Be As You Are: The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi (Compass)

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Question: But you have often said that one must reject other thoughts when one begins the quest, but the thoughts are endless. If one thought is rejected, another comes and there seems to be no end at all. Part IV is on meditation and yoga. Sri Ramana differentiates self-inquiry from meditation, though superficially they seem to be similar activities. He discusses dharana (concentration) and mantras in these chapters as well. One inclusion that may seem unrelated to the general theme is chapter 12, which is about the four-stage model of life called the asramas (student, householder, hermit, ascetic.) The chapter on yoga is about the eight limbs of yoga described by Patanjali, and their relevance to the practice of Jnana yogi. It should be noted that Ramana downplays the importance of these practices to the jnana yogi (a.k.a. Jnani) with the exception of pranayama (breathing exercises.)

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly, and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant; they too have their story. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love – for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you from misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labours and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.” Question: When I do this and cling to my self, that is, the ‘I’-thought, other thoughts come and go, but I say to myself ‘Who am I?’ and there is no answer forthcoming. To be in this condition is the practice. Is it so? Self-enquiry should not be regarded as a meditation practice that takes place at certain hours and in certain positions; it should continue throughout one’s waking hours, irrespective of what one is doing. Sri Ramana saw no conflict between working and self-enquiry and he maintained that with a little practice it could be done under any circumstances. He did sometimes say that regular periods of formal practice were good for beginners, but he never advocated long periods of sitting meditation and he always showed his disapproval when any of his devotees expressed a desire to give up their mundane activities in favour of a meditative life. During his life Ramana Maharshi didn’t think it important to write down his teaching. He gave his energy to connecting with people directly. Some call it Darshan. This book comes from Godman’s interview with those who had experienced Maharshi’s Darshan, the embodiment and direct transmission of these ‘teachings’ by their teacher.I was very impressed with Ramana Maharshi. As with many abstruse spiritual texts, they refer to mental states that are rarefied and experiential. It is not really possible to truly grasp what he is talking about unless one has experienced the same strange states as he, a bit like hearing a description of the ocean without ever actually having seen it, smelt it, felt the enormity of it. This practice of self-attention or awareness of the ‘I’-thought is a gentle technique which bypasses the usual repressive methods of controlling the mind. It is not an exercise in concentration, nor does it aim at suppressing thoughts; it merely invokes awareness of the source from which the mind springs. The method and goal of self-enquiry is to abide in the source of the mind and to be aware of what one really is by withdrawing attention and interest from what one is not. In the early stages effort in the form of transferring attention from the thoughts to the thinker is essential, but once awareness of the ‘I’-feeling has been firmly established, further effort is counter-productive. From then on it is more a process of being than doing, of effortless being rather than an effort to be.

I suspect since humankind first developed an awareness of a spiritual dimension to existence Self Enquiry in some form has been practised. Indeed Self Enquiry is an ancient Practice embraced by the major religions and one which has inspired many in all walks of life. A great deal has been written over the centuries on this Practice, much of it complex, esoteric and, notably into the 21st century, empty and wordy rhetoric that has little to do with the Practice itself and simply confuses the would-be seeker of Truth.And I can see myself becoming stronger and more stable and peaceful and happier all the time with these techniques. Bhagavan: This is a mistake that people often make. What happens when you make a serious quest for the Self is that the ‘I’-thought disappears and something else from the depths takes hold of you and that is not the ‘I’ which commenced the quest.

Bhagavan Sri Ramaṇa Mahārṣi (Tamil: ரமண மஹரிஷி) born Venkataraman Iyer, was probably the most famous Indian sage of the twentieth century, he was born on December 30, 1879 in a village called Tirucculi about 30 miles south of Madurai in southern India. His middle-class parents named him Venkataraman. His father died when he was twelve, and he went to live with his uncle in Madurai, where he attended American Mission High School. Sri Ramana’s central teaching is that the jnani must actively inquire about the nature of the true self (a practice called atma-vichara, or self-inquiry.) As such, the book is organized as a guide to building a practice of self-inquiry.

Start Small. Build big.

