Sri Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi revealed, ‘WHO AM I?’ The gross body (Anamaya kosha), which is composed of the seven humours (dhatus: chyle, blood, flesh, fat, bone, marrow, and semen), I am not; the five cognitive sense organs (Jnanendriyas), viz., the sense of hearing, touch, sight, taste, and smell, which apprehend their respective objects, viz., sound, touch, colour, taste, and odour, I am not; the five sense of action (karmendriyas), viz., speech, locomotion, grasping, excretion, and procreation, which have their respective functions, speaking, moving, grasping, excreting, and copulating, I am not; the five vital airs or pranas (Pranamaya kosha), which perform respectively the five functions of inhalation, exhalation, digestion, growth, and circulation, I am not; even the mind (Manomaya kosha), which has the respective function of thinking, I am not; even the intelligence (Vijnanamaya kosha), which has the respective function to discern, solve, understand, etc., I am not; the nescience too in (Anandamaya Kosha), which is endowed only with the residual impressions of objects, and in which there are no objects and no functioning’s, I am not (the unconscious state of nescience, deep sleep, which retains merely the subtle vasanas (latencies of the mind), while being free from the functional activity of the sense-organs and the mind, and being unaware of the existence of the objects of sense-perception). If I am none of these, then who am I? After negating all of the above-mentioned, as “not-this, not this,” that Awareness, which alone remains, that I am! The nature of Awareness is Existence-Consciousness-Bliss (Sat-Chit-Ananda). Sri Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi categorically rejects dualism inherent in the Samkhya philosophy and other scriptures. Sri Bhagavan further rejects the Hindu ‘Doctrine of the Three Bodies,’ ‘Sarira Traya.’ Sri Bhagavan rejects the doctrine of the five koshas, the five dhatus, bhutas, Indriyas, etc., as not this, not this. Sri Bhagavan revealed, “For those who have not realized the Self and as well for those who have realized the Self, this body is ‘I;’ but, for those who have not realized the Self, the ‘I’ is confined only to the limit of the body; and for those who have realized the Self within the body, the ‘I’ shines as the limitless Self. Know that this is the only difference between these two.” The I that shines as the limitless Self is who you are, and there is never anytime when you are not that. Most living beings do not for one moment doubt who they are, for they know they are the body, name and form. Here the body answers to or is referred to composed of the five koshas mentioned above, namely, the food sheath, the vital sheath, the mind, the intelligent and the bliss sheath. They are deeply rooted in the body sense or the I-thought, and do not doubt for one moment they are not that. It is not at all easy to get rid of the I-am-the-body sense, for it is deeply ingrained in the mind for many millennia (many lives). This is conditioned and limited existence (vasanas). Even for an awakened being, the vasanas have to be conquered or exhausted, for that which the body has to go through has to come to pass. For the awakened being, there is no longer rebirth, for the karmas are burnt, no longer is there any work for gain or I-am-the-doer, however, that karma (prarabdha) has to come to pass and become exhausted, which is the cause this current body to come to birth. Sri Bhagavan revealed, “As long as a man is the doer, he also reaps the fruit of his deeds, but as soon as he realizes the Self through inquiry as to who is the doer, his sense of being the doer falls away and the triple karma is ended. This is the state of eternal Liberation.” If self-inquiry, “to whom does this thought arise” leads to fleeting silence, then one has to repeatedly make effort to silence the mind, until those fleeting samadhis are prolonged. Silence of the mind is that which one seeks, more one cannot do through self-effort, the rest is up to the grace of Self, for we surrender all our efforts to attain enlightenment here. Because of the religious and parental coercion, scripts, mysticism, wizardry, magic, myths, and tales of miracles, thaumaturgic powers, supernatural powers, etc., attained by mystics via yoga, mental control, breath control, etc., that abound, one expects to attain these and God (enlightenment) that we miss the opportunity to abide in the simplicity of pure Awareness; these achievements have corrupted our ability to recognize That Which Is and simply abide in the silence. Enlightenment is very simple, uncomplicated. But many have over-complicated and corrupted the simplicity of Being, viz, to abide in the Self, which we do anyway. Sri Bhagavan said, “To be the Real Self in the Heart by winning the actual Experience of that Self, who is already won, is the real gain; all other gains (siddhis; supernatural powers, thaumaturgic, magic, etc) are like those that are won in a dream. Does anything gained in a dream remain true on waking? Is the one that has cast off falsehood by dwelling in the Real ever again deluded by these? Sri Bhagavan said, “He that seeks to win supernormal powers, not knowing that he himself is activated by the power of God, is like that cripple who said; ‘What effort would it be for me to defeat these foes, if only you would raise me up and place me in the battlefield in front of them?’” Sri Bhagavan said, “The extinction of the sense of ‘I am the body’ is itself gift, sacrifice, tapas, righteousness, truthfulness, the grace of God, union with God, supreme devotion, renunciation, silence, the natural state, happiness, wealth, Deliverance, peace, the death which is not death and right knowledge (Jnana).”
From very early on in the quest, on the fated day in Estepona, Spain, early in the morning of March 2014 (the writer had prior read and printed out the revelation above), upon uttering the above verbiage mentally during early morning meditation session, the writer experienced a sudden hair standing-on-end (piloerection) stunned strange silence. It is exactly what happened to the writer that which Sri Bhagavan proclaimed above. But, the writer for want of spiritual maturity (from past lives), coercion or influence by scriptures of yogis and their respective paths, false expectations of God and enlightenment, and conditionings, did not recognize that which he seek is that stunned SILENCE. Simple. Only, it was not so because other “gurus” and yoga scriptures lead him in their path, for we miss the boat and we go off in a spiral of spiritual growth. Do not misunderstand the writer here for he acknowledges all paths as useful, but the writer, in hindsight, can be honest and say the paths he followed threw him off the track for many years, however, those years were not wasted, because it was meant to be or destined for his growth or maturity. Funny thing is, it is those very early gurus who then lead one to other gurus for one’s understanding until one is mature to receive the ultimate teaching or Guru. The writer did receive the above excerpt “Who Am I” of the teaching of Sri Bhagavan early on, but the writer was not ready. Too much analyses into metaphysics and philosophy makes one abandon that which is very simple and clear, existence-consciousness. Momentary Samadhi or fleeting Samadhi have to be pointed out by a wise Guru. Verily, Samadhi goes unnoticed or unrecognized, and importantly, it does not lead to awakening because practice must be accompanied by knowledge and/or vice versa–right knowledge can only be parted by honest realized beings, like Sri Bhagavan. Most human beings are ignorant (immature) of the fact of Awareness. They are unaware of fleeting Samadhis in their daily life and goes unrecognized. Not much is needful if one recognizes those fleeting moments of divine Silence. This is That (God, Enlightenment, Awakening) which one seeks. In the end, Ramana said: The Self is not attained. Because it is what you already are. Self-inquiry does not create truth. It removes ignorance. Who am I? This question, if followed to its end, destroys the illusion of separation. And what remains—is what has always been. I am.