Doership Checked With Ramana Maharshi's 'Who Am I'

Can you believe it? What about one"s mental fences, this is “mine", I am the sole architect of my success, how efficient I am in judging the market trends and taking quick decisions and so on? “Doership" and “Success" have strong foundations. The more one climbs up the ladder the more certain would he be to strengthen this foundation. There are enough sycophants and incense burners to ensure this. May be we may still keep humming Frank Sinatra"s “Don"t fence me in". Who fenced one in? Like Ramana Maharshi"s cryptic statements this too is bound to do its work “in its time". At least some window is not wholly shut in the life of one who has been graced by exposure to Ramana"s direct path. So through this opening a whiff of truth would be gently caressing us for it is the Master"s way to be ever present even though unnoticed.

The gentle morning song of Ramana

Wake up, wake up, from your illusions
Wake up to the reality in you.

This is like the key note of music for it blends harmoniously with other notes of music. But where can music be without “sruthi" (key note)? How can anything exist apart from reality? The superimposed illusion is only an idea, a mix up of superimposing on 'movement", the permanency of truth. Ramana Maharshi"s further tune may be “You are the architect of your own illusions". For unless you destroy this fortress of illusion through the spears in Ramana"s armory of self-enquiry (Who am I?), this false notion may hide itself under various masks to surface again when the mind is rendered weak by thoughts. The mind now scattered has been made unifocussed through the enquiry 'Who am 'I"?" it must then be turned within by questioning 'Whence this 'I"?", this separate 'I", this separate subject. Then only can the truth dawn.

About the author

A.R.Natarajan

A.R.Natarajan, the founder of the 'Ramana Maharshi Centre For Learning' in this write up which isan excerpt from 'Darkness at Noon' talks about snapping the sense of doership with 'Who am I', to wake up into reality from illusion,