Ramana Maharshi – the nectar of spiritual achievement was his daily taste

What is extraordinary about Ramana Maharishi is that he has benefited from exceptional grace.
He felt the thrill of spiritual aspiration from an early age and meditated with an enormous “thirst” to know the Self.

The nectar of spiritual attainment was his everyday taste and his disciples appeared around him without anyone calling them, attracted by the real and extraordinary spiritual attainment of a silent master.
Of course, a good part of them just rejoiced to see a master made in the flesh, but quite a few knew the joy of the spiritual depths in the vicinity of Sri Ramana Maharishi, due to the divine grace that was catalyzed by him.

The first part of life and the revelation of the Self

Ramana Maharishi was born on December 30, 1879 and received the name Venkataraman.
It was a day of celebration when Shiva’s Divine Grace was celebrated through a procession with the image of Siva Nataraja.

Contrary to expectations, as a child Ramana was not at all inclined towards religious life. He was not too attracted to school classes either and suffered from sleepwalking, although he was an intelligent, healthy and strong young man. In the summer of 1896, however, he had an experience of impending death that led him to the revelation of the Eternal Self.

The body dies, but the Spirit that transcends it cannot be touched by death.

The experience of death, although it came in an unexpected way, was an experience that Ramana wanted to understand.
When the fear of death and the feeling of dying appeared, he remained calm, reflecting:

“Now death is coming. What does that mean? What does it mean to die? This body dies.”

Then he lay on the ground as if he were a corpse. He stopped his breath, pursed his lips and thought:

“Well, now this body is dead. He will be carried to the bush and there burned and turned into ashes. But with the death of this body, am I dead? Am I the body? This body is inert and silent. But I feel the full force of my personality and even the voice of the ‘I’ inside me, separated from the body. So it’s the Spirit that transcends the body. The body dies, but the Spirit that transcends it cannot be touched by death. That means I am the eternal Spirit.”

It seems like a rational process, but Sri Ramana Maharishi was telling his disciples that in fact the realization happened suddenly: “I” was the only real thing.
The fear of death is gone once and for all. Since then, the “I” has continued to be perceived permanently, and the young Venkataraman has transformed into a sage. He became humble, gentle, and detached from his surroundings. He preferred to spend his time in solitude, absorbed in Himself. He was overcome with ecstasy in front of the images of the gods and saints in the temple.

Finding out about the name of the holy mountain, Arunachala became fascinated by it and at the end of high school he suddenly decided to leave and stay there forever

Thus, he ran away from home leaving only an explanatory note of his gesture, which ended with the indication not to be sought.
This may seem like a problem, but although it thus generated suffering for his princes, he was unlikely to find a less painful way for his parents and one that would allow him to withdraw into the spiritual life.

He spent the next ten years living in the temple and caves, meditating in total silence and detachment from the world.
The one who called him Baghavan and Maharishi was his first disciple, the scholar Ganapathi Shastri, also known as Ganapathi Muni.

He visited Ramana in the Virupaksa cave at a time when he doubted his spiritual practice and asked for his advice: “Everything I had to read I read; even Vedanta Sastra I fully understood; I also made JAPA according to the lust of my heart; but I didn’t get to understand what TAPAS means. That is why I have sought refuge at your feet. Please enlighten me on the nature of TAPAS.”

Ramana responded this time with live speech:

“If one investigates where the notion of ‘I’ comes from, the mind is absorbed there: this is TAPAS. When a MANTRA is repeated, and the one who repeats it investigates where the sound of that MANTRA comes from, the mind is absorbed in that place: this is TAPAS.”

Ganapathi Muni then felt enveloped by the grace of the one who would become his master, and the answer he received was a revelation for him. He later composed hymns in Sanskrit in honor of Ramana Maharishi and wrote the Ramana-Gita, in which he explains his teachings.

One day, the wheel of thought will slow down and an intuition will mysteriously appear.
Always ask yourself, without rest, who i am?
Analyze your entire personality. Try to see where the idea of me comes from. Keep meditating like this. Keep your attention inside. One day, the wheel of thought will slow down and an intuition will mysteriously appear. Follow that intuition, let your thinking stop, and then you will reach your goal.

Ramana Maharishi

Ganapathi Muni’s visit was the beginning of what can be called the public life of Ramana Maharishi

At the place where he meditated an ashram was established, disciples began to multiply, and he began to talk about the method of self-interrogation – ATMA VICHARA, which he considered the main path to the knowledge of the Divine Self.

Atma Vichara

The Maharishi proposed to the disciples to ask themselves “Who am I?” in order to realize their divine nature, while also advising them to avoid an intellectual response such as “I am so-and-so, I am so old and I am doing this job, etc.”
It is not necessary to seek the examination by the mind of its own content, but to bring the first mode of manifestation of the mind – the thought “I” – to its origin, which is the Self. The question is actually the pretext for a conscious reflection on the essence that lies beyond words. This leads to the revelation that behind the verbal representations about oneself lies the Eternal Self.

