Unhurried And Recollected Life

Ramana Maharshi

-Staff

By Staff

Monday, September 22, 2008, 10:31

D: How can the mind be still if I have to use it more than other people? I want to go into solitude and renounce my job as headmaster.

M: What is the under current which vivifies the mind, enables it to do all work? It is the Self. Simply become aware of it during your work and do not forget it. …Take your time; keep remembrance of your real nature alive. Avoid haste which causes you to forget.Conscious Immortality, pp. 130-132

A visitor to Ramanasramam told Ramana, "I have been meditating for several years. Yet I have to force myself to do it. Please guide me as to how I should meditate". Even persons who used to be practically inmates of Ramanasramam would express their disappointment to Ramana that their meditations often ended in sleep. Wherever we turn in 'Talks' we find this sorry story repeated. A Maharani who is in tears, speaking in a choked voice tells Ramana, "I have all that I want, a human being would want… But… But I…I… Probably my destiny". Another, a Maharashtrian lady, also in tears says, "I know it is impossible to attain 'Mukti' in one life. Can I not at least have peace of mind?" Pannalal, Chief Secretary to the Government of Uttar Pradesh complains of lack of peace and wishes to know if he should abandon his previous Sadhana and take to the direct path of Ramana to attain it.

What is the common factor in all these woes of the different seekers, having different backgrounds and varying degrees of spiritual earnestness? It is obvious that they had lost spontaneous interest in meditation, and were hanging on to it for want of an alternative. Having given up a totally worldly life and having lost absorbing interest in it they are in no man's land. Neither do they have the taste of the natural bliss nor does the sensate life hold its old unqualified attraction.

The above mentioned state is all the more sad for after years of meditation, after years of effort at an inner life if one is back at square one, or rather thinks he is back, then somewhere along the line he has missed out on essentials. For, in the spiritual field as in any other effort, sadhana if properly directed should produce results. Here it should be in terms of happiness and peace born out of inner and outer harmony.

What exactly has gone wrong? Let us ponder over our life. Is it not always one hurry-burry from jumping out of bed, scurrying to catch the bus or train, social calls on well wishers and helpers, chats with friends, enjoying T.V. and video and so on? It is an endless list of things we want to do. We find time for gossip too in our daily milieu. Would this not be a far cry from the contemplative and reflective way of life so repeatedly advised to Paul Brunton by Ramana? Should we be caught up in this business of trying to chew too much, of nibbling at different things, of concerning ourselves with 'others'?

What are we here for? Why this human chance? Is it for this external whirl? If only we care to look we can readily see how loaded we are with purposeless thoughts and actions. Proper management of time is not only a virtue in the field of business but in all walks of life. More so in the spiritual life. It is of utmost importance. It is the thing which matters. This demands a constant look at our daily doings to prune away wastage of time on non-essentials, to find time for the inner life which fortunate karma has opened up for us. Once the heat of mental pressure is off, there would be time for cool headed meditation.