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4. When will the
realisation of the Self be gained?
When the world which is what-is-seen has been
removed, there will be realisation of
the Self which is the seer.
5. Will there not be realisation of the Self even while
the world is there [taken for real]?
There will not be.
6. Why?
The seer and the object seen are like the rope and the
snake. Just as the knowledge
of the rope which is the substrate will not arise unless the
false knowledge of the
illusory serpent goes, so the realisation of the Self which
is the substrate will not
be gained unless the belief that the world is real is
removed.
7. When will the world which is the object seen be
removed?
When the mind, which is the cause of all cognition's
and of all actions, becomes quiescent,
the world will disappear.
8. What is the nature of the mind?
What is called 'mind' is a wondrous power residing in the
Self. It causes all thoughts
to arise. Apart from thoughts, there is no such thing as
mind. Therefore, thought
is the nature of mind. Apart from thoughts, there is no
independent entity called
the world. In deep sleep there are no thoughts, and there is
no world. In the states of
waking and dream, there are thoughts, and there is a world
also. Just as the spider
emits the thread [of the web] out of itself and
again withdraws it into itself,
likewise the mind projects the world out of itself and again
resolves it into itself.
When the mind comes out of the Self, the world appears.
Therefore, when the world
appears [to be real], the Self does not appear; and
when the Self appears
[shines] the world does not appear. When one
persistently inquires into the
nature of the mind, the mind will end leaving the Self
[as the residue]. What is referred
to as the Self is the Atman. The mind always exists only in
dependence on something
gross; it cannot stay alone. It is the mind that is called
the subtle body or the
soul [jiva].
9. What is the path of inquiry for understanding the
nature of the mind?
That which rises as 'I' in this body is the mind. If one
inquires as to where in the body
the thought 'I' rises first, one would discover that it
rises in the heart. That is the
place of the mind's origin. Even if one thinks constantly
'I-I', one will be led to that
place. Of all the thoughts that arise in the mind, the 'I'
thought is the first. It is only
after the rise of this that the other thoughts arise. It is
after the appearance of
the first personal pronoun that the second and third
personal pronouns appear; without
the first personal pronoun there will not be the second and
third.
10. How will the mind become quiescent?
By the inquiry "Who am I?". The thought "Who am I?" will
destroy all other thoughts, and
like the stick used for stirring the burning pyre, it will
itself in the end get destroyed.
Then, there will arise Self-realisation.
11. What is the means for constantly holding on to the
thought "Who am
I?"
When other thoughts arise, one should not pursue them, but
should inquire: "To whom
do they arise?" It does not matter how many thoughts arise.
As each thought arises,
one should inquire with diligence, "To whom has this
thought arisen?" The
answer that would emerge would be "To me". Thereupon if
one inquires "Who am I?",
the mind will go back to its source; and the thought
that arose will become
quiescent. With repeated practice in this manner, the mind
will develop the skill to
stay in its source. When the mind that is subtle goes
out through the brain and
the sense-organs, the gross names and forms appear;
when it stays in the
heart, the names and forms disappear. Not letting the mind
go out, but retaining it
in the Heart is what is called 'inwardness'
[antar-mukha]. Letting the
mind go out of the Heart is known as 'externalisation'
[bahir-mukha]. Thus, when
the mind stays in the Heart, the 'I' which is the source of
all thoughts will go, and
the Self which ever exists will shine. Whatever one does,
one should do without the
egoity 'I'. If one acts in that way, all will appear as of
the nature of Siva
[God].
12. Are there no other means for making the mind
quiescent?
Other than inquiry, there are no adequate means. If through
other means it is sought
to control the mind, the mind will appear to be controlled,
but will again go forth.
Through the control of breath also, the mind will become
quiescent; but it will be
quiescent only so long as the breath remains controlled, and
when the breath resumes
the mind also will again start moving and will wander as
impelled by residual
impressions. The source is the same for both mind and
breath. Thought, indeed,
is the nature of the mind. The thought 'I' is the first
thought of the mind; and
that is egoity. It is from that whence egoity originates
that breath also originates.
Therefore, when the mind becomes quiescent, the breath is
controlled, and when the
breath is controlled the mind becomes quiescent. But in deep
sleep, although the mind
becomes quiescent, the breath does not stop. This is because
of the will of God, so
that the body may be preserved and other people may not
be under the impression
that it is dead. In the state of waking and in samadhi
[to be fully absorbed in contemplation], when
the mind becomes quiescent the
breath is controlled. Breath is the gross form of
mind. Till the time of death, the
mind keeps breath in the body; and when the body
dies the mind takes the breath
along with it. Therefore, the exercise of
breath-control is only an aid for
rendering the mind quiescent [manonigraha]; it
will not destroy the mind
[manonasa].
