Commentary on the text “The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi”
Seeker: God is described as manifest and unmanifest. In the first case, it is said that he includes the world as part of his being. If this is so, then as part of this world, we should easily be able to know him in his manifest form.
Maharshi: Before deciding questions concerning the nature of God and the world, know yourself.
There are teachings that are called external, and there are inner ones. The external ones are usually called the paths of eternalism, which presuppose duality. We may engage in worldly affairs or seek God, but it will always be external. Whether we go to a temple or somewhere else, whether we seek God in heaven, it will still be something external, since we, as the subject, will not be included in the spiritual search. In laya yoga, such a path is not considered right or conducive to liberation.
However much we may try to seek absolute truth somewhere— in heaven, in paradise, in the sacred scriptures, in images of gods, in the dogmas of various religions—such a search will always be superficial, shallow, and external, because we, as the subject, will not be included in this search. We will constantly be missing something subtler, and even if we penetrate deeply into certain philosophical dogmas or have various experiences, we will feel that we are always missing something, that something is still not right, that there is no satisfaction. There is still no peace in the soul. There is no fullness or wholeness.
The eternalist path is the childhood of the spirit. It is the beginning of the spiritual path, when a person is not yet aware of themselves as the subject, but is seeking truth. As practice progresses, we begin to recognize the subjective “I,” the subject, the “I am” awareness. As soon as we begin to recognize the subject, the “I am” awareness, our eternalist path and our childhood of the spirit come to an end, and we embark on the path of Advaita, the path of non-dual teachings.
Sage Vasistha says that if your mind is immature, worship of an image, name, and form helps you, and this is beneficial. But as soon as your spirit matures enough to turn toward subtle awareness, you must begin working with subtle awareness.
The teaching of Ramana Maharshi is nothing other than direct instructions for working with subtle awareness. And until a person learns to work with subtle awareness, all external forms of religious worship, spiritual practices, or meditative experiences will not bring them complete satisfaction, because the subject will be excluded from the process of spiritual search. And we are precisely that subject, so it turns out that, together with the subject, we ourselves will also be excluded from the spiritual search.
Including the Subject in the Spiritual Search
Including the subject in the process of spiritual search is marked by the beginning of the growth of our self-awareness. And this growth begins with the formation of a certain mental foundation, mental framework, or mental preparation. We must create a field of mental awareness and fill our intellect with theories and concepts so that it becomes flexible, sophisticated, and able to operate freely with them. And when our intellect is saturated with a sufficient number of knowledge elements and concepts, it will begin to grow thinner and, as it were, “tear,” allowing what lies beyond concepts to shine through. This is called buddhi (intuitive awareness). From this moment, we gain the ability to go beyond the mind and beyond the intellect.
Ramana Maharshi gives the method of atma-vichara as the principal means of transcending concepts and going beyond the intellect. Observing the practice of students, one can say that some immediately understand the essence of the method. Others are asked:
— How is your practice of atma-vichara going?
— I have been practicing for three years already, but something is not working.
Then I say:
— Do not simply leave it at that; you cannot do this. You must truly clarify it; you must eliminate your doubts. Seek until you find.
God Within You
Seeker: Does my self-knowledge include knowledge of God?
Maharshi: Yes, because God is within you.
Seeker: What, then, stands in the way of my knowing myself or God?
Maharshi: Your wandering mind and perverted way of life.
Seeker: Is God a person?
Maharshi: Yes, he is always the first person, “I,” constantly standing before you, but because you give preference to the worldly, it seems that God has moved away from you. If you discard everything and seek only Him, then He alone will remain as “I,” the Atman.
The task of the practitioner is always to seek God. But since the practitioner has an ego and a mind, the ego often drives him not toward seeking God, but, on the contrary, away from God. As long as the ego has not been subdued and the mind is not controlled, the ego leads in a direction completely opposite to God. By God, we mean the subtle awareness that always exists but is not always recognized. It is recognized only in a silent, serene, still state, like dreamless sleep. In a restless mind, agitated by emotions, excited, attached, and obscured, it is not recognized in principle. It is as though it does not exist.
The Atman Is God
Seeker: Is God separate from the Atman?
Maharshi: The Atman is God. I am this God. Such a question arises because you are attached to the ego. It will not arise if you hold on to the true “I.” For it does not want to and cannot ask about anything. If God were separate from the “I,” then He would have to be a God without an “I,” which is absurd.
