The Options

Ramana Maharshi

oi-Staff

By Staff

Monday, April 6, 2009, 15:55

Ramana places before us a series of options and sub-options. All these options have to viewed against the backdrop of the purpose of life. According to Ramana the purpose of life is to discover for oneself his own state of natural happiness and inherent peace of mind. If we assume the opposite? That there is no goal to life one must necessarily be victims of time, just be driftwoods moving hither and thither as the circumstances toss one around. Let us therefore proceed on Ramana's statement of the purpose of life. This is also what is stated in the scriptures.

The second general proposition which Ramana emphasizes is that the mind is ever free and never bound. It follows from this to that as one is provided in the divine scheme with the capacity, which is untrammeled and unqualified, to be able to fulfill life's purpose.

Let us look at the options against this background. The first option is to follow the path which would reveal the true nature of the mind. The other is to stay, caught up in the field of thoughts and action with all its allurements based on memories of experiences of past action. If one chooses the path of enquiry about the mind's true nature then one would have taken the flood tide which would "lead on to fortune" of a blissful life.

If one allows the past to grasp oneself then one will be caught in the endless sea of thought and action. Though the options are clear and one would imagine that the obvious choice is the road to bliss, in fact the vast majority take the road to the never ending grind of action. It seems so illogical but there it is. This is because of the latent tendencies of the mind which looks to pleasure from the action. Hence Ramana draws our attention to two sub-options.

One could go on acting as he is doing now, egged on by desire and the confidence that he the architect of his own fortune. The fallacy in this is that results are ordained by God. Though every effort must necessarily yield its result, the when of it, the timing of it is in God's hand since he alone can be aware of the total picture of an individual's action.

The very satisfaction of a desire strengthens the need for more of it. Hence the escape route is to be found in dedicating the action and its fruits to God. This will have the effect of purifying the mind and making it fit to do self-enquiry effectively. This sub-option is however only a lesser option. For the best option and the only infallible option would be to investigate and find out the time source of the 'I' consciousness.

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