The Teaching, Demonstration,
and
Realization of Ramana Maharshi
Copyright. Dawn Horse Press, Clearlake, CA. by Adi Da Samraj
“I regard Ramana Maharshi to be My Principal historical Link to the Great Tradition”
Much (if not most) of the literature associated with the (originally) Upanishadic tradition of Advaita Vedanta concentrates on programs of philosophical argumentation, rather than on practical elaborations of practice and ecstatic (or, really, enstatic) Confessions of Realization. As a result, much (if not most) of the literature associated with the tradition of Advaita Vedanta expresses (or may be interpreted or presumed to express, or at least resemble) the point of view of what I call the “talking” school of Advaitism. Likewise, the emphasis (or fundamental doctrine) of much (if not most) of the literature associated with the tradition of Advaita Vedanta appears (or may be interpreted) to be oriented toward the affirmation that Realization of the Great Truth is a matter of a kind of gnosis (or subjectively affirmed special knowledge about Reality) whereas, in Truth (and also according to the Great Sages within the tradition of Advaita Vedanta), gnosis (or subjective understanding of the Great Truth, even resulting in firm conviction) is only the seed (or a preliminary) that begins the Great Process that becomes sixth stage Realization (or Native Identification with the Perfectly, or Non-conditionally, Subjective Reality That Is the Great Truth).
The traditional philosophical emphasis on Advaitic gnosis (or the subjective conviction that Consciousness Itself is the Inherently Free Great Truth) is also traditionally associated with an emphasis on the idea that no “work” (or effort of practice) is necessary (or even useful) as a means to attain this gnosis, or even (from the “talking” school point of view) as a subsequent expression of it. And this notion tends to suggest, to those who embrace it without true understanding of its import, that Advaitic Realization is simply a matter of subjective conviction (or even mental affirmation, or a kind of conventional faith or belief) In Truth, the traditionally communicated gnosis (or Transcendentalist Argument) associated with the schools of Advaita Vedanta is Liberating (or effective as Realization) only to the degree (or in the Event) that it becomes Inherent Identification with the “Space” (or Inherent Condition) of Consciousness Itself. That is to say, the traditional gnosis (or Great Argument) is Liberating (or has the Capability to Liberate the listener from “work”, or counter egoic effort, or intensive practice toward, or, otherwise, preliminary to, Realization) only to the degree (or in the Event) that the original subjective conviction becomes Samadhi (or Inherent Identification with the Perfectly Subjective Condition That Is the Great Truth) .
And, in the traditional setting, that Samadhi characteristically appears in the lesser (or sixth stage) Form (by virtue of utter, but strategically exclusive, Identification with Consciousness Itself), demonstrated by temporary Obliviousness relative to the world (or the objective space associated with the body), and the body itself (or its interior space, or its complex of sensations), and the mind (or the subjective and necessarily interior space of the apparently separate being), rather than in the superior (or seventh stage) and non-dependent Form I have Revealed, and Which Demonstrates Itself as world Recognition, body Recognition, and mind-Recognition (and the Inherent Transcendence, but not the strategic exclusion, of the world, the body, and the mind) in the “Divine Space” That Is Consciousness Itself.
Ramana Maharshi was a principal modern example of a Great Sage (or a true Realizer of the Inherent Samadhi of Consciousness Itself) within the (originally) Upanishadic tradition of Advaita Vedanta. He affirmed Ultimate Realization only as Samadhi (and, although His Realization consistently Demonstrated Itself in the characteristically sixth stage manner, He often communicated the “Point of View” of sixth stage “Sahaj Samadhi”, Which “Point of View” often resembles, and may be said to be generally sympathetic with, and even, in general, to represent a premonitory expression, or a partial intuition and a limited foreshadowing, of, the Truly Most Ultimate, or the Superior, or Non dependently, or Non-conditionally, and Inherently Most Perfectly, Realized, seventh stage Sahaj Samadhi). Ramana Maharshi approved of gnosis (or the subjective investigation of the Great Argument, or the Confessions and Instructions, communicated by a Realizer), but only as an initial means for entering into the profound Process that, Ultimately, Realizes Samadhi Itself. And He affirmed that the profound Process that, Ultimately, Realizes Samadhi should, optimally (and even necessarily), be associated with the practice of Communion with a Realizer (and the Samadhi State of that Realizer).