When we stop following eternalist paths of development and embark on the path of Advaita, we begin to unite the “I” and God. We begin to understand that subtle “I am” awareness is itself the path to God. And the loss of subtle “I am” awareness is itself the path away from Him. Subtle “I am” awareness is a kind of guiding thread for the yogi, and he recognizes absolute consciousness just as a dog recognizes its master by scent. The task of the initial practice is to learn to effortlessly detect this subtle “I am” awareness, separate it from other experiences, thoughts, and sensations, become accustomed to it, and gradually, having become rooted in it, learn to live in this subtle “I am” awareness. This subtle “I am” awareness always exists, but because of distracting thoughts and emotions, it is constantly drowned out by stronger signals.
“I am” awareness can be likened to a very subtle signal that we must isolate and detect within our consciousness. But if the mind is restless and the thoughts are agitated, the “I am” awareness signal is lost. And we cannot become rooted in it in any way.
Why do agitated thoughts arise? First, because of emotional disturbances and bustle. This is a cause related to activity. Second, because we are deluded and attach incorrect significance to thoughts. We consider them something self-sufficient, operate with them, and believe in the independent existence of thoughts and concepts. This is a more serious problem, a kind of illness that can be treated only through self-inquiry and meditation.
Until we become rooted in subtle “I am” awareness, thoughts, when they manifest, can seriously cover the mirror of our mind, causing it to become as though clouded and then seemingly disappear completely. An experienced practitioner, however, can freely use thoughts, while nothing will cloud the mirror of his mind.
The Reality of God and the Unreality of the Ego
The God who seems nonexistent to a person is the only One who truly exists, whereas the individuality considered real never actually exists.
When thoughts, as a result of the movement of winds through the channels and identification with conceptual activity, begin to form chains and logical patterns, create concepts and judgments, and become imprinted in subconscious memory, what is called the activity of manas takes place. The activity of the conceptual mind (manas) branches out to an extraordinary extent and creates the notion of a false center, ahamkara, the so-called ego. The main focus of a person’s attention and his primary energy shift to this false center. Then ahamkara, that is, the ego, begins to be regarded as something real, supposedly genuine. The source of the ego, the light of self-awareness, on the contrary, seems nonexistent and becomes completely obscured.
In general, the ego itself is unreal, just as a wave is unreal in itself, being part of the ocean. Yet it is the ego that creates this world and the entire universe. The universe exists only for one who has an ego. It is a fragmentary, private view of oneself and the world, plucked out of its broader context and based purely on mental concepts.
The ego can be likened to a large boulder blocking the path of the freely flowing spring of self-awareness. If this boulder is moved aside, the freely flowing spring of self-awareness will begin to flow freely. In principle, this could be done quickly, but when we try to move it, we discover that it is not so simple, because the ego has taken very deep root at the subconscious level, and we ourselves have not yet reached its roots. It is deeper than we think.
God as the Foundation of All That Exists
The sages say that the state in which one realizes one’s own non-existence, shunya, is itself the magnificent, highest knowledge.
Right now, you think that you are an individual, that there is a universe, that God exists outside the cosmos, and therefore there is an idea of separateness. It must go, because God is not separate from you or from the cosmos. The Gita asserts the same: “I am the Atman, O Gudakesha. I dwell in the heart of every being. I am the beginning and the middle, as well as the end of all beings.” Thus, God does not live only in the heart of each being. He is the support of all, the source of all, the universal abode and the ultimate destination.
Whether you know about God or not, whether you deny Him or follow Him, He has already placed His seal in your heart. Moreover, you are nothing other than His limbs. If we imagine God as a vast being, then all living beings can be imagined as His distant limbs and sense organs. A limb in itself may develop its own self-perception and self-understanding, its own will, its own idea of life, its own meaning of life, and so on, without knowing about its source. But a limb, a separate living being, has no future; it has no meaning of its own outside the Supreme Being. As such, it is doomed, because it did not exist in the first place. Such a being can be likened to something unreal, for example, a lamp painted on canvas. It has no meaning of life, no future, and no roots of its own. It appeared and will disappear; it is something temporary, like a wave.
When you first tell such a being about this, it is infinitely astonished, even experiencing fear and confusion, because it feels that all the meanings of life it considered important, all its priorities, hopes, and plans, suddenly begin to tremble and gradually crumble. This false center may remain confused for some time. But this is good, not bad, because whatever must disappear should be allowed to go. If it crumbles so easily, it means that it is not real; it is false, and there is no genuine essence behind it. And what remains is true, real, and immortal.
