Kumari Sarada
WHY RAMANA?
By Kumari Sarada
By Kumari Sarada
Life pours forth from the incomparable grace of Thy steady and shining eyes”. The light which pours forth from Sri Bhagavan’s vibrant eyes gives meaning and fulfilment to our lives. His serene presence draws us in silence and envelops every tiny detail of our daily existence. I too have partaken of his extravagant grace, my parents having been drawn to Bhagavan even before I was born. His loving grace and gentle smile solve all my problems, answer every question and clear all confusion. His presence, I feel, is the source of perennial joy for me. Our Master is an ocean, and blessed as I am, I am eager that all should share my blessedness. To satisfy such sceptics as may look down upon this subjective experience and in my eagerness to share my joy I would like to emphasise the objectivity and universal applicability of Bhagavan’s method of Self-enquiry, which will stand always as the simplest solution to every problem. I say this because Selfenquiry as taught by Sri Bhagavan only requires keen, alert and constant search for one’s own identity, by observing the source of the I-thought. Since the mind is a bundle of thoughts and all thoughts revolve round the I-thought, watching that thought introverts the mind back to its source, the Heart, our true identity.
The process of Self-enquiry is scientific and does not demand blind faith. On the other hand, constant awareness, alertness and keen, continued questioning is advocated. Ah! There is still scope to criticise - it is far too dry and intellectual! It is hridaya vidya, the knowledge of the Heart. One who is aware of the power of the immensity of the Heart through Self-enquiry experiences its presence in every activity so that even a routine activity like reading a newspaper is an act done with total absorption and spontaneity. Every act is natural — how then can it merely be intellectual or dry? The alertness to every minute of life is not an intellectual process but an awareness and aliveness of being which responds fully in all naturalness and hence most appropriately.
The method which Sri Bhagavan has taught and the perfection it implies appear too simple to be accepted by the mind. The human mind, which has conquered many complicated fields through scientific research, prefers not to accept the fact that in such a simple method lies the answer to everything. When Copernicus explained simpler orbits of the planets, he was burnt at the stake. Many may prefer to go in for things complicated and ornate, for the mind can revel in the glory of mastering such techniques.
Sri Maharshi’s teaching, easy as it is, gives no scope for this pride of mastery. Yet the method is attractive to the mind, because the mind is the fulcrum of Self-enquiry.
Self-enquiry as taught by Bhagavan Ramana is the greatest adventure as it is the adventure into the world of the spirit. It includes the adventure of science in its rational analysis, that of the explorer, as it explores the very nature of one’s being. And it is the adventure of the artist in its spontaneous creativity. What does it create? It creates and infuses life and beauty into our routine habits of existence. It is the simplest of methods but, being the greatest of adventures as well, it does not allow us to wallow in ease.
Why Ramana? Because his life was the living of this method, not in order to practise what he preached, not as an intellectualisation, but out of the spontaneity, the naturalness synonymous with Self-enquiry. I say naturalness because, Self-enquiry implies the constant awareness of our true nature.
The process of Self-enquiry is scientific and does not demand blind faith. On the other hand, constant awareness, alertness and keen, continued questioning is advocated. Ah! There is still scope to criticise - it is far too dry and intellectual! It is hridaya vidya, the knowledge of the Heart. One who is aware of the power of the immensity of the Heart through Self-enquiry experiences its presence in every activity so that even a routine activity like reading a newspaper is an act done with total absorption and spontaneity. Every act is natural — how then can it merely be intellectual or dry? The alertness to every minute of life is not an intellectual process but an awareness and aliveness of being which responds fully in all naturalness and hence most appropriately.
The method which Sri Bhagavan has taught and the perfection it implies appear too simple to be accepted by the mind. The human mind, which has conquered many complicated fields through scientific research, prefers not to accept the fact that in such a simple method lies the answer to everything. When Copernicus explained simpler orbits of the planets, he was burnt at the stake. Many may prefer to go in for things complicated and ornate, for the mind can revel in the glory of mastering such techniques.
Sri Maharshi’s teaching, easy as it is, gives no scope for this pride of mastery. Yet the method is attractive to the mind, because the mind is the fulcrum of Self-enquiry.
Self-enquiry as taught by Bhagavan Ramana is the greatest adventure as it is the adventure into the world of the spirit. It includes the adventure of science in its rational analysis, that of the explorer, as it explores the very nature of one’s being. And it is the adventure of the artist in its spontaneous creativity. What does it create? It creates and infuses life and beauty into our routine habits of existence. It is the simplest of methods but, being the greatest of adventures as well, it does not allow us to wallow in ease.
Why Ramana? Because his life was the living of this method, not in order to practise what he preached, not as an intellectualisation, but out of the spontaneity, the naturalness synonymous with Self-enquiry. I say naturalness because, Self-enquiry implies the constant awareness of our true nature.
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