses all other objects in the waking and dream states, or at any rate we think that it does so, it must be considered to be the subject. On realising the Pure Self, however, it will be an object only. Whose is this ‘I-thought’ (the ego)? This investigation forms the vichara.

312

Talk 326. In answer to a question by a long resident attendant Sri Bhagavan said: “Everybody complains of the restlessness of the mind. Let the mind be found and then they will know. True, when a man sits down to meditate thoughts rush up by dozens. The mind is only a bundle of thoughts. The attempt to push through the barrage of thoughts is unsuccessful. 

If one can by any means abide in the Self it is good. 

For those who are unable to do so, chanting or meditation (Japa or dhyana) is prescribed. It is like giving a piece of chain to an elephant to hold in its trunk. The trunk of the elephant is usually restless. It puts it out in all directions when taken out in the streets of the town. If given a chain to carry the restlessness is checked. Similarly with the restless mind. If made to engage in japa or dhyana, other thoughts are warded off: and the mind concentrates on a single thought. It thus becomes peaceful. It does not mean that peace is gained without a prolonged struggle. The other thoughts must be fought out.

.........

314

...........If one wants to abide in the thought-free state, a struggle is inevitable. One must fight one’s way through before regaining one’s original primal state. If one succeeds in the fight and reaches the goal, the enemy, namely the thoughts, will all subside in the Self and disappear entirely. The thoughts are the enemy. They amount to the creation of the Universe. In their absence there is neither the world nor God the Creator. The Bliss of the Self is the single Being only.

315

..Nammalvar, the Vaishnavite saint, has said: “Only my Self is you”. What does it mean? “Before I realised my Self I was wandering looking out for You; having now realised my Self I see that you are my Self”. How will this fit in with qualified monism? It must be explained thus: “Pervading my Self you remain as the antaryamin (Immanent Being). Thus I am a part of your body and you are the owner of the body (sariri)” Having given up one’s own body as not being oneself why should one become another’s (God’s) body? If one’s body is not the Self other bodies also are non-self.

The protagonists of qualified monism think that individuality is necessary to experience the Bliss. Individuality, i.e., ‘I-ness’ should not be lost. Aha! The Self is not the body but your Self becomes the body of God! Is it not absurd? Or if you make prapatti (surrender yourself) to God, you have made yourself over to Him and you are His and no longer yours. If He is in need of a body let Him look out for Himself. You need not say He is the owner of a body

317

........That which is real must be real for ever. But you say ‘I’. This ‘I’-consciousness is present all through the three states. There is no change in it. That is alone real. The three states are false. They are only for the mind. 

It is the mind which obstructs your vision of your true nature. Your true nature is that of infinite spirit. That was the case in your sleep. 

You note the limitations in the other two states. What is the difference due to? There was no mind in sleep, but it exists in the dream and the waking states. The feeling of limitation is the work of the mind. What is mind? Find it. If you search for it, it will vanish by itself. For it has no real existence. It is comprised of thoughts. It disappears with the cessation of thoughts.

......

D.: When I try to meditate, I am unable to do so because my mind wanders. What should I do? 

M.: Your question furnishes the answer. First, with regard to the first part of the question, you say you concentrate, but do not succeed. ‘You’ means ‘the Self’. On what do you concentrate? Where do you fail? Are there two selves, for the one self to concentrate on the other? Which is the self now complaining of failure? There cannot be two selves. There is only one Self. That need not concentrate. You ask, “But then, why is there no happiness?” What is it that prevents you from remaining as the spirit which you are in sleep? You yourself admit that it is the wandering mind. Find out the mind. If its ‘wandering’ stops, it will be found to be the Self - your ‘I’-consciousness which is spirit eternal. It is beyond knowledge and ignorance.

......

D.: When I try to meditate, I am unable to do so because my mind wanders. What should I do?

 M.: Your question furnishes the answer. First, with regard to the first part of the question, you say you concentrate, but do not succeed. ‘You’ means ‘the Self’. On what do you concentrate? Where do you fail? Are there two selves, for the one self to concentrate on the other? Which is the self now complaining of failure? There cannot be two selves. There is only one Self. That need not concentrate. You ask, “But then, why is there no happiness?” What is it that prevents you from remaining as the spirit which you are in sleep? You yourself admit that it is the wandering mind. Find out the mind. If its ‘wandering’ stops, it will be found to be the Self - your ‘I’-consciousness which is spirit eternal. It is beyond knowledge and ignorance.

