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

Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi
He practise yoga? He went into samadhi as He sat; He was in Perfect
Repose. Silence prevailed. They saw Him. The effect was immediate.
They fell into samadhi and their doubts were at an end.
Silence is the true upadesa. It is the perfect upadesa. It is suited only
for the most advanced seeker. The others are unable to draw full
inspiration from it. Therefore they require words to explain the Truth.
But Truth is beyond words. It does not admit of explanation. All that
is possible to do is only to indicate It. How is that to be done?
The people are under an illusion. If the spell is removed they will realise
the Truth. They must be told to realise the falsity of the illusion. Then they
will try to escape its snares. Vairagya will result. They will enquire into
the Truth, i.e., seek the Self. That will make them abide as the Self. Sri
Sankara, being the avatar of Siva, was full of compassion for fallen beings.
He wanted all of them to realise their blissful Self. He could not reach them
all with His Silence. So he composed the Dakshinamurti stotra in the form
of a hymn so that people might read it and understand the Truth.
What is the nature of the illusion? All are in the grip of enjoyment,
i.e., bhokta, bhogyam, bhoga. This is due to the wrong notion that
bhogya vastu (the objects) are real. The ego, the world and the creator
are the fundamentals underlying the illusion. If they are known to be
not apart from the Self there will be no more illusion.
The first four stanzas deal with the world. It is shown to be the same
as the Master whose Self is that of the seeker also, or the Master to
whom the seeker surrenders himself. The second four stanzas deal
with the individual whose Self is shown to be the Self of the Master.
The ninth stanza deals with Isvara and the tenth with the siddhi or
Realisation. Such is the scheme of the stotra.
Which is the darpana (mirror) here? A mirror, as we know it, is an
insentient object which reflects light. What corresponds to a mirror in
an individual? The light of the Self-luminous Self is reflected on the
Mahatattva. The reflected light is the mind-ether or the pure mind. This
illumines the vasanas (latencies) of the individual and hence the sense
of ‘I’ and ‘this’ arises.
Again, a superficial reading of the slokas makes one believe that
the bondage, liberation, etc., are all related to the Master i.e., Sri
Dakshinamurti. It is absurd. Surrender to Him is meant.
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