In the process of self-awareness, the practitioner consciously destroys his false ideas himself, including his ego-oriented consciousness. And when his ego-oriented consciousness gradually changes its conception of itself and the ego’s grip weakens, he begins to feel a connection with the Supreme Source.
Everything proceeds from Him, abides in Him, and ultimately dissolves in Him; therefore, He is not separate.
“He is not separate” refers to the Supreme Consciousness. Even this is an understatement; it could be said differently: “You do not belong to yourselves. You think you belong to yourselves, but you do not; you all belong to God.” When you understand this and accept this fact, a radical reversal and transformation in awareness takes place. If we are not ourselves, and if we do not belong to ourselves, then we have no other choice but to acknowledge this fact and reunite with this Supreme Source.
As soon as the egoistic view “I belong to myself,” “I am myself,” arises in us, we move away from the Supreme Source. We close ourselves off from Him, and divya-bhava (divine pride) ceases to act through us, through our body, as a channel of self-awareness.
The Shakti of Brahman and the Manifestation of the Cosmos
Seeker: How should we understand the following passage from the Gita: “This entire cosmos constitutes a part of me”?
Maharshi: This does not mean that some small part of God separates from Him and forms the universe. His shakti (power) is at work, and as a result of one phase of such activity, the cosmos manifests. Similarly, the statement in the “Purusha Sukta”: “All beings constitute one foot of Him” — does not at all mean that there are several parts in Brahman.
A disciple once asked his teacher:
— What is the purpose of sadhana?
The teacher replied:
— The purpose is to worship God, to perform deva-puja.
Then the disciple asked:
— And how should one perform deva-puja, how should one worship?
The teacher said:
— You should worship Him in the morning, as soon as you get up, worship Him at noon, worship Him in the evening, worship Him while eating, while walking, while talking, when you sneeze, blink, cough, take a bath, go to the toilet, put on clothes, lie down in bed, and perform spiritual practices. You should worship God all this time. When thoughts of anger, attachment, fear, clinging, lust, or hope flash through your mind, you should still worship God at that moment. When you are overwhelmed by emotions or powerful desires, when you are making plans, you should worship God at that time as well. When you feel excellent, experience bliss and delight, or when everyone praises you, or when you joyfully meet your relatives, you should worship God at that time too. You should also worship God when you are ill, suffering, confused, insulted, scolded, or when you feel no joy at all, but only oppression. All of this is an auspicious time to worship God.
The disciple said:
— But this means doing it continuously.
The teacher said:
— Yes, that is so. If you want to reunite with Him, you have no other choice but to do it continuously. This is parabhakti — supreme devotion to God.
Then the disciple asked:
— But how can I do this continuously? I need lamps, fans, offerings; I must constantly be by the ritual fire or at the altar.
The teacher said:
— No, all of this is internal. You must worship Him through your own awareness. Worship without a worshipper, worship without ritual objects, without external actions such as prostration, chanting, and offering gifts. Worship That which has no form, color, taste, or smell.
The disciple asked:
— How, then, should I do this?
The teacher replied:
— Worship Him by abiding in moment-to-moment, immediate awareness beyond all concepts.
Then the disciple asked:
— What should I visualize, which mantras should I recite, which names should I remember?
The teacher said:
— You should neither visualize nor imagine, neither think nor recite mantras. All of this is formless and thought-free.
And at this point the disciple became confused:
— How can one worship that which is formless, unthinkable, inexpressible, incomprehensible?
The teacher said:
— This is not difficult if you investigate your own consciousness and constantly abide in naked, moment-to-moment awareness, in “I am” awareness. If you know how to do this and apply it, that will be supreme worship. When you abide in non-conceptual consciousness, without the notion of yourself as the worshipper, without the notion of God as the object of worship, without the notion that you are taking part in the process of worship, when there is neither subject nor object nor interaction between them, this is true worship. All other forms of worship are intended for immature minds and can lead to genuine liberation only when you move on to this supreme, true worship.
All the shastras describing dualistic worship, in which there is a worshipper, were created for the corresponding category of people—for those who, due to the qualities of their intellect, are unable to perceive nondual worship.
The same spiritual hero who has sufficient intellect to perceive nondual worship is worthy of following the highest dharma. Only the most worthy can follow the highest dharma—those who are awakened to it with all their heart.
