D - Disciple M - Ramana Maharishi
D.: What is this path of enquiry?
M.: From the sastras it is well-known to consist of sravana, manana,
nidhidhyasana and samadhi
i.e., hearing the Truth, reflection, meditation and Blissful Peace.
The Vedas themselves declare it to be so. the Self must be heard from
the master, reflected and meditated upon.” In another place it is said
that in Blissful Peace the Self must be realised.
To hear the Supreme Truth, reflect and meditate on it, and to remain
in Samadhi form together the enquiry into the Self.
They have for their ‘cause’ the aforesaid four sadhanas, namely,
discernment, desirelessness, tranquillity and desire to be liberated
To analyse sravana under the five categories:
Intense desire to be liberated gives rise to it;
always to be hearing of the non-dual Brahman is its ‘nature’;
the complete removal of that aspect of the veiling power of Ignorance
which says, “It (Brahman) does not exist” is its ‘effect’;
non-recurrence of this veiling power is its ‘limit’;
a firm indirect knowledge is its ‘fruit’.
D.: How can the desire to be liberated be said to be its ‘cause’?
M.: In the sruti it is said, “In the state of dissolution before
creation there was only the non-dual Reality.” This Reality is the
same as the Self.
Only he who is eager to be liberated will seek the knowledge of the
Self and take to hearing it. No other is interested in it.
Therefore eagerness to be liberated is the essential requisite for
this part of enquiry, namely sravana.
D.: Just now you said that always to be hearing of the non-dual Self
is the ‘nature’ of sravana. Who is this non-dual Self?
M.: He is famous in the srutis as the Consciousness beyond the gross,
subtle and causal bodies, apart from the five sheaths and witness of
the waking, dream and sleep states.
D.: Master, on hearing it from you, the nature of the Self is now
clear to me, but the knowledge remains only indirect. Kindly instruct
me in reflection, by practising which the darkness of Ignorance now
hiding the Self may vanish and direct experience result.
M.: Always to direct the thought with subtle reasoning upon the
non-dual Self that is now known indirectly, is called reflection.
D.: Please tell me its ‘cause’, ‘nature’, ‘effect’, ‘limit’ and ‘fruit’.
M.: Discernment of the real from the unreal is its ‘cause’;
enquiry into the Truth of the non-dual Self is its ‘nature’;
to tear off that veiling aspect of Ignorance which makes one say: “It
does not shine forth” is its ‘effect’;
the non recrudescence of this veiling is its ‘limit’; and
direct experience is its ‘fruit’. So say the sages.
D.: Why is discernment said to be its ‘cause’?
M.: Only he who, by discernment of the real from the unreal has
acquired indirect knowledge, is fit to seek by enquiry the direct
knowledge of experience. No other can succeed in the search for it.
D.: Why should not the Desire for Liberation be the ‘cause’ of reflection?
M.: A mere desire to be liberated cannot make a man fit for enquiry
into the Self.
Without sravana one cannot have even an indirect knowledge.
How can one succeed in one’s enquiry?
Only after knowing the nature of the Self, should one proceed to seek it.
Ignorant of its true nature, how can one investigate the Self?
Simple desire to be liberated will not suffice.
D.: Should not this desire lead to enquiry? With the rise of this
desire the man will begin to hear about the nature of the Self and
gain indirect knowledge which must enable him to undertake the
enquiry.
M.: This amounts to saying that the seeker possesses discernment.
He is not only desirous of Liberation but also discerning in intellect.
With sravana comes this faculty of intellectual discernment of the
real from the unreal, or the Self from the non-self.
This is called indirect knowledge. The sastras say that only he who
possesses indirect knowledge can discern the real or the Self from the
unreal or the non-self, and is fit for enquiry into the Self.
Therefore discernment is the sine-qua-non for enquiry.
D.: Even if the desire for Liberation be not the particular cause of
Reflection, could not either desirelessness or tranquillity be the
cause of it?
M.: All these are only general aids for reflection but not its
particular causes.
A desireless and tranquil man need not necessarily have the indirect
knowledge of the Self and is therefore unfit for enquiry into the
Self.
There are men of austerities who are desireless and tranquil but not
anxious for Liberation.
Having no desire for Liberation they have not heard at all about the Self.
D.: How can they be said not to be desirous of Liberation?
M.: In as much as they engage in austerities without taking to sravana
etc., which is the only gateway to Liberation, the absence of the
desire for Liberation is inferred.
D.: No, they too can be desirous of being liberated.
M.: If so, they must give up their austerities, always remain with a
master and engage themselves in hearing of the Self.
If it be said that they have already done sravana also, then since
they will have gained indirect knowledge, they should be engaged in
reflection.
Not having done sravana, though endowed with desirelessness and
tranquillity, they are incapable of discerning the real from the
unreal and therefore unfit for enquiry into the Self.
Desirelessness etc., can only be aids to this enquiry but not its chief causes.
Discernment of the real from the unreal is the only chief cause.
D.: Can the Self not be realised by austerities accompanied by
desirelessness and tranquillity, without enquiry?
M.: No. By non-enquiry the Self has been lost sight of; to regain it
enquiry is needed.
In its absence how can even crores of austerities restore the sight?
Always to enquire into the Self is the only remedy for the blindness
of the ignorant whose mental eye has been bedimmed by the darkness of
non-enquiry spreading its veil.
Unless by the eye of knowledge gained through enquiry, the Self cannot
be realised.
D.: What is this enquiry into the Self?
M.: With one-pointed intellect to seek within the five sheaths the
Self which is shining forth as ‘I’ in the body, senses, etc.,
considering “who is this Self?, where is It? and how is It?”, is the
nature of the enquiry into the Self.
With subtle intellect the enquiry into the Reality, namely the Self
within the unreal sheaths must always be pursued.
--
Thanks and best regards
J.Suresh
New No.3, Old No.7,
Chamiers road - 1st Lane,
Alwarpet,
Chennai - 600018
Ph: 044 42030947
Mobile: 91 9884071738
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