Darkness At Noon-Part IV

Is it Doomsday?

Well, if one is looking for a straight answer, it is 'No" and 'Yes". 'No" because there is, in each one of us, a dormant power of self-enquiry, which needs only to be dusted and sharpened.'Yes" because one does not stop to think about the suicidal course of his life. He has allowed himself to be drawn into such a course. Yet, enquiry is not a spent force. It is lying dormant. Why not give it a try? Because if you don"t you will be self-destructive. Do put on the enquiry cap. Believe it, for it is true. Don"t ask how can one say that it is true. Why? The proof of the pudding is in the eating. The dividends of self-enquiry will not be far off.

Enquiry about what?

Okay! I am ready to rekindle the spirit of enquiry, which has been douched. But what does this enquiry mean? What is one to enquire about? Self-enquiry is an enquiry about the true nature of the mind. True nature of the mind! Don"t I know 'My" mind? Are we not bed fellows? Are we not living together day-in and day-out? Sorry. Start the enquiry and judge for yourself, as a new beautiful world unfolds adding joy at each step.

The roller-coaster ride?

Frankly, would you like a roller-coaster ride? Maybe you love it in an amusement park (some people hate that too). Even then would you like life itself to be a roller-coaster ride? 'No, too many ups and downs". How can our placid and routine life be equated to such a ride? However, willy-nilly, one is on such a roller coaster ride, when one is caught up in the vast multitude of thoughts in a mind that one does not know anything about. One moment, you are on the top of the world. Next, you may be down in the dumps.

Life is not always a one way upward graph. A graph is always an up and down movement. Even assuming that you are all crystal-gazers, it is a sure bet that the forthcoming events cannot always be predicted with any degree of certainty.

Fate always reserves its worst blows for sudden moments bearing hurricane-like impacts. Are you equipped? Well, you are not. For, you have opted for a life that is an even plateau. The real life has its mountains, plains, rivers, rivulets, perennial rivers and so on. The beauty of the world canvas is its infinite variety; colourful flowers of varying shades, insects, wild animals and the like. Sometimes breath-taking in its richness. Yet, this variegated panorama of beauty is as good as not there for us. Why? Busy eyes. That"s what most of us have. Where indeed is time to see the wonder of life when its always time to catch up with someone else? Where is the end to this running to stay where one is?

Why all this questioning? All this is to focus one"s attention on the urgent need to move away from a life-style that is essentially shallow and depthless. It is also to bring home the need for Ramana Maharshi's guidance, and to avail of his infallible weapon of self-enquiry.

About the author

A.R.Natarajan
Sri A.R.Natarajan has had the opportunity of a long association of over 50 years with the Ramanashram. He was the editor of "Mountain Path" for two years. He was the secretary of Ramana Kendra, New Delhi for ten years. He founded the Ramana Maharshi centre for learning, a non profit institution. He has authored more than thirty six books and eleven pocket books on the life and teachings of Bhagavan Ramana.

To be continued