Unless Reality exists, can thought of it arise? Since,
devoid of thought, Reality exists within as Heart, how to know
the Reality we term the Heart? To know That is merely to be
That in the Heart.

~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, first verse of the invocation, Ulladu Narpadu

The Self that is Awareness

Though the world and mind rise and fade together, the world shines by the light of the mind. The ground whence the world and mind arise, and wherein they set, that Perfection rises not nor sets but ever shines. That is Reality.

Under whatever name or form we worship It, It leads us on to knowledge of the nameless, formless Absolute. Yet, to see one's true Self in the Absolute, to subside into It and be one with It, this is the true Knowledge of the Truth.

`Twos' and `threes' depend upon one thing, the ego. If one asks in one's Heart, `What is this ego?' and finds it, they slip away. Only those who have found this know the Truth, and they will never be perplexed.

There is no knowledge without ignorance; and without knowledge ignorance cannot be. To ask, `Whose is this knowledge? Whose this ignorance?' and thus to know the primal Self, this alone is Knowledge.

Without knowing the Self that knows, to know all objects is not knowledge; it is only ignorance. Self, the ground of knowledge and the non-Self, being known, both knowledge and ignorance fall away.

True Knowledge is being devoid of knowledge as well as ignorance of objects. Knowledge of objects is not true knowledge. Since the Self shines self-luminous, with nothing else for It to know, with nothing else to know It, the Self is Knowledge. Nescience It is not.

The Self that is Awareness, that alone is true. The knowledge which is various is ignorance. And even ignorance, which is false, cannot exist apart from the Self. False are the many jewels, for apart from gold, which alone is true, they cannot exist.

`You' and `he' -- these appear only when `I' does. But when the nature of the `I' is sought and the ego is destroyed, `you' and `he' are at an end. What shines then as the One alone is the true Self.

Past and future are dependent on the present. The past was present in its time and the future will be present too. Ever-present is the present. To seek to know the future and the past, without knowing the truth of time today, is to try to count without the number `One'.

Without us there is no time nor space. If we are only bodies, we are caught up in time and space. But are we bodies? Now, then and always -- here, now and everywhere -- we are the same. We exist, timeless and spaceless we.

~ from Reality on Forty Verses by Sri Ramana Maharshi

Sri Bhagavan: Glowing Centre of Divine Radiance

the following is recounted by Visvanatha Swami in The Silent Power

All those who approached Bhagavan with spiritual
earnestness have had this experience of direct contact with the
Divine at the very first sight of Bhagavan. Ganapati Muni, the
great poet and tapaswin, saw an adept (a Siddha Purusha, a
Perfect Being) in Bhagavan, the moment he first beheld him by
chance on the Hill in the Ashram of Jataiswami. The scholar
became a disciple. Venkataramanier of Satyamangalam saw
Bhagavan as a clear manifestation of the all-pervading Supreme
Self and sang his five superb Hymns in Praise of Ramana.

Humphreys saw Bhagavan as a glowing centre of Divine
Radiance. Achyuta Dasa, Narayana Guru and so many others
seeing Bhagavan recognised his unique spiritual greatness.

Pascaline Mallet, a French lady, who stayed with Bhagavan for a
few months sang in a poem in praise of Bhagavan: "One Light,
One Life, One Love, shining through Thee, we see." And Grant
Duff (Douglas Ainslee), the cultured scholar and poet, says in
his preface to Bhagavan's Five Hymns to Arunachala: "I was in
direct contact with one who had passed beyond the boundaries
of the senses and was merged in the Absolute Self. I do not
need any proof of the divinity of Ramana Maharshi, just as I do
not need any to prove the existence of the Sun."

What is the secret behind the common experience of
Divine Glory which so many intelligent devotees have had in
the presence of Bhagavan? Here is the answer given by Ganapati
Muni in his remarkable hymn of Forty Verses in Praise of
Bhagavan:

"Bow down to the holy Guru Ramana who reaching
the hidden source of the ego within has effaced all differentiation
and shines forth as the One Self of all beings with various mental
propensities and who is resplendent as the One Reality
transcending the body and the entire world-manifestation."

"I bow to Sri Ramana, the Great Teacher, the remover of all sorrow,
who established in the Eternal Abode of Pure Awareness dispels
the ignorance of earnest seekers, who though seeing and moving
within the world stands as the Supreme Being transcending it."


From a relative standpoint, the proximity of such a Sage,
normally established in the Self under all circumstances of life,
serves as an eye-opener for those in the clutches of delusion and
as an invaluable aid supporting them in their spiritual quest.


The operation of the Spiritual Force of such enlightened Ones
is not limited to the lifetime of their physical body. It continues
for ever and those who think of them, surrender themselves to
them, study their life and teachings and try to follow them do
get into the ambit of their Grace, non-different from Supreme
Divine Grace. This is the experience of so many spiritual
aspirants who had not met Bhagavan during his lifetime but
devoted themselves to him on hearing of him or coming to
know of him somehow or other. The enlightened Ones who
are themselves timeless belong to all time and by their very
nature shed light on the path of seekers and help them in ever
so many ways.

Ultimately one sees that one has no existence apart from
Pure Awareness, that there is no world apart from it and that
there is no other God than Pure Awareness. Blissful Awareness
is the sole Reality. Manifestation as the Many is nothing but its
Lila. Every one, in manifestation, has to play his part knowing
at heart that it is all nothing but Lila, the only Reality being
Absolute Blissful Awareness.

to read the full chapter (Awareness Absolute) go to http://benegal.org/ramana_maharshi/books/sp/sp052.html

To see Him is to be consumed by Him

17. To those who do not know the Self and to those who
do, the body is the `I'. But to those who do not know the Self
the `I' is bounded by the body; while to those who within the
body know the Self the `I' shines boundless. Such is the
difference between them.

18. To those who do not know and to those who do, the
world is real. But to those who do not know, Reality is bounded
by the world; while to those who know, Reality shines formless
as the ground of the world. Such is the difference between them.

19. The debate, `Does free will prevail or fate?' is only
for those who do not know the root of both. Those who have
known the Self, the common source of freewill and of fate,
have passed beyond them both and will not return to them.


20. To see God and not the Self that sees is only to see a
projection of the mind. It is said that God is seen by him
alone who sees the Self; but one who has lost the ego and
seen the Self is none other than God.

21. When scriptures speak of `seeing the Self' and `seeing
God', what is the truth they mean? How to see the Self? As
the Self is one without a second, it is impossible to see it.
How to see God? To see Him is to be consumed by Him.

~ from Reality in Forty Verses