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

Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi
D.: Is not dhyana one of the efficient processes for Realisation?
M.: Dhyana is concentration on an object. It fulfils the purpose of keeping
away diverse thoughts and fixing the mind on a single thought, which
must also disappear before Realisation. But Realisation is nothing new to
be acquired. It is already there, but obstructed by a screen of thoughts.
All our attempts are directed for lifting this screen and then
Realisation is revealed.
If a true seeker is advised to meditate, many may go away satisfied
with the advice. But someone among them may turn round and ask,
“Who am I to meditate on an object?” Such a one must be told to
find the Self. That is the finality. That is Vichara.
D.: Will vichara alone do in the absence of meditation?
M.: Vichara is the process and the goal also. ‘I AM’ is the goal and the
final Reality. To hold to it with effort is vichara. When spontaneous
and natural it is Realisation.
Talk 391.
The same sannyasi visitor, Swami Lokesananda, asked about samadhi.
M.: (1) Holding on to Reality is samadhi.
(2) Holding on to Reality with effort is savikalpa samadhi.
(3) Merging in Reality and remaining unaware of the world is
nirvikalpa samadhi. 1
(4) Merging in Ignorance and remaining unaware of the world is
sleep. (Head bends but not in samadhi).
(5) Remaining in the primal, pure natural state without effort is
sahaja nirvikalpa samadhi.
D.: It is said that one remaining in nirvikalpa samadhi for 21 days
must necessarily give up the physical body.
M.: Samadhi means passing beyond dehatma buddhi (I-am-the-body
idea) and non-identification of the body with the Self is a foregone
conclusion.
There are said to be persons who have been immersed in nirvikalpa
samadhi for a thousand years or more.
1. See table on next page
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