Like the practice of breath-control. meditation on the forms
of God, repetition of mantras,
restriction on food, etc., are but aids for rendering the
mind quiescent.
Through meditation on the forms of God and through
repetition of mantras, the mind
becomes one-pointed. The mind will always be wandering. Just
as when a chain is given
to an elephant to hold in its trunk it will go along
grasping the chain and
nothing else, so also when the mind is occupied with a name
or form it will grasp that
alone. When the mind expands in the form of countless
thoughts, each thought
becomes weak; but as thoughts get resolved the mind
becomes one-pointed and
strong; for such a mind Self-inquiry will become easy.
Of all the restrictive
rules, that relating to the taking of sattvic [pure]
food in moderate quantities is the
best; by observing this rule, the sattvic quality of mind
will increase, and that will
be helpful to Self-inquiry.
13. The residual impressions [thoughts] of
objects appear wending like the
waves of an ocean. When will all of them get
destroyed?
As the meditation on the Self rises higher and
higher, the thoughts will get destroyed.
14. Is it possible for the residual impressions of
objects that come from
beginningless time, as it were, to be resolved, and for one
to remain as
the pure Self?
Without yielding to the doubt "Is it possible, or
not?", one should persistently hold on
to the meditation on the Self. Even if one be a great
sinner, one should not worry
and weep "O! I am a sinner, how can I be saved?"; one should
completely renounce the
thought "I am a sinner"; and concentrate keenly on
meditation on the Self;
then, one would surely succeed. There are not two minds -
one good and the other
evil; the mind is only one. It is the residual impressions
that are of two kinds -
auspicious and inauspicious. When the mind is under the
influence of auspicious
impressions it is called good; and when it is under the
influence of inauspicious
impressions it is regarded as evil.
The mind should not be allowed to wander towards worldly
objects and what concerns
other people. However bad other people may be, one should
bear no hatred for them.
Both desire and hatred should be eschewed. All that one
gives to others one gives
to one's self. If this truth is understood who will not give
to others? When one's self
arises all arises; when one's self becomes quiescent
all becomes quiescent. To
the extent we behave with humility, to that extent there
will result good. If the
mind is rendered quiescent, one may live anywhere.
15. How long should inquiry be practised?
As long as there are impressions of objects in the mind, so
long the inquiry "Who am
I?" is required. As thoughts arise they should be destroyed
then and there in the very
place of their origin, through inquiry. If one resorts to
contemplation of the Self
unintermittently, until the Self is gained, that alone would
do. As long as there are
enemies within the fortress, they will continue to sally
forth; if they are destroyed
as they emerge, the fortress will fall into our hands.
16. What is the nature of the Self?
What exists in truth is the Self alone. The world, the
individual soul, and God are appearances
in it. like silver in mother-of-pearl, these three appear at
the same time, and
disappear at the same time. The Self is that where there is
absolutely no 'I' thought.
That is called 'Silence'. The Self itself is the world; the
Self itself is 'I'; the
Self itself is God; all is Siva, the Self.
17. Is not everything the work of God?
Without desire, resolve, or effort, the sun rises; and in
its mere presence, the sun-stone
emits fire, the lotus blooms, water evaporates; people
perform their various
functions and then rest. Just as in the presence of the
magnet the needle moves,
it is by virtue of the mere presence of God that the souls
governed by the three
[cosmic] functions or the fivefold divine activity
perform their actions and then rest,
in accordance with their respective karmas. God has no
resolve; no karma attaches
itself to Him. That is like worldly actions not affecting
the sun, or like the merits
and demerits of the other four elements not affecting all
pervading space.
18. Of the devotees, who is the greatest?
He who gives himself up to the Self that is God is the most
excellent devotee. Giving
one's Self up to God means remaining constantly in the Self
without giving room for
the rise of any thoughts other than that of the Self.
Whatever burdens are thrown
on God, He bears them. Since the supreme power of God makes
all things move, why
should we, without submitting ourselves to it, constantly
worry ourselves with
thoughts as to what should be done and how, and what should
not be done and how not?
