Mountain Path (Excerpt)
When Paramahamsa Yogananda asked Bhagavan (Sri Ramana Maharshi) what spiritual instructions he should carry back to the west from Bhagavan for the uplift of mankind, Bhagavan replied, “They differ according to the temperaments of the individuals and according to the spiritual ripeness of their minds. There cannot be any instruction en masse.”
In spiritual instruction and transmission of the truth to the right devotee, according to Bhagavan, speech is the least effective means of communication. In fact, as we all know the sage of Arunachala is known as the great master of silent teaching.
Bhagavan emphasises that silence is the most powerful form of transmission. Speech is always less powerful than silence so mental contact is the best as such mauna silence is not inertness but great activity and it is the most powerful speech. In Talks, yet again, he says that speech is the great grandson of the original source, the silence. The silence mauna Bhagavan talks about is not just the absence of speech but it is when the mind-ego becomes silent, free from thought and comes to rest in the Self. If ego or the mind is fully absorbed in the Self, it will not appear anymore and assert itself as a separate identity.
Such a one in whom the ego has been fully vanquished is called a jñāni. He will abide in the Self constantly and only he who is present permanently in this silence can also transmit his teaching in silence. The disciple is not yet in the state. However, with the guru’s grace and with this constant effort, he will soon get the same level of spiritual truth as Bhagavan.
This teaching can be summed up as the teaching that is passed on from the spiritual heart (the hṛdayam) of the guru, to the devotee’s spiritual heart. Bhagavan’s teaching is beautiful, unique and direct. There are no rituals, no secret mantras to be whispered in anyone’s ears, no fancy handshakes, no hugging and no unusual postures. Bhagavan’s teachings are that there are no special requirements to be met and there is no examination by the guru to test your worthiness.
Bhagavan says that you are the Self and you just don’t know it. Being the Self is being the pure being, pure experience and you have the power to discover the natural state of bliss inherent in you and abide as that.
The highest, the purest, and the most sublime teaching that leads to Self-realisation is open to all and is completely free. There are no special secret techniques or methods. In fact, in Day by Day Bhagavan quotes, “There is nothing more to be known than what you find in books. No secret technique. It is all an open secret, in this system.”
Taken from:
Mountain Path
January-March 2023 Vol. 60, No.1
Website: www.sriramanamaharshi.org