Those who have few merits, whose minds are restless, whose mental abilities are low, who are lazy, dependent, doubtful, and unable to maintain the samaya connection will not be able to follow the highest dharma. This means that the level of requirements placed upon us rises when we decide to embark upon the path of the highest dharma. If you have declared your readiness to follow the highest dharma, be ready to take responsibility for your choice, remain aware, and maintain the standard of a vira-yogin.
Overcoming Obstacles on the Path
Seeker: I understand this, Brahman is indivisible, of course.
Maharshi: The point is that Brahman is everything and remains indivisible; He is always realized. However, a person is not aware of this and must arrive at such knowledge. Knowledge entails overcoming the obstacles that prevent the discovery of the eternal truth that Atman is identical with Brahman.
When we wish to remain in such nondual awareness, we see that there are many obstacles within us, many limitations, that we lack willpower, concentration, awareness, control over our thoughts, devotion, and the ability to let go of ourselves. We lack dispassion and detachment. There is much subconscious egoism, clinging, and ordinary desires within us. And when we encounter the level of requirements that the teaching places before us, we see that we are completely unfit for practice. We see that our chances are slim because we do not meet many of these requirements; they seem far too high. If we see this, it is the first sign that our intellect is beginning to be purified. Previously, we did not see this, but now we do.
Instead of becoming confused, we begin to understand that all this can be overcome and resolved, because, relying on the highest teaching, we gain possession of a magical mystical stone. If we work with it properly, all our shortcomings will disappear over time, while all our best qualities will develop within a short period. The teaching of anuttara tantra is called a teaching that rapidly manifests merit. This is truly the case. As soon as you begin working with it, it begins to awaken you, giving you immense strength in a short time, awakening various mystical abilities, creative abilities, clear intelligence, and much more within you in a short time.
It is precisely through practice itself that we develop these missing qualities. Therefore, we should not despair if we feel that we lack many qualities within us. We should not think: “I am so limited. With such qualities, I am neither a vira nor a divya; perhaps I will not even be admitted as a pashu.” We should not think this way, because the very fact that we have encountered the teaching already means that a karmic connection exists. We have already approached this teaching, which means that the connection has been established. The fact that we have taken Refuge, entered into guru yoga, and established a connection with a spiritual teacher indicates a karmic connection with the teaching. This means that we practiced it before and have the prerequisites for practicing it now. The very fact that we begin applying the nondual teaching is already a guarantee that transformation is beginning to take place and that the missing qualities are beginning to develop rapidly.
Therefore, applying the teaching gives great inspiration even to those who seemingly possess none of these qualities, because it has the ability and power to change and transform everything. In a few years, some of you may be amazed. You will think: “I could never have imagined, even in my dreams, that I would experience something like this; it would never even have occurred to me what abilities might develop within me. It is incredible.” This is how some people usually describe their experiences. Of course, this applies to those who genuinely work with the teaching.
The point is that one must actually apply the teaching and live by it. To be honest, I experience the same thing myself. Sometimes I think: “Even in my dreams, as a limited person, I could never have imagined what kind of consciousness I might have and what thoughts might come to me when I connect with this consciousness.” I feel that all of this does not come from me as a person, as the ego. Behind it stands some transpersonal, superpersonal global source, and I am merely its manifestation; being connected to it, I simply try to remove myself and become the emptiest possible transmitting vessel. The ego and the mind cannot keep up with it; they can only marvel at and admire this very source. The ego thinks: “I myself could never have thought of, arrived at, or created anything like this.”
A State of Continuous Amazement
Every saint exists in a state of reverent amazement, awe, admiration, and rapture. Moreover, saying that this is awe, admiration, and rapture is still too weak. I would say that it is a continuous shock. It is the shock of your “I,” your little mind, coming into contact with something superpersonal, so global and exalted that it does not even have the slightest chance, within its narrow confines, of evaluating or understanding it in any way, and therefore it can only surrender to it. This is a state of continuous amazement and shock that grows in the yogi day by day. But it is not something negative. It is a very positive shock. It is a shock of bliss, rapture, and joy that is constantly overflowing within you.
A person who is in such a state of shock can always be recognized. For them, there is nothing else apart from experiencing the higher “Self.” Someone who is not in this state of shock has many things: desires, clinging, hopes, ego, fear, resentment, dissatisfaction, relationships, attachments. But a person who has entered this state of shock is like a dancing madman who deals with all worldly matters very simply. They play in this world.
