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

Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi
D.: Yes I am already aware of the line of teaching of Maharshi. It
is the quest for the Self. But my doubt persists if such quest is
compatible with grihastha life.
M.: The Self is always there. It is you. There is nothing but you.
Nothing can be apart from you. The question of compatibility or
otherwise does not arise.
D.: I shall be more definite. Though a stranger, I am obliged to confess
the cause of my anxiety. I am blessed with children. A boy - a good
brahmachari - passed away in February. I was grief-stricken. I was
disgusted with this life. I want to devote myself to spiritual life.
But my duties as a grihini do not permit me to lead a retired life.
Hence my doubt.
M.: Retirement means abidance in the Self. Nothing more. It is not leaving
one set of surroundings and getting entangled in another set, nor even
leaving the concrete world and becoming involved in a mental world.
The birth of the son, his death, etc., are seen in the Self only.
Recall the state of sleep. Were you aware of anything happening? If
the son or the world be real, should they not be present with you in
sleep? You cannot deny your existence in sleep. Nor can you deny
you were happy then. You are the same person now speaking and
raising doubts. You are not happy, according to you. But you were
happy in sleep. What has transpired in the meantime that happiness
of sleep has broken down? It is the rise of ego. That is the new
arrival in the jagrat state. There was no ego in sleep. The birth of
the ego is called the birth of the person. There is no other kind of
birth. Whatever is born is bound to die. Kill the ego: there is no fear
of recurring death for what is once dead. The Self remains even
after the death of the ego. That is Bliss - that is Immortality.
D.: How is that to be done?
M.: See for whom these doubts exist. Who is the doubter? Who is
the thinker? That is the ego. Hold it. The other thoughts will die
away. The ego is left pure; see where from the ego arises. That is
pure consciousness.
D.: It seems difficult. May we proceed by bhakti marga?
M.: It is according to individual temperament and equipment. Bhakti
is the same as vichara.
215