This book is regarded by many as the ultimate work in modern Advaita and nondualism, and rightfully so. Sri Ramana Maharshi was a sage's sage, as well as everyone's sage, and his words have inspired a whole generation of western awakened. Find the time to learn upon what you value and take time to consider what makes up the essence of who you are. As part of this, contemplate your life and choices. Try to think about what kinds of things you would or wouldn't like to do, and act accordingly; finding out through trial and error helps more than you might think it does. Question: You say one can realise the Self by a search for it. What is the character of this search? Ramana puts everything in clear and simple words, and Hindu terms and Sanskrit words are also explained. There is no need to be familiar with Hindu scripture before reading this book.

I Took a Pill in Ibiza, Buried in Detroit, Be As You Are, and Not That Simple are four songs selected from my upcoming album. They are best listened to the way they were written: at night, and alone. I hope you enjoy. Bhagavan: I do not say that you must go on rejecting thoughts. Cling to yourself, that is, to the ‘I’-thought. When your interest keeps you to that single idea, other thoughts will automatically get rejected and they will vanish. As with so many spiritual texts, I am reading the words of these special individuals who have attained a very unique state of being and so I don't really get it on any deep level. This requires a certain amount of faith on my part, faith that they really know what they're talking about. I certainly have faith in Ramana Maharshi though. His answers to every question, despite being somewhat disconnected from normal human experience, seem to be correct; truthful on a very fundamental level and there is so much consistency in all his answers. So much so that after having read the first quarter of the book, you have pretty much already seen all he has to offer. His philosophy is almost impossible to fathom and yet so elegantly simple. Every question is confounded with answers along the lines of "yes, this is an interesting question, but if you were to practice the method that I have already taught you then you would immediately see that your question and all other questions are invalid". It could be somewhat infuriating and it might seem a bit bogus but, like i say, i have faith in the dude.In the early stages of practice attention to the feeling ‘I’ is a mental activity which takes the form of a thought or a perception. As the practice develops, the thought ‘I’ gives way to a subjectively experienced feeling of ‘I’, and when this feeling ceases to connect and identify with thoughts and objects it completely vanishes. What remains is an experience of being in which the sense of individuality has temporarily ceased to operate. The experience may be intermittent at first but with repeated practice it becomes easier and easier to reach and maintain. When self-enquiry reaches this level there is an effortless awareness of being in which individual effort is no longer possible since the ‘I’ who makes the effort has temporarily ceased to exist. It is not Self-realisation since the ‘I’-thought periodically reasserts itself but it is the highest level of practice. Repeated experience of this state of being weakens and destroys the vasanas (mental tendencies) which cause the ‘I’-thought to rise, and, when their hold has been sufficiently weakened, the power of the Self destroys the residual tendencies so completely that the ‘I’-thought never rises again. This is the final and irreversible state of Self-realisation. very well written, amazing the feeling I get listening to this song 2016-03-18T19:44:26Z Comment by Ciscus Bhagavan: That is the real Self, the import of ‘I’. It is not the ego. It is the Supreme Being itself. It is more like learning to let go of all the illusions and discover and resonate with and be the eternal Self that you are, at one with all life, underlying all. I have heard this put in many ways in many teachings old and new, quite well, before. But the difference here, with the "I Am That I Am" and "Who Am I?" (or "Who Is It That Is Experiencing This Difficult Experience?") approach (repeating one of these consistently when in the face of doubt over external object-identification problems or just as an awakening agent for the soul), as well as the stable, calm, Self-assured, egoless way in which Sri Maharshi presents his tools and philosophy, through this I have found great inner peace, possibly for the first time in my entire life -- This book presents Sri Ramana’s teachings in a question and answer format. The editor, David Godman, begins each chapter with an overview of Ramana’s views on the subject at hand, and he then launches into the Q&A exchange that makes up most of each chapter. The preludes are beneficial not only because they set up the topic, but also because they help separate Ramana’s core beliefs from the way he occasionally explained matters to non-jnani’s or those who weren’t ready to grasp what he believed was the fundamental teaching. (There’s a fair amount of, “Until you realize the self, X is true, but after you achieve self-realization Y will be true.)