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Ramana Maharshi
Robert Kubarych (rkubarych@aol.com) wrote:
> I have heard of this great Indian Saint and I am interested in
>practicing self inquiry as he expounded. He seems to be the most genuine
>seer of our era. I have read a book on the subject by Sri Sadhu Om
>entitled "The Path of Sri Ramana." It is a good book but as of yet I
>have not been very successful in self enquiry. It seems that when I sit I
>am bombarded with fleeting thoughts and that I am only repeating to myself
>who am I? and coming up with an intelectual response. If anyone could
>offer some insights as to what this question really means I would be
>grateful.
Dear Robert:
I am not a practicioner of Jnana Yoga. However, a discussion of this
question by Sri Ramakrishna is available in "The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna".
There is also a fairly extensive discussion by Swami Vivekananda in his book
"Jnana Yoga".
It would be best if you read those books. However, I will try to tell
you what they have said about the question "Who am I?" Sri Ramakrishna says
that you should ask yourself the following set of questions: Am I the blood
in my body? Am I the bone in my body? Am I the flesh in the body?Am I the body?
If you think about it you will see that clearly you are not any of this. There
is no I. Then who are you? You are not the body. There is only Thou. You are
the consciousness inhabiting the body and infact the entire universe.This
consciousness is Brahman. Your consciouness is not, however, to be identified
with the ego. This consciousness is the Brahman itself. This "I"
is the pure spirit and not the "I" that usually identifies with the body.
Sri Ramakrishna says that all troubles end when this I (the ego) dies. Then
only Thou remains. He gives an analogy of an ocean of consciousness. You may
think of Brahman as the ocean of consciousness. Your little "I" (the ego) is
like a little pot in this ocean. Usually people identify so strongly with their
body that they see only the pot. They do not realize that they are already a
part of an ocean of consciousness. Constant meditation on the idea that you
are not the body but really part of an ocean of consciousness leads to Self-
realization. After Self-realization the pot breaks. That is you no longer
identify with your body. The ego that stays after Self-realization can be
the ego of knowledge. Sri Sankaracharya retained the ego of knowledge to teach
mankind.
I should warn you, however, that Sri Ramakrishna also says that the
Jnana Marga is a very difficult road. It is better to do Karma or Bhakti Yoga.
You have written that you are trying to meditate by repeating the question
"Who am I?". There is a slighlty easier way to meditate in the Jnana Marga.
You can imagine yourself to be a fish immersed in an ocean or a bird flying
in the infinite sky. The infinite ocean or the infinite sky is the Paramatman
and the fish or the bird is the Atman. I find, however, that meditating on a
form of God like Sri Krishna or Ma Kali is much easier.
Pradip Gangopadhyay
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