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

Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi
15th June, 1936
Talk 202.
A sad-looking Punjabi gentleman announced himself to Maharshi as
having been directed to him by Sri Sankaracharya of Kamakotipeetam,
from Jalesvar near Puri, Jagannath. He is a world tourist. He has
practised Hatha Yoga and some contemplation along the lines of “I am
Brahman”. In a few moments a blank prevails, his brain gets heated
and he gets afraid of death. He wants guidance from Maharshi.
M.: Who sees the blank?
D.: I know that I see it.
M.: The consciousness overlooking the blank is the Self.
D.: That does not satisfy me. I cannot realise it.
M.: The fear of death is only after the ‘I-thought’ arises. Whose death
do you fear? For whom is the fear? There is the identification of the
Self with the body. So long as there is this, there will be fear.
D.: But I am not aware of my body.
M.: Who says that he is not aware?
D.: I do not understand.
He was then asked to say what exactly was his method of meditation.
He said: “Aham Brahmasmi” (“I am Brahman”).
M.: “I am Brahman” is only a thought. Who says it? Brahman itself
does not say so. What need is there for it to say it? Nor can the real
‘I’ say so. For ‘I’ always abides as Brahman. To be saying it is only
a thought. Whose thought is it? All thoughts are from the unreal ‘I’.
i.e., the ‘I’- thought. Remain without thinking. So long as there is
thought there will be fear.
D.: As I go on thinking of it there is forgetfulness, the brain becomes
heated and I am afraid.
M.: Yes, the mind is concentrated in the brain and hence you get a hot
sensation there. It is because of the ‘I-thought’. So long as there
is thought there will be forgetfulness. There is the thought “I am
Brahman”; forgetfulness supervenes; then the ‘I-thought’ arises and
simultaneously the fear of death also. Forgetfulness and thought
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