317

M.: Prana and mind arise from the same source. The source can be reached by holding the breath or tracing the mind. If you cannot do the latter the former will no doubt be helpful. Regulation of breath is gained by watching its movements.

If the mind is watched thoughts cease. Peace results and it is your true nature. King Janaka said: “I have now found the robber (namely the mind) who has been robbing me of my ‘I’-ness. I will instantly kill this thief.” The perturbation owing to thoughts appears to rob the Self of its peace. The perturbation is the mind. When that ceases the mind is said to take flight. The Self remains as the undisturbed substratum.

Another person interposed: The mind must kill the mind. 

M.: Yes, if there be the mind. A search for it discloses its non-existence. How can anything that does not exist be killed?

D.: Sri Bhagavan has said in one of the works that the japa must be traced to its source. Is it not the mind that is meant? 

M.: All these are only the workings of the mind. Japa helps to fix the mind to a single thought. All other thoughts are first subordinated until they disappear. When it becomes mental it is called dhyana. Dhyana is your true nature. 

It is however called dhyana because it is made with effort. 

Effort is necessary so long as thoughts are promiscuous. Because you are with other thoughts, you call the continuity of a single thought, meditation or dhyana. 

If that dhyana becomes effortless it will be found to be your real nature.

........

320

M.: The cessation of such thoughts is the realisation of the Self. Illustration: the necklace supposed lost. One does not see the world or one’s own body, being away from the Self. Always being the Self, one sees everything else. God and the world are all in the Heart. See the Seer and everything will be found to be the Self. Change your outlook. Look within. Find the Self. Who is the substratum of the subject and the object? Find it and all problems are solved. The lady was then told of the pamphlet, Who am I? She agreed to read it before asking further questions of Sri Bhagavan.

...

M.: (1) Tat = Isvara turiya. (2) tvam = jiva turiya. (3) asi = asi turiya. Turiya is the substratum of the waking, dream and sleep states.

.........

D.: The first two are all right; what is the third? 

M.: All-pervasiveness is said to be the waking; all-shining is said to be the dream; perfection (ananta) is said to be the sleep; that which underlies these is asi-turiya.

322

.........To read them, to discover new doubts and to solve them, is a source of pleasure to them. Knowing it to be sheer waste, the sages do not encourage such people. Encourage them once and there will be no end. Only the enquiry into the Self can be of use. Those familiar with logic, Vritti Prabhakara, Vichara Sagara or Sutra Bhashya, or similar large works, cannot relish small works like Truth Revealed dealing only with the Self and that pointedly too, because they have accumulated vasanas. Only those whose minds are less muddy, or are pure, can relish small and purposeful works.

.........

Talk 333. 

Pratyabhijna = Prati + abhijna. abhijna is direct perception. 

Prati is to be reminded of what was already known. “This is an elephant” direct perception “This is that elephant” is pratyabhijna In technical works, pratyabhijna is used for realising the ever-present Reality and recognising it. Sunya (void or blank), ati sunya (beyond sunya) and maha sunya (immense void), all mean the same, i.e., the Real Being only

.......

M.: To be the Self is the same as seeing the Self. There are no two selves for the one to see the other. Later, he continued the same question of investigation of the Self. 

D.: How to realise the Self? 

M.: It is already realised. One should know this simple fact. That is all.

 D.: But I do not know it. How shall I know it? 

M.: Do you deny your existence? 

D.: No: how can that be done?

M.: Then the truth is admitted. 

D.: Yet, I do not see. How shall I realise the Self? 

M.: Find out who says ‘I’. 

D.: Yes. I say ‘I’. 

M.: Who is this ‘I’? Is it the body or some one besides the body? 

D.: It is not the body. It is someone besides it 

M.: Find it out. 

D.: I am unable to do it. How shall I find it? 

M.: You are now aware of the body. You were not aware of the body in deep sleep. Still you remained in sleep. After waking up you hold the body and say “I cannot realise the Self”. Did you say so in your sleep? Because you were undivided (akhanda) then, you did not say so. Now that you are contracted within the limits of the body you say “I have not realised”. Why do you limit your Self and then feel miserable? Be of your true nature and happy. You did not say ‘I’ in sleep. You say so now. Why? Because you hold to the body. Find out where from this ‘I’ comes. Then the Self is realised. The body being insentient cannot say ‘I’. The Self being infinite cannot say ‘I’ either. Who then says ‘I’?

........

D.: I do not yet understand. How to find the ‘I’? 