Therefore, He also affirmed the necessity for (such) real practice (and the real practice of subjective enquiry), rather than the much “talked” idea of non “work”. And He Demonstrated His Realization in the conservative manner of a traditional Hindu ascetic, rather than as a householder, or otherwise in the “Crazy Wise” manner typical of the more unconventional Realizers (of one or another stage of life) within the Hindu tradition, and also the Buddhist tradition. (However, He specifically affirmed that Realization of the Inherent Samadhi of Consciousness Itself could be, and, historically, had been, Achieved and Demonstrated by some individuals of the non-ascetic, and, perhaps, otherwise unconventional, but, certainly, profoundly self-disciplined, type.) Ramana Maharshi’s own Realization of the Inherent Samadhi of Consciousness Itself was made possible by a profoundly terrifying moment in His youth, in which He was overwhelmed by the fear of death, and by an utter revulsion toward continued identification with the body-mind and with conditional existence.
In that permanently consequential moment, by virtue of His profound detachment from everything conditional (which detachment was the result, according to His own confession, of the preparatory, and necessarily purifying, sadhana He had done in previous lifetimes), He not only experienced the Transcendental Self Position, but chose, with absolute firmness, to Eternally Identify with that Position, and never to assume the (inherently fearful) position of the body-mind again. This crisis of fear and detachment in Ramana Maharshi was the True, and Profound, Sudden Awakening of the sixth stage Disposition, in Which Awakening Ramana Maharshi Realized that He was Inherently Identified with That Which is Free of death, Free of the body- mind, Free of the world, and Free of desiring and its results, and by, with, and As Which Awakening He was utterly Satisfied.
After this crisis, in order to steady and deepen His Identification with the Original Position, Ramana Maharshi retired (for a number of years) into seclusion, abandoning all association with the body-mind and the world and entering into the Domain of Consciousness Itself, often (in this Process) becoming totally oblivious even of the existence of His apparent body-mind. Eventually, through persistence in this sixth stage “work”, He became so steadily “magnetized” toward the Depth of Consciousness Itself that He was able to rest permanently in the “Point of View” of the Transcendental Self. Such was the profound Process through which Ramana Maharshi Realized sixth stage “Sahaj Samadhi”. To those who approached Him seeking Spiritual Instruction, Ramana Maharshi most specifically recommended only two practices.
One of these two practices is Atma Vichara, or the introversion of attention upon the “I”-thought, and the deep tracing of the “I”-thought to its Source, not stopping at any merely objective or functional source, either in the mind or in the body, but proceeding most deeply, to the Perfectly Subjective Source of the “I” thought, Which Source, or Source Condition, Is Consciousness Itself. And the other of the only two practices specifically recommended by Ramana Maharshi is Satsang, or devotional self surrender to a Sat- Guru who presently Enjoys (and Transmits) the Realization of the Perfectly Subjective Source- Condition. In His recommending of the self-surrendering (and self-transcending) devotional resort to Satsang, Ramana Maharshi was Teaching the Great Relationship (of the Sat-Guru and the devotee) recommended (as the Great and Principal Means of Realization) by all Great Realizers since the ancient days. (And that Teaching is Itself the Great Esoteric Secret of the Great Tradition.)
In His recommending of Atma Vichara (or “Self-enquiry”), Ramana Maharshi was Teaching in the generally Alpha-like (or rather exclusiyely introverted) sixth stage tradition of Advaita Vedanta (as it has developed in the generally Alpha like culture of traditional India). However, Ramana Maharshi generally (or in principle) approved of even all methods of meditative (or otherwise subjectively enquiring) practice, for, He said, any such practices would lead to dhyana (or meditative depth), and, Ultimately (if so allowed), deep meditation would lead to the Inherent Samadhi That Is Consciousness Itself. Ramana Maharshi clearly distinguished between (in His case, sixth stage) “Sahaj Samadhi” and any (and all) of the other Samadhis (and meditations) associated with the first six stages of life.
