Treasure Trove of Sri Bhagavan’s Grace
“WHO AM I ?” A Guided Meditation on Self-Enquiry
The Way Of Sri Ramana Maharshi
written by: V. Ganesan read by: Rory Murray
The Great Master: BHAGAVAN SRI RAMANA MAHARSHI is guiding us now. From His Heart these words are being transferred to your heart. No one is guiding you other than Sri Ramana in the form of yourself. No need or room for any intermediary – as a technique – is necessary. Just observe.
You are simply listening – not listening to some one about something. Though conveyed through words, these are not mere statements or sentences; but, the one and only true state, of your own being, potently being transferred to you.
Sit in a relaxed manner Don’t try to imagine, project, visualise anything Allow things to happen Watch Witness what is taking place
YOU ARE
Suddenly, thoughts rush in Don’t worry Don’t try to do anything about it Allow them to come up One thought after another follows, continuously Don’t make any effort to understand or analyse them Nor try to restrict them, to reject them, to condemn them, to clear them Permit them to rush through Only watch Don’t become tense or rigid Feel relaxed
JUST - NOW -
Catch a thought That is Do not allow it to be pushed out, quickly, by the following thought This movement of an effort you will have to make, to stick to that thought Assume an attitude of neutrality and impartiality Look at the simple verbiage of the thought: “I want to go to Los Angeles” Stay with it Don’t get carried away by the meaning of it Don’t react to the sense behind what that thought conveys You are merely looking at it At this moment, don’t permit other thoughts to rush in
NOW –
Collect your attention And, Question :
“To Whom is this thought?” Understand unwaveringly :
YOU are raising the question, And, putting it to YOURSELF
No one else – nothing else is involved YOU are answering YOURSELF The obvious answer therefore is
“To ME”
Feel it Are there two entities involved? One as ‘You’ and another as ‘thought’? How can it be? So The question is put by you to YOU Clearly understand this, with feeling, but without any further movement Without any urge to ponder over it It is a simple fact
NOW - WAIT -
Again, gather all your attention And, Focus sharply the attention on the need to know the ‘me’ So, In all attention and one-pointedness With great feeling Ask
“WHO AM I ?”
Intently observe All movements stop No thought – No YOU Only
SILENCE STILLNESS QUIETUDE
The purpose of insisting on your listening up to here, before you have heard this introduction, is that one has to have an experience of the ‘Silence’ within oneself first. Such an experience is a pre-requisite to move further. Sri Ramana Maharshi calls this a ‘foretaste’ of the real ‘I AM’, the Silence within each one of us, behind, beyond and inclusive of our day-to-day elusive, changing egoistic ‘I’-feeling, the ‘me’. Any amount of verbal explanation, pointing to a state of Silence behind the simple ‘me’ proves futile; as such, any effort lands one, ironically, in the conundrum of ideas and more explanations only. On the other hand, a glimpse of this Silence, brought about not by cleverness of words but by being directly in it, in the experience, is the only way to follow it, to cling to it, without the need for anyone else to explain it to you, verbally.
All efforts through words, sentences, statements prove of little help, for the simple reason that the experience of the Silence can never be brought within the borders of words and sentences. Hence, the Vedas declare it as anirvachaneeya, ‘indescribable through words’.
A direct experience, however short, light or meager, helps equip one with a real understanding, which is very important for making the next movement.
The first glimpse or taste of the silence is only the beginning.
Thoughts continue to rush in.
What to do, now?
You have to accept every subsequent thought that arises. Do not try to fight them away or quell them by any other method other than patiently again asking the question : “To whom is this thought?”, “To me”: and, reach the Silence through the razor-sharp posture of “WHO AM I?”
Repeat it relentlessly, again and again and again!
Patience is required
More patience is demanded!
“There is no shortcut to Self-enquiry. The whole course has to be persevered with” – this seeming unpalatable but vital answer of the Maharshi is actually an enormous encouragement to pursue the path to Silence, patiently!
“Constant vigilance is the price a seeker has to pay” in this path, affirms the Maharshi.
The Silence will guide you, from within
No longer depend on or look to the vagaries of the mind. The mind is the real ‘thief’ robbing you of your precious jewel of Silence!
Shift your attention to Silence. Don’t heed the doubting mind, which raises endlessly questions like ‘How’, ‘Why’ and ‘When’. Once thoughts are arrested, restricted, looked into at their roots through Self-enquiry, the weakened mind tries to raise these shallow questions. Instead of feeling the need to face such a mind, raise the fundamental questions of ‘WHO’ and ‘WHENCE’, whenever it puts out its antenna. Sages abhor raising the questions of ‘How’ and ‘Why’; and, they applaud the one who, of his own accord, raises the questions of ‘WHO’ and ‘TO WHOM’ !
Thought is a movement
Silence is its birthplace. It is achala, motionless Thought is ignorance, bondage Silence is Wisdom, Liberation If submitted to thoughts, one is bound If denuded of thoughts, Silence dawns, one attains Freedom With thoughts one is worried With Silence one is ever happy To think, effort is essential Silence is one’s own effortless, choiceless, natural state
‘How long one has to practice the enquiry ?’ is a wrong question, though it looks logical and important. Does anyone ask how long one has to continue to breathe; or, do you ever dare to stop breathing to raise such a question?
Silence is the way. Silence is the Goal. Silence is the beginning. Silence is the end.
Did not Jesus Christ declare :
“I AM the way and I AM the Goal” ?
Silence is I AM !
I AM is “NOW” !