M.: Find out where from this ‘I’ arises. Then this ‘I’ will disappear and the infinite Self will remain. This ‘I’ is only the knot between the sentient and the insentient. The body is not ‘I’, the Self is not ‘I’. Who, then, is the ‘I’? Wherefrom does it arise? 

D.: Where from does it arise? 

M.: Find out. 

D.: I do not know. Please enlighten me. 

M.: It is not from without. It is from within. Where does it come from? If elsewhere you can be led there. Being within, you must find it out yourself.

......

D.: From the head? 

M.: Does the concept of ‘head’ arise after the ‘I’ or does ‘I’ arise from the head? If ‘I’ be in the head why do you bend it when sleep overpowers you? ‘I’ is ever constant. So also must its seat be. If the head bends at one time and is erect at another time how can it be the seat of ‘I’? Your head is laid flat in sleep. When awake it is raised up. Can it be the ‘I’?

D.: Which is it then? 

M.: ‘I’ comes from within. When asleep there is no ‘I’. Just before waking there is ‘I-thought’. 

D.: The heart-knot is said to be between the eyebrows. 

M.: Some say “between the eyebrows”; others “at the coccyx”, and so on. All these are from the standpoint of the body. The body comes after the ‘I-thought’.

D.: But I cannot divest myself of the body. 

M.: So you admit that you are not the body. 

D.: If there is pain in this body, I feel it; but not if another body is injured. I cannot get over this body. 

M.: This identity is the cause of such feeling. That is the hrdaya granthi (heart-knot). 

D.: How is this knot to go? 

M.: For whom is the knot? Why do you want it to go? Does it ask or do you ask? 

D.: It cannot ask; I am asking. 

M.: Who is that ‘I’? If that is found the knot will not remain.

D.: The knot is concomitant with the body. The body is due to birth. How is rebirth to cease? 

M.: Who is born? Is the Self born? Or is it the body? 

D.: It is the body. 

M.: Then let the body ask how its rebirth may cease. 

D.: It will not ask. So I am asking. 

M.: Whose is the body? You were without it in your deep sleep. After the ‘I-thought’ arose the body arose. The first birth is that of ‘I thought’. The body has its birth subsequent to ‘I-thought’. So its birth is secondary. Get rid of the primary cause and the secondary one will disappear by itself

D.: How is that ‘I-thought’ to be checked from rising? 

M.: By Self-quest. 

D.: I try to understand but without success. Can I find the Self by means of japa? If so, please tell me how. 

M.: What japa? Why should you make artificial Japa? You can find out the eternal and natural japa always going on within you.

328

Sri Bhagavan said: Divine sight means Self-luminosity. The world divya shows it. The full word means the Self. 

Who is to bestow a divine eye? And who is to see? Again, people read in the books, “hearing, reflection and one-pointedness are necessary”. They think that they must pass through savikalpa samadhi and nirvikalpa samadhi before attaining Realisation. Hence all these questions.

 Why should they wander in that maze? 

What do they gain at the end? It is only cessation of the trouble of seeking. They find that the Self is eternal and self-evident.

 Why should they not get that repose even this moment?

 A simple man, not learned, is satisfied with japa or worship. A Jnani is of course satisfied. The whole trouble is for the book-worms. Well, well. They will also get on.

328

.........................

Bhagavan said: Quest of the Self, meaning, ‘I am-the-body’ idea must vanish. (Atma vichara = disappearance of dehatma buddhi).

.....

Talk 338. 

Mrs. Jennings, an American lady, asked a few questions:

 D.: Is not affirmation of God more effective than the quest, “who am I?” Affirmation is positive, whereas the other is negation. Moreover, it indicates separateness. 

M.: So long as you seek to know how to realise, this advice is given to find your Self. Your seeking the method denotes your separateness.

D.: Is it not better to say ‘I am the Supreme Being’ than ask ‘Who am I?’ 

M.: Who affirms? There must be one to do it. Find that one. 

D.: Is not meditation better than investigation? 

M.: Meditation implies mental imagery, whereas investigation is for the Reality. The former is objective, whereas the latter is subjective. 

D.: There must be a scientific approach to this subject. 

M.: To eschew unreality and seek the Reality is scientific

D.: I mean there must be a gradual elimination, first of the mind, then of the intellect, then of the ego. 

M.: The Self alone is Real. All others are unreal. The mind and intellect do not remain apart from you. The Bible says, “Be still and know that I am God”. Stillness is the sole requisite for the realisation of the Self as God.

.....

331

Talk 341. 

Mrs Jennings: Sri Bhagavan says that the state of Realisation is freedom from the tyranny of thoughts. Have not the thoughts got a place in the scheme of things - maybe on a lower plane? 