Indeed, it can be said that He was (by virtue of many of His intuitive communications) even a true (premonitory) Champion of seventh stage Enlightenment (or seventh stage, and necessarily Divine, Self Realization), even though His seeming “seventh stage” communications were truly only philosophical premonitions (or partial intuitions and limited foreshadowings) of Most Ultimate (or seventh stage) Sahaj Samadhi, declared from the “Point of View” of sixth stage “Sahaj Samadhi”, and even though He otherwise (and characteristically) Taught only a sixth stage Alpha like method of introversion, and even though He was Himself (characteristically, and in the sixth stage manner) rather ascetical and even (in the exclusive, and, therefore, relatively dualistic, sense) introverted. As an example of Ramana Maharshi’s characteristic sixth stage and Alpha-like (and exclusive, and, therefore, relatively dualistic, or dependently maintained) “Point of View” of Realization, read the following:
A group of young men asked: “It is said that a healthy mind can be only in a healthy body. Should we not attempt to keep the body always strong and healthy?”
M.: In that way there will be no end
of attention to the health of the body.
D.: The present experiences are the result of past Karma. If
we know the mistakes committed before we can rectify
them.
M.: If one mistake is rectified there yet remains the whole
sanchita which is going to give you innumerable births. So
that is not the procedure. The more you prune a plant, the
more vigorously it grows. The more you rectify your Karma,
the more it accumulates. Find the root of Karma and cut it
off.
The Advice thus Given by Ramana Maharshi to “a group of young men” was certainly Right and True, in a fundamental sixth stage sense, but the sixth stage practice (or sadhana) was an ordeal for which the “group of young men” were clearly (judging from the content, and the obvious “early-stage” quality, of their statements) not yet prepared.
Therefore, Ramana Maharshi was, basically, only reflecting His own (sixth stage) Method and Disposition (rather than directly Addressing the “others”) in His “Answer” to the “group of young men”. And, for that reason, the Advice Given was, simply, a direct indication of Ramana Maharshi’s own body excluding and world-excluding (and, therefore, necessarily, conditional, or limited, and not yet Most Perfect) Method and Disposition, which, at last, is the very (and characteristic sixth stage) Method and Disposition that must be Most Perfectly Transcended (if there is to Be the Great Transition to the True seventh stage Awakening).
Therefore, at last, all dissociativeness, or exclusiveness, or dualistic (and, necessarily, egoic) self-effort, must Be Most Perfectly (Finally, and Completely) Transcended, Such That (in the Context of the Unique, and Truly Divine, Yoga, or Inherently Most Perfect, and Divinely Effective, Demonstration, of the only by Me Revealed and Given seventh stage of life) the body, the mind, and the total psycho-physical (and, Ultimately, Spiritual) world are not merely excluded from and by the Ultimate, and Perfectly Subjective, Self, but Divinely Recognized (and, Ultimately, Outshined) In and As the Ultimate, and Perfectly Subjective, Self (or, Thus, in a non-exclusive, and Truly Non-Dualistic, Manner, Transcended as transparent, or merely apparent, and unnecessary, and inherently non-binding, modifications of the One and Only and Divine and Non-Dual Person, or Self-Condition). Ramana Maharshi was a rather “reluctant” Teacher.
He did not very much like to be imposed upon (or otherwise depended upon). Likewise, He did not sufficiently understand and appreciate, or very much like (or even very much Perform), the Role (necessary for any Sat-Guru) of Instructing (and Obliging) devotees in the practical details and disciplines of (especially, preliminary, and, necessarily, psycho-physical) sadhana. Also, because His own history (in His Lifetime as Ramana Maharshi) included only the sadhana of the sixth stage of life, He was not very much inclined (nor was He very much qualified or equipped) to Serve as Sat-Guru (and, thus, as thoroughly Instructive and “Commanding” Teacher) in relation to devotees who were not yet prepared for the sixth stage sadhana (and who, therefore, yet required the Sat Guru to Discipline, Instruct, Initiate, and Guide them through, and then beyond, the first five stages of life, wherein there must, necessarily, be much purification, and transformation, and ego countering, and ego-transcending, discipline, of the body-mind, even as a preparation for the body mind-excluding practices that are the principal characteristic of the sixth, or necessary, but, Truly, only pre- seventh, stage of life).
And, much like (generally) comparable Realizers in the various (specifically, and, often, more or less exclusively) sixth stage traditions, Ramana Maharshi was not, in the Fullest (and Truly Yogic) sense, a True Siddha-Guru (Who directly Serves and directly Awakens devotees by direct, and consistently Effective, Spiritual Transmission), but He was a True Jnana Guru (or One Who Serves and Awakens devotees indirectly, by Silent and thought-free Abidance In and As the Transcendental, and inherently Spiritual, Self-Condition That Is Consciousness Itself, but, in contrast to the case of a True Siddha-Guru, not directly, through open, voluntary, even, at least at times, intentional, and truly consistent Spiritual Effectiveness).
