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

Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi
abide as the Self. This is the ultimate Truth. This is one’s eternal,
natural, inherent state. On account of ignorance we identify ourselves
with the not-I.
The most subtle of all these identifications is with the ego. Let us
search for the root of the ego. Where from does this pseudo-I arise?
At the end of this quest we shall find that the ego disappears letting
the eternal Self shine. So the best discipline is the inquiry: ‘Who am
I?’ This is the greatest japa. This is the true pranayama. The thought
‘I am not the body’ (naham) is exhalation (rechaka); the inquiry
‘Who am I?’ (koham) is inhalation (puraka); the realization ‘I am He’
(soham) is retention of breath (kumbhaka). The fruit of Self-inquiry
is the realization that the Self is all, and that there is nothing else.
For those who follow this method no other sadhana is necessary. But
even those who adopt the discipline of devotion (bhakti) reach the
same goal. If one surrenders one’s ego to either the Guru or God,
one realizes the Self.
Sri Ramana’s teachings as found in the “Talks” will bring hope to
everyone. No one need think that he is beyond the pale of redemption.
An old American visitor once asked the Master, ‘Maharshi, do you
think we are bad boys’? The Master’s characteristic reply was, ‘Do
not tell me so. But you need not think you are bad boys’. Anything that
is bad in us will surely be removed, if only we listen to the Maharshi’s
wise words that are recorded in the present book.
And, may we read it with a view to preparing ourselves for
understanding the Master’s higher teaching which was through
silence!
University of Madras,
August 1l, 1958.
T. M. P. MAHADEVAN
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