Who Are You, Friend?-Part I

Without ever bestowing a rational thought on the subject or object, everyone is working at feverish haste convinced that in the palm of his hand lies the destiny of mankind. It is a great mystery, indeed: and Bhagavan Ramana lived to unravel this mystery. It is Maya"s fraud: and Bhagavan Ramana lived to expose this fraud. It is the deluded imagination of the ego.

Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi threw the powerful beam of his Self-knowledge to dispel this delusion. He taught man to look within himself first and to know the subject, after which alone he could have a true vision of the object and a correct understanding of the relationship between the two and thus be enabled to adopt the proper attitude to life and the world and to get a clear conception of the goal.

Maya"s ferocious delusion

A businessman today accumulates wealth by means, fair and foul. What is his true relation with those for whom he gathers this wealth? What effects do his hoarding enterprises have upon his inner personality? How will his actions ultimately react upon him? Which businessman ever thinks of these great problems? He has set before himself the one great ideal of the greatest accumulation of wealth. He gets into a mania; and this mania is none other than Maya in her ferocious form. She does not allow him a moment to reflect on the great problems that profoundly affect him, his very inner soul!

Till the life"s end draws near the poor man, and coldly staring at his benumbed body, asks him: “Who are you, friend, to deprive the poor of their livelihood and feed them you delusively called your own? Come, come into my noose now and leave them to the care of the God who alone protects them all, as He protects you!"

A politician similarly struggles to save his country from every kind of calamity and catastrophe. Friend, who are you to save the world? What is the springboard of you patriotism? Is it the Divine will or is it some selfish motive, however subtle and glorified it may be? But the politician has the least time or inclination to analyse! Maya keeps him ever busy and ever externalised, ever seated on the high pedestal of a social reformer where none but he can sit!

A scientist knows everything in the world except his own Self. He can neither place himself underneath a microscope, nor fill himself into a test tube. He wants to fly to the moon and compute the distance to the farthest star. Who are you, friend? And what is that intelligence that enables you to peep into the mysterious universe? Who knows, and with what scientific instrument can he discover it?

Similar is the case of a religious preacher on whose lips ever dwells the loftiest Upanishadic Mantras and Scriptural texts. He can, and he is ever eager to, show you the path to Salvation! Who are you, friend, and what are your qualifications? What is the depth of your wisdom? Have you ever had time to look within yourself and mind your own spiritual progress or have you abandoned yourself to finding others" faults and preaching to others?

To be continued

About the author

Swami Sivananda, Rishikesh

Swami Sivananda was the founder of 'The Divine Life Society' in Rishikesh. He could almost be considered a revolutionary in his view of Hindu spirituality and the place of sannyasins in Hindu Dharma. He was dedicated to the spiritual upliftment of all mankind and considered it the unique role and privilege of sannyasins to serve the world rather than be served.