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

Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi
D.: How then is the state to be attained?
M.: What is there to attain? A thing remains to be attained if it is not
already attained. But here one’s very being is That.
Someone: Why do we not then know it?
Annamalaiswami: I should always try to think I am That.
M.: Why should one think “I am That”? He is That only. Does a man
go on thinking that he is a man?
Mr. Anantachari: The belief ‘I am a man’ is so deep that we cannot
help thinking so.
M.: Why should you think “I am a man”? If you are challenged you
may say ‘I am a man’. Therefore the thought - ‘I am a man’ - is
called up when another thought, say ‘I am an animal’, protrudes
itself. Similarly, the thought I am That is necessary only so long
as the other thought I am a man persists.
D.: The thought ‘I am a man’ is so firm that it cannot he got rid of.
M.: Be your true Self. Why should you think ‘I am a man’?
D.: The thought ‘I am a man’ is so natural.
M.: Not so. On the other hand ‘I am’ is natural. Why do you qualify
it with ‘a man’?
D.: ‘I am a man’ is so obvious whereas ‘I am That’ is not understood
by us.
M.: You are neither That nor This. The truth is ‘I am’. “I AM that I
AM” according to the Bible also. Mere Being is alone natural. To
limit it to ‘being a man’ is uncalled for.
D.: (Humorously) If votes be taken the majority will be on my side.
(Laughter)
M.: I cast my vote also on your side (Laughter). I say also ‘I am a man’:
but I am not limited to the body. It is IN ME. That is the difference.
Someone: The limitation (upadhi) of being a man cannot be got rid of.
M.: How were you in deep sleep? There was no thought of being a man.
Another: So, the state of sleep must be brought about even when one
is awake.
M.: Yes. It is jagrat-sushupti.
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