Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi Complete ... - BrahminVoice.org

Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi
with the body, projects itself through the eyes and sees the objects
around. The individual is limited in the waking state and expects
to see something different. The evidence of his senses will be the
seal of authority. But he will not admit that the seer, the seen and
the sight are all manifestations of the same consciousness - namely,
‘I-I’. Contemplation helps one to overcome the illusion that the Self
must be visual. In truth, there is nothing visual. How do you feel
the ‘I’ now? Do you hold a mirror before you to know your own
being? The awareness is the ‘I’. Realise it and that is the truth.
D.: On enquiry into the origin of thoughts there is a perception of ‘I’.
But it does not satisfy me.
M.: Quite right. The perception of ‘I’ is associated with a form, maybe
the body. There should be nothing associated with the pure Self.
The Self is the unassociated, pure Reality, in whose light, the body,
the ego, etc. shine. On stilling all thoughts the pure consciousness
remains over.
Just on waking from sleep and before becoming aware of the
world there is that pure ‘I-I’. Hold to it without sleeping or without
allowing thoughts to possess you. If that is held firm it does not
matter even though the world is seen. The seer remains unaffected
by the phenomena.
Talk 197.
Gul and Shirin Byramjee, two Parsi ladies of Ahmedabad, arrived
this day. They spoke at night to Maharshi: “Bhagavan! We have been
spiritually inclined from our childhood. We have read several books on
philosophy, and are attracted by Vedanta. So we read the Upanishads,
Yoga Vasishtha, Bhagavad Gita, etc. We try to meditate, but there is
no progress in our meditation. We do not understand how to realise.
Can you kindly help us towards realisation?”
M.: How do you meditate?
D.: I begin to ask myself “Who am I?”, eliminate body as not ‘I’, the
breath as not ‘I’, the mind as not ‘I’ and I am not able to proceed
further.
M.: Well, that is so far as the intellect goes. Your process is only
intellectual. Indeed, all the scriptures mention the process only to
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