M.: The thoughts arise from the ‘I-thought’ which in its turn arises from the Self. Therefore the Self manifests as ‘I’ and other thoughts. What does it matter if there are thoughts or no thoughts?

.......

M.: Whom does the ant sting? It is the body. You are not the body. So long as you identify yourself with the body, you see the ants, plants, etc. If you remain as the Self, there are not others apart from the Self.

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336

D.: How to seek the mind? 

M.: Breath-control may do as an aid but can never lead to the goal itself. 

While doing it mechanically, take care to be alert in mind and remember the ‘I-thought’ and seek its source. 

Then you will find that where breath sinks, there the ‘I-thought’ arises. 

They sink and rise together. 

The ‘I-thought’ also will sink along with breath. 

Simultaneously another luminous and infinite “I-I” will manifest and it will be continuous and unbroken.

 That is the goal. 

It goes by different names - God, Self, Kundalini-Sakti, consciousness etc. 

When the attempt is made it will of itself take you to the goal.

..............

M.: There is consciousness along with quietness in the mind; this is exactly the state to be aimed at. The fact that the question has been framed on this point, without realising that it is the Self, shows that the state is not steady but casual. The word ‘diving’ is appropriate to the state of outgoing tendencies when the mind is to be diverted and turned within so as to dive below the surface of externalities. 

But when deep quietness prevails without obstructing the consciousness, where is the need to dive?

 If the state be not realised as the Self, the effort to do so may be called ‘diving’. 

The state may in that way be said to be suitable for realisation or ‘diving’. Thus the last two questions in the paragraph are unnecessary.

........

339

Churning the mind:

To install the mind firmly in the heart until these forces are destroyed

and to awaken with unswerving, ceaseless vigilance the true and cognate tendency which is characteristic of the Atman and is expressed by the dicta, Aham Brahmasmi (I am Brahman), 

and Brahmaivaham (Brahman alone am I) is termed nididhyasana or atmanusandhana, 

i.e. constancy in the Self. This is otherwise called Bhakti, Yoga and Dhyana. 

Atmanusandhana has been likened to churning the curd to draw forth butter, the mind being compared to the churning rod, the heart to the curd and the practice of constancy in the Self to the process of churning. 

Just as by churning the curd butter is extracted and by friction fire is kindled, even so, by unswerving vigilant constancy in the Self, ceaseless like the unbroken filamentary flow of oil, is generated the natural or changeless trance or nirvikalpa samadhi, which readily and spontaneously yields that direct, immediate, unobstructed and universal perception of Brahman, which is at once Knowledge and Experience and which transcends time and space. 

Limitless Bliss:

This is Self-Realisation; and thereby is cut asunder the hridaya-granthi or the Knot of the Heart. The false delusions of ignorance, the vicious and age-long tendencies of the mind, which constitute this knot, are destroyed. All doubts are dispelled and the bondage of Karma is severed.

...........

340

Talk 350. 

While speaking to Mr. G. Shanmugham, a very sincere lawyer devotee, 

Bhagavan observed: The sastras say that one must serve a Guru for 12 years for getting Self-Realisation. What does Guru do? Does he hand it over to the disciple? Is not the Self always realised? What does the common belief mean then? The man is always the Self and yet he does not know it. He confounds it with the non-self, viz., the body etc. 

Such confusion is due to ignorance. If ignorance be wiped out the confusion will cease to exist and the true knowledge will be unfolded. By remaining in contact with realised sages the man gradually loses the ignorance until its removal is complete. The eternal Self is thus revealed. This is the meaning conveyed by the story of Ashtavakra and Janaka. The anecdotes differ in different books. We are not concerned with the names and the embellishments. The tatva, i.e., the moral, must not be lost sight of. The disciple surrenders himself to the master. That means there is no vestige of individuality retained by the disciple. If the surrender is complete all sense of individuality is lost and there is thus no cause for misery. The eternal being is only happiness. That is revealed. Without understanding it aright, people think that the Guru teaches the disciple something like “Tatvamasi” and that the disciple realises “I am Brahman”. 

In their ignorance they conceive of Brahman as something more huge and powerful than anything else. With a limited ‘I’ the man is so stuck up and wild. What will be the case if the same ‘I’ grows up enormous? He will be enormously ignorant and foolish! This false ‘I’ must perish. Its annihilation is the fruit of Guru seva. Realisation is eternal and it is not newly brought about by the Guru. He helps in the removal of ignorance. That is all.

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