We know that the train carries all loads, so after getting
on it why should we carry
our small luggage on our head to our discomfort, instead
of putting it down in the
train and feeling at ease?
19. What is non-attachment?
As thoughts arise, destroying them utterly without any
residue in the very place of their
origin is non-attachment. Just as the pearl-diver ties a
stone to his waist, sinks
to the bottom of the sea and there takes the pearls, so each
one of us should be
endowed with non-attachment, dive within oneself and obtain
the Self-Pearl.
20. Is it not possible for God and the Guru to effect the
release of a
soul?
God and the Guru will only show the way to release; they
will not by themselves take
the soul to the state of release.
In truth, God and the Guru are not different.
Just as the prey which has fallen
into the jaws of a tiger has no escape, so those
who have come within the ambit of
the Guru's gracious look will be saved by the
Guru and will not get lost; yet,
each one should by his own effort pursue the path
shown by God or Guru and gain
release. One can know oneself only with one's own
eye of knowledge, and not with
somebody else's. Does he who is Rama require the
help of a mirror to know that he
is Rama?
21. Is it necessary for one who longs for release to
inquire into the nature
of categories [tattvas]?
Just as one who wants to throw away garbage has no need to
analyse it and see what it
is, so one who wants to know the Self has no need to count
the number of categories
or inquire into their characteristics; what he has to do is
to reject altogether the
categories that hide the Self. The world should be
considered like a dream.
22. Is there no difference between waking and
dream?
Waking is long and a dream short; other than this there is
no difference. Just as waking
happenings seem real while awake. so do those in a dream
while dreaming. In dream
the mind takes on another body. In both waking and
dream states thoughts.
names and forms occur simultaneously.
23. Is it any use reading books for those who long for
release?
All the texts say that in order to gain release one should
render the mind quiescent;
therefore their conclusive teaching is that the mind should
be rendered quiescent;
once this has been understood there is no need for endless
reading. In order to
quieten the mind one has only to inquire within oneself what
one's Self is; how could
this search be done in books? One should know one's Self
with one's own eye of
wisdom. The Self is within the five sheaths [five
koshas: food, vital force, mind, intellect, bliss], but
books are outside them.
Since the Self has to be inquired into by discarding the
five sheaths, it is futile
to search for it in books. There will come a time when one
will have to forget all
that one has learned.
24. What is happiness?
Happiness is the very nature of the Self; happiness
and the Self are not different. There
is no happiness in any object of the world. We imagine
through our ignorance that
we derive happiness from objects. When the mind goes out,
it experiences misery. In
truth, when its desires are fulfilled, it returns to its
own place and enjoys the
happiness that is the Self. Similarly, in the states of
sleep, samadhi and
fainting, and when the object desired is obtained or the
object disliked is
removed, the mind becomes inward-turned, and enjoys
pure Self-Happiness. Thus
the mind moves without rest alternately going out of the
Self and returning to it.
Under the tree the shade is pleasant; out in the open the
heat is scorching. A
person who has been going about in the sun feels cool when
he reaches the shade.
Someone who keeps on going from the shade into the sun
and then back into the
shade is a fool. A wise man stays permanently in the
shade. Similarly, the mind
of the one who knows the truth does not leave Brahman
[the impersonal absolute reality]. The
mind of the ignorant, on the
contrary, revolves in the world, feeling miserable,
and for a little time
returns to Brahman to experience happiness. In fact, what is
called the world is only
thought. When the world disappears, i.e. when there is
no thought, the mind
experiences happiness; and when the world appears, it
goes through misery.
25. What is wisdom-insight
[jnana-drishti]?
Remaining quiet is what is called wisdom-insight. To remain
quiet is to resolve the mind
in the Self. Telepathy, knowing past, present and future
happenings and clairvoyance
do not constitute wisdom-insight.
26. What is the relation between desirelessness and
wisdom?
Desirelessness is wisdom. The two are not different; they
are the same. Desirelessness
is refraining from turning the mind towards any object.
Wisdom means the
appearance of no object. In other words, not seeking what is
other than the Self is
detachment or desirelessness; not leaving the Self is
wisdom.
27. What is the difference between inquiry and
meditation?
Inquiry consists in retaining the mind in the Self.
Meditation consists in thinking that one's
Self is Brahman, existence-consciousness-bliss.
28. What is release?
Inquiring into the nature of one's Self that is in bondage,
and realising one's true nature
is release.
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RAMANA
MAHARSHI - WHO AM I?