Just In
- 6 hrs ago Anant Ambani-Radhika Merchant's Wedding Function Details Are Out, Check out Ambani Bahu-To-Be's Chic Fashion!
- 7 hrs ago Nayanthara Poses With Husband Vignesh Shivan In Chic Saree, Check Her Sarees To Ace Summer Wedding Look
- 10 hrs ago Hanuman Jayanti 2024: These Are Lord Hanuman's Favourite Zodiac Signs, Check Out The List!
- 11 hrs ago Arushi Sharma-Vaibhav Vishant Wedding, Love Aaj Kal 2 Actor Looks Resplendent In A Pastel Ethnic Outfit, Pics!
Don't Miss
- Sports Olympic Selection Trials: Ashi-Swapnil Shine In 3-Position Shooting
- News Senator Lambie Calls For Elon Musk's Imprisonment Over Wakeley Church Stabbing Posts
- Movies Mirzapur 3 OTT Release Date, Platform: When Will Mirzapur Season 3 Premiere On Amazon Prime Video?
- Finance 25% Dividend Record Date: Logistic Stock Nears 1-Year High And It Belongs To Mahindra; Motilal Neutral
- Education Telangana Inter Manabadi 1st and 2nd Year Results 2024 to be Declared Tomorrow
- Automobiles Chrysler Pacifica Marks Seven Years As Most Awarded Minivan With New Campaign
- Technology Xiaomi Robot Vacuum Cleaner S10, Handheld Garment Steamer, and Redmi Buds 5A Launched in India
- Travel Kurnool's Hidden Gems: A Guide To Exploring India's Lesser-Known Treasures
What Each Seeker Owes To Ramana Maharshi
The Backdrop
Though I lived in India from 1937 to 1945 I did not, alas, get to see Ramana Maharshi. In fact, I knew almost nothing about him at that time. Since then, however, he has become one of the great influences in my life and I would like to acknowledge, with immense gratitude, what I owe to him.
But first I must set on record, briefly, how things stood with me when, in 1959, in England, I first came across Arthur Osborne"s books about Maharshi. I had already seen Who I was. Back in 1943, when I was still in India, I had noticed the absence here of anyone and anything. Leading up to that vision I had for some years been inquiring, with growing intensity, into my true nature.
And
then,
in
1958,
I
started
reading
seriously
the
early
Zen
masters
–
and
felt
lonely
no
longer.
Here
were
friends
who
described
what
was
unmistakably
my
own
experience
of
myself
as
void.
O
joy!
And,
on
the
heels
of
this
delightful
company,
came
Maharshi
himself.
Why
is
he
so
Superb?
Firstly, one has to thank him for the gift of encouragement, a precious gift indeed. Not for confirmation of what I see (only I am in a position to see of all things); not for friendship or even love (unless one can be friends with oneself). I am having difficulty in saying what I mean by the kind of encouragement he gave me when I needed it most. Perhaps I should call it – his darshan. Anyhow, from then on my dedication to the One-I-am was complete. No more wavering, no periodical discouragement, no other real interests than this.
Accessibility of Self-knowledge
Secondly, one has to be grateful to Maharshi for his insistence on the ever-present accessibility, the naturalness, the obviousness, of Self-realisation. Many a time one has been informed, and had read, that Enlightenment is of all states the rarest and the remotest and the most difficult – in practice, impossible and here was a great sage telling us that, on the contrary, it was the easiest. Such, indeed, was my own experience, and I had never been intimidated by those religious persons who were careful to tell me that I couldn"t see what I saw.
Nevertheless it was for me marvellously refreshing to find that Maharshi never sent inquirers away with instructions to work for liberation at some distant date. It is not, he insisted, a glittering prize to be awarded for future achievements of any sort: it is not for earning little by little, but for noticing now, just as one is. Other sages, of course, have stressed the availability of this, but here Maharshi is surely the clearest, the most uncompromising, of them all. How wonderful to hear him saying, in effect, that compared with Oneself all other things are obscure, more or less invisible, fugitive, impossible to get at: only the Seer can be clearly seen.
To
Be
Continued
About
the
author
The author, Douglas E Harding was an English mystic who was drawn to the teachings of Ramana Maharshi.
- yoga spiritualityDid You Know That One Shloka Which Carries The Essence Of The Bhagavad Gita?
- yoga spiritualityAct But Don't React! The Secret Principle For A Happy And A Calm Life
- yoga spiritualityRamana Maharshi On Meditation: Meditate Or Drive Away The Mosquitoes?
- yoga spiritualityWhat Is Meditation? Ramana Maharshi Decodes It With Dosa Eating!
- ramana maharshiSolving Problems-Self Enquiry, The Solution To All Problems
- ramana maharshiSolving Problems-For Whom Is The Problem?
- ramana maharshiSolving Problems : Where Is Happiness?
- ramana maharshiSolving Problems The Ramana Way : 'Where Is The Problem?'
- ramana maharshiSolving Problems The Ramana Way: What Is A Problem?
- ramana maharshiRamana Maharshi's Definition Of Atheist
- ramana maharshiRamana Maharshi's Biography-His Teachings
- ramana maharshiRamana Maharshi's Biography-Spiritual Sayings