Reading & the Good Life
Join the conversation! Every Friday at Noon EST (Register here), Perennial Meditations readers are welcome to gather for Reading & the Good Life (a space for casual conversations on the art of living). This Friday, we begin exploring selected readings from Be As You Are: The Teaching of Sri Ramana Maharshi, edited by David Godman.
The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi
Be As You Are is the definitive compendium of Ramana Maharshi’s teachings, edited by the former librarian from Sri Maharshi's ashram, which can be found flourishing at the foot of the holy mountain of Arunachala. The book collects conversations with the many seekers who came to him for guidance, answering the questions sought on the road to enlightenment. “The essence of Sri Ramana's teachings is conveyed in his frequent assertions that there is a single immanent reality, directly experienced by everyone,” writes Godson, “which is simultaneously the source, the substance, and the real nature of everything that exists.”
Selected Passages from Be As You Are:
Q: What is this awareness and how can one obtain and cultivate it?
A: You are awareness. Awareness is another name for you. Since you are awareness there is no need to attain or cultivate it. All that you have to do is to give up being aware of other things, that is of the not-Self. If one gives up being aware of them then pure awareness alone remains, and that is the Self.
— Ramana Maharshi, Be As You Are
—
Q: How to know this by direct experience?
A: If We talk of knowing the Self, there must be two selves, one a knowing self, another the self which is known, and the process of knowing. The state we call realization is simply being oneself, not knowing anything, or becoming anything. If one has realized, one is that which alone is and which alone has always been. One cannot describe that state. One can only be that.
— Ramana Maharshi, Be As You Are
—
Q: You sometimes say the Self is silence. Why is this?
A: For those who live in Self as the beauty devoid of thought, there is nothing which should be thought of. That which should be adhered to is only the experience of silence, because in that supreme state nothing exists to be attained other than oneself.
— Ramana Maharshi, Be As You Are
Who was Sri Ramana Maharshi?
Ramana Maharshi (“Bhagavan”) was a 20th-century South Indian sage who continues to radiate peace and Self-awareness to the global community of spiritual seekers. You do not need to join any organization, adopt any belief system, or worship anyone or anything to experience this transmission of bliss and clarity. Bhagavan simply points you toward your innermost Self, the unchanging reality underlying all that exists.
“Happiness is your nature. It is not wrong to desire it. What is wrong is seeking it outside when it is inside.”
― Sri Ramana Maharshi
It is as if your life and the world are a movie; Bhagavan’s practice of asking Who Am I? allows you to find real happiness through the realization you are the screen itself, not the projected movie.
Source: The Official website of Ramana Maharshi
The Nature of the Self
“The essence of Sri Ramana's teachings is conveyed in his frequent assertions that there is a single immanent reality, directly experienced by everyone,” writes Godson, “which is simultaneously the source, the substance, and the real nature of everything that exists.” Maharshi gave it several names, each signifying a different aspect of the same indivisible reality.
However, most frequently, he utilized the term The Self,
Maharshi defined it by saying that the real Self or real ‘I’ is, contrary to perceptible experience, not an experience of individuality but a non-personal, all-inclusive awareness. It is not to be confused with the individual self, which he said was essentially non-existent, being a fabrication of the mind which obscures the true experience of the real Self. He maintained that the real Self is always present and always experienced, but he emphasized that one is only consciously aware of it as it really is when the self-limiting tendencies of the mind have ceased. Permanent and continuous Self-awareness is known as Self-realization.
If you are available on a Friday (at Noon EST), feel free to drop into one of our Reading & the Good Life meetups (Register here). It’s a highly casual space for connection and conversations on the art of living.
—
Thank you for reading; I hope you found something useful.
Until next time, be wise and be well,
P.S. As always, feel free to comment, ask questions, or suggest future reads!