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

Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi
23rd January, 1937
Talk 338.
Mrs. Jennings, an American lady, asked a few questions:
D.: Is not affirmation of God more effective than the quest, “who am
I?” Affirmation is positive, whereas the other is negation. Moreover,
it indicates separateness.
M.: So long as you seek to know how to realise, this advice is given to
find your Self. Your seeking the method denotes your separateness.
D.: Is it not better to say ‘I am the Supreme Being’ than ask ‘Who am I?’
M.: Who affirms? There must be one to do it. Find that one.
D.: Is not meditation better than investigation?
M.: Meditation implies mental imagery, whereas investigation is for the
Reality. The former is objective, whereas the latter is subjective.
D.: There must be a scientific approach to this subject.
M.: To eschew unreality and seek the Reality is scientific.
D.: I mean there must be a gradual elimination, first of the mind, then
of the intellect, then of the ego.
M.: The Self alone is Real. All others are unreal. The mind and intellect
do not remain apart from you.
The Bible says, “Be still and know that I am God”. Stillness is the
sole requisite for the realisation of the Self as God.
D.: Will the West ever understand this teaching?
M.: There is no question of time and space. Understanding depends
on ripeness of mind. What does it matter if one lives in the East
or in the West?
Sri Bhagavan referred the lady to a few stanzas in Truth Revealed
and to Thayumanavar. She retired.
Later Sri Bhagavan said the whole Vedanta is contained in the two
Biblical statements:
“I am that I AM” and “Be still and know that I am God.”
Mr. K. S. N. Iyer, a Railway Officer, said to Sri Bhagavan that the
compiler of Cosmic Consciousness considers realisation to be possible
only within certain limits of age in an individual’s life.
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