You are the Ecstasy

„Extazul nu e ceva ce trebuie obținut.
Pe de altă parte tu ești extazul.
Dorința (de a-l obține) este născută din senzația de incompletitudine.
Dar a cui este această dorință de incompletitudine? Întreabă-te. În somnul adânc erai în extaz.
Acum nu mai ești.
Ce s-a interpus între extaz și non-extaz?
Eu-l.
Caută-i originea și află că tu ești Extazul.”

Ramana Maharishi

Ramana Maharishi wrote little and only at the request of his disciples.
His most important work is “Forty Verses on Life”. He also composed “Five Hymns to Arunachala”.

The teaching of Ramana Maharishi is identical to that of Advaita Vedanta and aims at Self-Realization

The way of researching the nature of the self proposed by him is introspection (JNANA, knowledge). It aims to remove the identification of the Self with the physical body and everything related to it, including the mind. What remains is pure existence, pure consciousness and pure bliss (SAT – CIT – ANANDA).
These make up the nature of the Supreme Consciousness, the Immortal ATMAN Self, the witness consciousness that is reached by transcending the visible world.

The experience of the Supreme Self is accessible to all. The self is not separate from us, it is not something metaphysical and inaccessible. To perceive it, it is only necessary to pass through the projections of the mind that always place it elsewhere. The self is here and now, hidden only by the veils of appearance.

Maharishi was a being full of compassion, gentleness, and humility

An atmosphere of peace and love floated around him. To a disciple worried that he may, because of his sins, end up in hell when he dies, he replied, “If you go there, Bhagavan will come after you and bring you back.”

When he fell ill with cancer and his disciples were worried that he would die, he told them, suggesting that they not identify him with the physical body: “I’m not going anywhere, where could I go? I will stay here forever.”

He left his physical body for good on April 14, 1950, in the lotus position. It is said that at that moment a comet crossed the sky and set behind Mount Arunachala.

Grace was given in silence

His disciples relate that initiation was given in silence, and the highest teaching consisted, for those who were able to receive it, precisely in the presence of Ramana Maharishi. Being around him, in silence, one could directly experience Self-realization.

Here is what Arthur Osborne, one of his close disciples, who later took care of publishing Maharishi’s works and wrote several books about him, testifies:

„Bhagavan era rezemat pe canapea iar eu ședeam în primul rând din fața sa. S-a ridicat cu fața spre mine și, cu ochi scrutători, a sfredelit în mine pătrunzându-mă adânc, cu o intensitate pe care nu o pot descrie. Era ca și cum ochii lui ar fi spus: «ți s-a spus deja; de ce nu ai realizat asta până acum?» și apoi liniște, o pace adâncă, o ușurare și o fericire indescriptibilă.
Am început să trăiesc cu un ritm de fericire în inimă, simțind binecuvântarea și misterul celui care era Ghidul meu spiritual, repetându-mi ca pe un cântec de iubire că el era Ghidul meu spiritual, legătura între cer și pământ, între Dumnezeu și mine, între Existența fără formă și inima mea.
Am devenit conștient de uriașa grație a prezenței sale. Până și în aspectele exterioare se purta grațios cu mine, zâmbindu-mi când intram în hol, făcându-mi semn să mă așez în locuri în care mă putea privi în meditație.

VICHARA, continua interogare «Cine sunt eu?», a început să trezească în mine o anume conștiință a Sinelui ce se manifesta drept Baghavan în afară, precum și drept Sine interior în același timp.”

Arthur Osborne

Frank H. Humphreys, his first Western disciple, said that he first met Sri Ramana Maharishi in a dream, then identified him with photographs, and when he finally came to meet him physically he looked him in the eye for half an hour:

“He did not change his expression of deep contemplation at all. I began to realize that the body is the temple of the spirit. I could only feel that his body was not a man but was God’s instrument, that he was totally an embodiment of what God means most extraordinary. My sensations were indescribable.”

Frank H. Humphreys

“There are hours that should be written in golden letters in the calendar of our lives,” said Paul Brunton referring to his meeting with Ramana Maharishi. He appreciated the simplicity and modesty that he managed to maintain beyond the atmosphere of authentic spiritual greatness around him. He said that the presence of people like Maharishi ensures the continuity of our connection with the divinity and that we must accept that such a sage appears to reveal something to us and not to convince us of something.

There is no difference between God, the Spiritual Guide, and the Self

„Ghidul spiritual este deopotrivă în afară și înăuntru. Din afară el dă un impuls minții să se întoarcă înăuntru. Din interior el atrage mintea spre Sine și o ajută să se liniștească. Iată harul unui Ghid spiritual. Nu există diferență între Dumnezeu, Ghid spiritual și Sine. Ghidul spiritual e înăuntru. Meditația are rolul de a destrăma ideea ignorantă că el este numai afară. Dacă el este un străin pe care îl aștepți, atunci e destinat să dispară… care poate fi utilitatea unei ființe trecătoare ca asta? Dar câtă vreme gândești că ești separat sau că ești trupul cu mădularele lui, este necesar și un Ghid spiritual exterior și va apărea ca având un corp. Când va înceta greșita identificare cu corpul, se va vedea că Ghidul spiritual nu este altcineva decât Sinele.”

Ramana Maharishi