Of course, I am not calling on anyone to become dancing madmen, since one must take into account the realities of the relative world. However, you always retain a lightness in perceiving any experiences and problems, because you always feel: “I do not belong to myself; I belong to God.”
When you look at others who are not in this state, who remain within limitations and boundaries, you think: “Yes, this is a poor person, an unhappy person. How can they be helped? How is it possible to live in such a closed, limited, and gloomy consciousness?”
Transformation of Activity
To change your consciousness, you simply need to recognize this subtle awareness and begin moving your egoistic “I” aside, and then all blessings will begin to pour over you. All the love, all the goodness, all the beauty, all the happiness, all the rapture, all the transcendence, all the mystery, and all the mysticism will begin to pour over you as if from a cornucopia. This will not even interfere with your external activity. On the contrary, if you practice correctly, your external activity will become harmonized. You will become not merely effective, but supereffective in any activity, because you will not be attached to it; it will never limit or bind you. Whatever you do, it will become a kind of your grace, your blossoming, and your dance. It will simply be an expression of your activity.
An ordinary person performs some activity as a duty, as something they have to do. But at this stage, any activity becomes a game, a creative endeavor, something akin to music and artistry. At the same time, it does not matter what kind of activity it is. This activity gushes with creativity, spontaneity, and all transcendent qualities.
When you proceed from this Source and look at how everything can be done differently, you naturally think: “I would rather act from this Source.” It is as if the speed of your consciousness suddenly increased 10,000-fold. If someone operates at a speed of 1 kilobyte or 1 meter per second, everything works 10,000 times faster for you. And you do not see just one option; you immediately see at least eighteen possible ways in which events may unfold, and if you focus your attention even more closely, you will see many more possible ways of realizing them.
When you act in this way, your speed of consciousness is immense, whatever you may be doing. You become highly effective, but this effectiveness does not bind you, because you are simply a kind of empty transmitting channel of the Supreme Spirit. And the practitioner’s task is to become, in contemplation, such an empty transmitting channel of the Supreme Spirit. One who is such a channel, the illusory body of the Absolute, is easy to recognize, because their consciousness is never conditioned by anything and is always in a state of freedom. In other words, they never have tamas, and there is little rajas either. They have ever-boundlessly playing sattva, and these games will never end.
If tamas begins to dominate during contemplation, it is a sign that you are being drawn in the wrong direction, that you are overlooking something. If rajas begins to dominate, it is a sign that you have become carried away by conceptual activity and that your self-liberation is falling behind.
The Three Levels of the Path: View, Meditation, and Conduct
Seeker: Is God the same as the Atman?
Maharshi: The Atman is known to everyone, but not clearly. You always exist. This Being is the Atman. “I am” is the name of God. Of all the definitions of God, there is truly none better than the biblical statement: “I am that I am.”
In the teaching, there are three concepts associated with this abiding. These concepts relate to the path. They are view, meditation, and conduct. They should be distinguished. But many people do not quite distinguish between them, and this gives rise to various curiosities.
View is when we are precisely in this non-conceptual awareness beyond subject and object. For example, if I am abiding in the view and one of the monks asks me, “We have a retreat tomorrow. What is the schedule?” I will say to him, “Phat!” At best, I will reply: “I do not see a single monk who is supposed to sit in retreat. In emptiness there is neither a hall nor a place to sit. What are you talking about?”
If, however, I am abiding in awareness, in meditation, I will answer him differently. If I am asked, “In which hall will the retreat for laypeople take place?” I will say: “Ask the fir trees that glimmer in the winter moonlight; they will answer you.” What would this indicate? Pay attention to your own clarity, and then you will not need to ask questions, because you will be able to do everything yourself.
And only if I am at the level of conduct, that is, in the relative dimension, will I say: “The retreat for laypeople will take place at the ‘Serene Ocean,’ and the retreat for monks at the ‘Wonderful Palace.’ Do everything as it should be done.”
These are different levels of vision in which you may find yourself, and depending on the mode in which you decide to communicate, your answer will be accordingly. For example, if I only shouted “phat” or said strange things, I do not think you would even be able to complete the retreat here. There would be confusion and chaos. Therefore, the level of communication is lowered, and we communicate at the level of conduct. However, communication at the level of conduct does not mean that the view becomes obscured or that awareness ceases to exist. It is also activated, it is present, but it is not advertised or placed in the foreground.
