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

Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi
cannot be experienced. That which is born must die; that which is
acquired must be lost. Were you born? You are ever existent. The
Self can never be lost.
D.: Buddha advises the eight-fold path as being the best so that none
might be lost.
M.: Yes. Such is called Raja Yoga by the Hindus.
D.: Is yoga advised for a spiritual aspirant?
M.: Yoga helps control of mind.
D.: But does it not lead to occult powers (siddhis) which are said to
be dangerous?
M.: But you qualified your question by the words “a spiritual aspirant”.
You did not mean a seeker of powers (siddhis).
Talk 21.
31st January, 1935
Mr. Ellappa Chettiar, a member of the Legislative Council of
Madras Presidency and an influential Hindu, asked: “Why is it said
that the knowledge born of hearing is not firm, whereas that born of
contemplation is firm?”
M.: On the other hand it is said that hearsay knowledge (paroksha) is
not firm, whereas that born of one’s own realisation (aparoksha)
is firm.
It is also said that hearing helps the intellectual understanding of the
Truth, that meditation makes the understanding clear, and finally
that contemplation brings about realisation of the Truth.
Furthermore, they say also that all such knowledge is not firm and
that it is firm only when it is as clear and intimate as a gooseberry
in the hollow of one’s palm.
There are those who affirm that hearing alone will suffice,
because a competent person who had already, perhaps in previous
incarnations, qualified himself, realises and abides in peace as soon
as he hears the Truth told him only once, whereas the person not
so qualified must pass through the stages prescribed above, before
falling into samadhi.
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