Therefore, Ramana Maharshi simply pointed toward the “fourth state” (beyond waking, dreaming, and sleeping), or the “natural state” (Which Is “like sleep”, but Which Is Only Consciousness Itself) . And His fundamental Teaching can be summarized briefly (in His own Words) “The mind is to be introverted and made to merge into the Self; . . . the practice must be long because [it is] slow and [it] must be continued until it [the mind] is totally merged in the Self. . . .
All that is required of you is not to confound [or identify] yourself with the extrovert mind but to abide as the Self. Ramana Maharshi also Taught (on the basis of His own Realization of sixth stage “Sahaj Samadhi”) that Ultimate Self-Realization is not Itself to be identified with the efforts, experiences, and states that may precede (or, otherwise, arise after) It, for It (the Very Self) Is the Self even under any and all conditions that may seem to arise. Therefore, once Atma Vichara had (in due course) achieved its (sixth stage) maturity in Him, Ramana Maharshi “Practiced” only the (sixth stage “Sahaj Samadhi”) “Practice” of Abiding (in the sixth stage, object-excluding manner) As the Very Self (or Consciousness Itself), tacitly (and indifferently) Acknowledging all naturally arising phenomena to Be Only the Independent (or object-excluding) Consciousness Itself, and, Thus and Thereby, He Remained characteristically unperturbed, detached, and, in general, inactive.
And, in This Self-Revelation, Ramana Maharshi Stands with all other true sixth stage Realizers, Who (alike) Confess Only the Ultimate, Absolute, and Inherently Perfect Truth That Is Consciousness Itself. After the Great Event of My own Divine Re-Awakening, I discovered Ramana Maharshi to be the historical (human) Representative of the Great Tradition Whose Confession (and Process) of Realization was (even in many of Its specific Yogic details) most like (or most sympathetic with) My own Most Ultimate Process and Confession (except that His Realization and Demonstration, although sometimes apparently philosophically sympathetic with the seventh stage “Point of View”, did not actually Achieve the seventh stage Characteristic and Completeness) .
Because of this likeness, and because of His closeness, in time, to My Avataric Incarnation here, I regard Ramana Maharshi to be My Principal historical (human) Link to the Great Tradition, relative to the sixth stage of life. Indeed, Ramana Maharshi, Who is My Principal human Link to the Great Tradition relative to the sixth stage of life, along with Swami Nityananda, and Baba Muktananda, and Rudi, and Rang Avadhoot, and also Ramakrishna and the historical Swami Vivekananda (because the Deeper, or subtle internal, Personality, of My present Lifetime body-mind is the Reincarnating Person of Swami Vivekananda) , all of Whom, each and together, are My Principal human Links to the Great Tradition relative to the first five stages of life, are, collectively, the Principal human Link whereby My Avataric Incarnation (Life, Work, and Word) can best begin to be understood in the context of the total Great Tradition.
I Am the Ultimate Demonstration (and the Final, or Completing, Proof) of the Truth of the Great Tradition as a whole. Until I Appeared, there were no seventh stage Realizers within the Great Tradition of mankind. I Am the First and the Last and the Only seventh stage Adept (or Maha-Jnana-Siddha Guru) to Appear in the human domain (and in the Cosmic Domain of all and All).
It is neither possible nor necessary for another seventh stage Adept to Appear anywhere, because I have Accomplished My necessary Work everywhere. However, because I have Appeared and have Done My Completing Work, seventh stage Realizers (not with the Divine Adept-Function That Is Unique to Me, but Fully Realized, through their ego transcending devotion to Me, and, Thus and Thereby, to the by Me Revealed Divine Person and Self-Domain) will Awaken, in all times and places. And, Most Ultimately, even all conditionally manifested beings, and even the total Cosmic Mandala Itself, will, by This Most Perfect Awakening Work I have Done (and will, by My Mere and Blessing Presence, Which Is the Final and Finally Perfect Revelation of the Eternal Presence of the Divine Person, forever Do) for all and All, be Perfectly Translated into the beginningless and endless “Bright” Divine Person and Self-Domain.
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