As It Is-Part II

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The 'I"

The so called 'I", the ego, whether it is simply a thought or the first thought as Sri Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi has aptly put it, or mere body – consciousness ('I am the body") which it really is, does not matter much; what is important for us is to understand its meaning, the reality behind it, the base, the source and origin of its appearance. It was not present in sleep, yet where could it have been then? It must have been somewhere, somehow to come again in the waking state to continue its activities from where it left off before going to sleep. It is a mystery.

We may take it for granted that according to Sri Bhagavan, the ego appears immediately and directly from the Self as a result of the combination of Chit or the Spirit, and Jada or the body. It may be compared to the red colour made by the mixture of yellow turmeric with white lime, or to the light which is produced in the bulb by the current and the wire. By Sri Bhagavan"s unique method of self-enquiry the pseudo-self or ego vanishes and the Self shines in all its resplendent and effulgent glory. This is called Self-realisation.

The Fully Awakened State of Turiya – The Goal of Life

As a matter of fact there is no such thing as an ego to be destroyed, defeated, subdued and conquered. The only reality is the absolute transcendental state of Turiya (the Fourth) or the Supreme Self in which the other three states of Jagrat or waking, Swapna or dreaming and Sushupti or sleeping, are utterly absent and not at all remembered even as dreams or shadows. For there is no ego or mind (both meaning the same) in the Turiya transcendental state.

The most wonderful discovery of discoveries is that by Sri Bhagavan"s enquiry “Who am I?" it is established beyond all possibility of doubt that the purpose of the ego has been served when the substance, of which it is the shadow, is discovered or realised by tracing its source, the reality which is its base and substratum.

Spontaneity the hallmark

The state after Realisation is not new. It is the same as

that before Realisation, only we were not aware of it. After realising our real nature 'as it is" we are in an infinitely better. We see things as they really are, one united undivided whole, not separate and individual as they appeared before.

It is as though some scale that was screening out inner mental vision has suddenly fallen, and this has made us fully awakened.Since we now see things as they really are there arises no doubt, or any problem about anything on any account, material or metaphysical, and we are in a position to deal with any question or situation spontaneously as it arises in our life.

About the author

Ramaswami Pillai was a devotee of Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi.