Let
there be peace and love among all beings of the universe. OM
Shanti, Shanti, Shanti.
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AMANA
Maharshi
is the silent one, teaching the pure non-dual
essence through perfect silence.
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What our
master clearly teaches
By way of great, good, powerful Self-attention
Is only this and nothing more
BE STILL.
Apart from this, the mind has no
Task to do or thought to think.
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What exists in
Truth is the Self alone. The Self is that where
there is absolutely no "I"-thought. That is called
silence [mauna]. The Self itself is the
world; the Self itself is "I"; the Self itself is
God.
The inner silence is self-surrender. And that is
living without the sense of ego. Solitude is in the
mind of humanity. Silence is ever speaking; it is
the perennial flow of "language". It is interrupted
by speaking; for words obstruct this mute language.
Silence is permanent and benefits the whole of
humanity.
There is consciousness along with quietness in the
mind; this is exactly the state to be aimed at.
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By
silence, eloquence is meant. It is the best
language.
The thought-free experience of the Self is
silence.
There is a state when words cease and silence
prevails.
That state which transcends speech and thought is
silence.
That state in which the "I"-thought does not rise
even in the least is silence.
The experience of silence is alone the real and
perfect knowledge.
Sages say that the state in which the "I"-thought
does not rise even in the least, alone is Self
which is silence. That silent Self alone is God;
Self alone is the individual soul. Self alone is
this ancient world. All other knowledge are only
petty and trivial knowledge; the experience of
silence alone is the real and perfect knowledge.
Know that the many objective differences are not
real but are mere superimpositions on Self, which
is the form of true knowledge.
That which is, is silence. How can silence be
explained in words?
A vow of silence is but a vow. It may help in
meditation to some extent, but what is the use of
keeping the mouth shut and letting the mind run
riot?
The pure state of attention to the Self alone is
one's own state of silence, which is devoid of any
other thing.
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The Guru is the
bestower of silence who reveal the light of
Self-knowledge, which shines as the residual
Reality. Spoken words are of no use whatsoever if
the eyes of the Guru meet the eyes of his
disciple.
Silence, which shines alone as consciousness of
being, possesses the glory of being the highest and
most potent tapas [spiritual effort].
Silence – which is not only the means to
liberation but also that which abides as the very
nature of liberation itself – has a matchless
magnificence.
If you adhere to that path of silence, the means to
liberation, there will be no suffering of any
kind.
The Supreme Reality that is liberation is
experienced only by perfect silence. Indulging in
thoughts drives it away.
To attain liberation, the door to which is silence,
the ego that rises as a separate "I" should be
completely destroyed.
Silence is the best and most potent initiation.
That was practised by Dakshinamurti. Initiation by
touch, look, etc. are all of a lower order. Silent
initiation changes the Heart of all.
Silence of a realised being is most powerful. He
sends out waves of spiritual influence which draw
many people towards him. Yet he may sit in a cave
and maintain complete silence. He never needs to go
out among the public. If necessary he can use
others as his instrument.
Silence is ever-speaking. It is the perennial flow
of language which is interrupted by speaking. These
words which I am speaking obstruct that mute
language. For example there is electricity flowing
in a wire. With resistance to its passage, it glows
as a lamp or revolves as a fan. In the wire it
remains as electrical energy. Similarly, silence is
the flow of language obstructed by words.
When one remains without thinking, one understands
another by means of the universal language of
silence. What one fails to know by conversation
extending to several years can be known instantly
through silence. Dakshinamurti is a good example of
this. This is the highest and most effective
language.
Initiation into silence is the most perfect
initiation; it comprises looking, touching and
teaching. It will purify the individual in every
way and establish him in the Reality.
Silence is the most potent form of work. However
vast and emphatic the scriptures may be, they fail
in their effect. The Guru is quiet and peace
prevails in all. His silence is more vast and
emphatic than all the scriptures put together.
Silence does not mean negation of activity or
stagnant inertness. It is not a mere negation of
thoughts but something more positive than you can
imagine.
The one Self, the sole Reality, alone exist
eternally. When even the ancient master,
Dakshinamurti, revealed It only through speechless
eloquence, who else could convey it by speech or
with words?
The silence of the Self is ever there. As long as
you run with the running mind you cannot have it.
It is a Supreme peace, immutable like a rock, that
supports all your activities, in fact, all
movements. It is in this silence that God and the
liberated souls are rooted.
Contact with a enlightened sage is good. They will
work through silence. By speaking their power is
reduced. Silence is most powerful. Speech is always
less powerful than silence, so mental contact is
the best.
True realisation is to cherish with one's
understanding, without any obstruction, the first
cause of all that is, that silence which is
liberation.
The perfect silence in which the ego, the root, has
been destroyed is the true nature, which will never
be vanquished.
The eminent and powerful state of silence can be
reached in the Heart only by attaining the
Self-state, the unmoving axis.
Only silence, which is the end point of jnana
[the direct knowledge of the Reality that is
the Self], is that true vision which is the
profound truth of Vedanta.
Silence is the ocean into which all the rivers of
all the religions discharge themselves. It is the
speech of the Self.
Silence, the unique language, ever surging in the
Heart [a synonym for the Self], is the
state of Grace.
In silence one is in intimate contact with the
surroundings.
In the state of silence one merely abides as "I-I".
Apart from this, there is neither thinking nor
knowing.
Silence will manifest itself when the clarity of
Self-knowledge, which overflows with the exalted
direct experience, causes the trinities of
seer-seeing-seen and knower-knowing-known to
depart.
If the trinities that have risen from silence
subside in silence, then bliss will arise.
A mind that has experienced the light of silence
will not readily accept the conceptual drama,
consisting of the trinities, that appears in the
other light [chidabhasa].
It is the mind that is diminished when there is a
feeling of deficiency. In the fullness of silence,
there is only consciousness, but no thoughts.
That bliss that grows in the field of silence is
not attained and experienced in any other
field.
Those who have seen the light of silence are
without any attachment to the world, which is an
infatuating snare that rises from the "I am the
doer" idea, the feeling that there is a person who
is performing the actions that the body engages
in.
The feeling of remaining young forever is attained
in nothing else other than silence, the blossoming
of Truth.
Since it is thought that creates a sense of
deficiency, only thought-free silence is
fullness.
In order to attain the Supreme state of silence,
that which is worthy of attainment by seekers of
Truth is the loss of individuality.
You should know that the Supreme state of
liberation exists only in a mind who has attained
the state of silence and nowhere else.
The concept-free experience of the vast emptiness
of silence will rise, putting an end to the
delusion of the ego, the deceiving fixation.
The direct experience of the Self, silence, is the
axis of everything. This is the summit, the highest
good.
Those who have sunk deeply into the ocean of
silence and drowned will live on the summit of the
Supreme mountain, the expanse of consciousness.
From silence came thought, from thought, the ego,
and from ego, speech. So if speech is effective,
how much more so must be its source?
The pure state [turiya] exists and shines
as unceasing pure being in the Heart after the
other thoughts that rise from oneself and the
Self-forgetfulness that is the basis for their
rising are fully destroyed.
Clinging to that pure state, which remains without
any attachments, is clinging to Divine Grace. This
alone is one's own state of silence wherein naught
else exists. To know and to merge in this state of
silence through practice of Self-enquiry, and to
remain always as That, is true mental worship. This
you should know.
Take either God or Guru as your Lord. Until you
attain liberation, keep in your Heart the
conviction that you are his subject. Remain without
desires and live according to his command. Oh
foolish mind, why do you forget this and get
deluded?
Remaining quiet is what is called wisdom-insight.
To remain quiet is to resolve the mind in the
Self.
Enthroning the Lord upon the seat of the Heart and
fixing the whole mind at his feet, worship him as
your own Self, without a sense of difference,
because He is your own true nature. You should know
that true worship, performed naturally and without
a break, is the fair nature of divine silence.
The inner silence is self-surrender. And that is
living without the sense of ego.
Subjugation of the mind is meditation; deep
meditation is Eternal speech. Silence is
ever-speaking; it's the perennial flow of
"language". It is interrupted by speaking; for
words obstruct this mute "language".
Silence is permanent and benefits the whole of
humanity.
Oral lectures are not so eloquent as silence.
Silence is unceasing eloquence. It is the best
language.
Which is the better, to preach loudly without
effect or to sit silently sending out inner
force?
Know that Self, which is to be enquired into and
attained in the Heart as the state of happiness
through the requisite tapas or Self-attention, is
only the state of silence, which is experienced by
removing the delusive and worthless knowledge of
differences along with its root, the ignorance or
wrong knowledge "I am this body".
The state of the experience of the one non-dual
silence, which is attained as the experience of the
unlimited true knowledge, is only the shining of
oneself as the empty space devoid of the false
imagination which is the rising of the wicked
ego-mind.
Since the silence of Self, which shines through the
pure mind [the pure existence-consciousness
which is devoid of all thoughts], alone turns
out to be the gateway to liberation, even though
they proceed along any path which is agreeable to
them, that gate alone is the final refuge.
Attending unceasingly and with a fully concentrated
mind to Self, which is the non-dual perfect
Reality, alone is the pure Supreme silence; on the
other hand, the mere unthinking laziness of the
dull mind is nothing but a defective delusion. Know
thus.
Know that the inner silence – the undecreasing
strength of unceasingly praising and worshipping,
without worshipping, the Feet of Lord Shiva by the
beautiful Supreme word [paravak], which is
the pure unrising speech [that is, worshipping
by Self-attention, the non-rising of the ego]
– alone is the true and natural worship of the
Reality.
Only those who have known their reality to be Shiva
[the Self], are those who are soaked in the
perfect and natural state of silence. Therefore
having removed the "I"-sense in anything other than
Shiva [that is, having given up one's
identification with all adjuncts such as the
body], abide without action in Shiva.
The glory of the state of silence – in which
one has merged and died in the real principle, God,
who is the egoless Self, by enquiring "Who am I,
the false first person?" – alone is the nature
of the observance of self-surrender.
According to the prarabdha [karma that is
working itself out during the present life] of
the individual self, the Supreme makes the
individual act until the prarabdha comes to an end.
Efforts made will be a failure due to prarabdha;
even in spite of obstructions, the prarabdha will
bear fruit. Therefore to remain silent [without
trying to oppose one's prarabdha] is best.
It is not possible for anyone to do anything
opposed to the ordinance of God, who has the
ability to do anything and everything. Therefore to
remain silent at the Lord's Feet, having given up
all the anxieties of the wicked, defective and
delusive mind, is best.
If we scrutinise what the method is to end forever
the movements of the wavering mind or ego, which is
like a reflection in wavy water, we will discover
that the method is for one to remain silently
attending to oneself alone, and not for one to
attend to that wavering mind, which will make one
slip down from the state of Self.
Those who have perfect knowledge say that the state
of true knowledge, in which one remains without "I"
[the ego], alone is silence. In order to
experience that silence, which is devoid of the
feeling "I am this body", clinging to the Self in
the Heart is the spiritual practice.
The pure silence which shines forth when the
"I"-sense is lost by abiding in the Heart, knowing
one's own real existing state instead of going
outwards cherishing and attending to other things,
alone is the limit of true knowledge
[jnana].
Since, just as the activities seen within and by a
dream-person become laughable and non-existent in
the outlook of the waking person, even the
activities of the individual self [such as his
birth and death], which are an imagination seen
by him within himself, become non-existent in the
true awakened outlook of Self-knowledge, all of
those activities, including his bondage and
liberation are unreal and are a mere play of
illusion.
When the pure gracious Supreme reveals the nature
of Self, he who was in the dark room of ignorance
will merge in the silence of Self-abidance,
drowning in God-knowledge or
existence-consciousness, which is the beauty of the
Reality.
Know that silence – which is the perfect
knowledge of the form of Self and which shines
within when the ego reaches the Heart by rejecting
all the juggleries of thoughts, which are rarely
rejected – alone is the glorious Supreme word
[paravak].
Only those who have not keenly listened to the
Lord's language of Grace [silence], which
is the Supreme word, which shines forth when the
wandering mind subsides, will say that the sound of
a flute is sweet, that the sound of a veena is
sweet, or that the prattling speech of their own
babbling children is very sweet.
If the noise of thoughts rising incessantly within
does not subside, the ineffable state of silence
will not be revealed. Those whose thoughts have
subsided within, will not leave the strong and
perfect state of silence even in a big
battlefield.
Tell me, is not the vocal silence observed by those
who do not engage in Self-enquiry and who do not
know the real goal, which is the silence that
shines forth when the ego, "I am the fleshy and
filthy body", subsides and reaches the Heart, a
mere mental endeavour?
The life of Self – the true knowledge which
shines forth devoid of the ego-sense due to the
drowning of the ego in its source when the madness
of desire for the petty, illusory and delusive
sense-objects has been completely destroyed –
alone is That which can truly satisfy the mind.
Those whose Hearts are surging with joy by
experiencing the ever-new ambrosia [amrita]
of Self, which shines brightly in the pure silence,
will not be spoilt in the world by experiencing the
petty sense-objects, which give a little mad
pleasure caused by mental delusion.
The Reality which is very clearly known by sages as
the goal of all Vedas and Agamas, and
the observance of Reality recommended by all the
spiritual instructions, is nothing but silence, the
state of Supreme peace.
The complete giving up of the other three
objectives [purusharthas] of human
existence beginning with righteousness, is the
glorious state of peace, which is the nature of
liberation [the fourth and only true goal].
Therefore completely giving up all thought of the
other three false objectives [wealth, desire
and righteousness], cling only to silence, the
knowledge of the Supreme Self, which is Shiva.
Keep your mind still. That is enough. You will get
spiritual help sitting in this hall if you keep
yourself still. The aim of all practices is to give
up all practices. When the mind becomes still, the
power of the Self will be experienced. The waves of
the Self are pervading everywhere. If the mind is
in peace, one begins to experience them.
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Question:
How can silence be so powerful?
Ramana: A realised one sends out waves of
spiritual influence, which draw many people towards
him. Yet he may sit in a cave and maintain complete
silence. We may listen to lectures upon truth and
come away with hardly any grasp of the subject, but
to come into contact with a realised one, though he
speaks nothing, will give much more grasp of the
subject. He never needs to go out among the public.
If necessary he can use others as instruments.
The Guru is the bestower of silence who reveals the
light of Self-knowledge that shines as the residual
Reality. Spoken words are of no use whatsoever if
the eyes of the Guru meet the eyes of the
disciple.
Question: Why does not Bhagavan go about and
preach the Truth to the people at large?
Ramana: How do you know I am not doing it?
Does preaching consist in mounting a platform and
haranguing the people around? Preaching is simple
communication of knowledge; it can really be done
in silence only. What do you think of a man who
listens to a sermon for an hour and goes away
without having been impressed by it so as to change
his life? Compare him with another, who sits in a
holy presence and goes away after some time with
his outlook on life totally changed. Which is the
better, to preach loudly without effect or to sit
silently sending out inner force?
Again, how does speech arise? First there is
abstract knowledge. Out of this arises the ego,
which in turn gives rise to thought, and thought to
the spoken word. So the word is the great grandson
of the original source. If the word can produce an
effect, judge for yourself how much more powerful
must be the preaching through silence.
Question: Does Bhagavan give initiation
[diksha]?
Ramana: Silence is the best and the most
potent initiation. That was practised by Sri
Dakshinamurti. Initiation by touch, look, etc., are
all of a lower order. Silent initiation changes the
hearts of all.
Dakshinamurti observed silence when the disciples
approached him. That is the highest form of
initiation. It includes the other forms. There must
be subject-object relationship established in the
other diksha. First the subject must emanate and
then the object. Unless these two are there how is
the one to look at the other or touch him? Silent
initiation is the most perfect; it comprises
looking, touching. It will purify the individual in
every way and establish him in the Reality.
Questioner: Swami Vivekananda says that a
spiritual Guru can transfer spirituality
substantially to the disciple.
Ramana: Is there a substance to be
transferred? Transfer means eradication of the
sense of being the disciple. The master does it.
Not that the man was something at one time and
metamorphosed later into another.
Question: Is not Grace the gift of the
Guru?
Ramana: God, Grace and Guru are all
synonymous and also Eternal and immanent. Is not
the Self already within? Is it for the Guru to
bestow it by his look? If a Guru thinks so, he does
not deserve the name.
The books say that there are so many kinds of
initiations: initiation by hand, by touch, by eye,
etc. They also say that the Guru makes some rites
with fire, water, japa or mantra and calls such
fantastic performances initiation, as if the
disciple becomes ripe only after such processes are
gone through by the Guru.
If the individual is sought he is nowhere to be
found. Such is the Guru. Such is Dakshinamurti.
What did he do? He was silent when the disciples
appeared before him. He maintained silence and the
doubts of the disciples were dispelled, which means
that they lost their individual identities. That is
true knowledge [jnana] and not all the
verbiage usually associated with it.
Silence is the most potent form of work. However
vast and emphatic the scriptures may be they fail
in their effect. The Guru is quiet and peace
prevails in all. His silence is vaster and more
emphatic than all the scriptures put together.
These questions arise because of the feeling that,
having been here so long, heard so much, exerted so
hard, one has not gained anything. The work
proceeding within is not apparent. In fact, the
Guru is always within you.
Question: Can the Guru's silence really
bring about advanced states of spiritual
awareness?
Ramana: There is an old story, which
demonstrates the power of the Guru's silence.
Tattvaraya composed a bharani, a kind of poetic
composition in Tamil, in honour of his Guru
Swarupananda, and convened an assembly of learned
scholars [pundits] to hear the work and
assess its value. The pundits raised the objection
that a bharani was only composed in honour of great
heroes capable of killing a thousand elephants in
battle and that it was not in order to compose such
a work in honour of an ascetic.
Thereupon the author said, "Let us all go to my
Guru and we shall have this matter settled
there."
They went to the Guru and, after they had all taken
their seats, the author told his Guru the purpose
of their visit. The Guru sat silent and all the
others also remained in silence. The whole day
passed, the night came, and some more days and
nights, and yet all sat there silently, no thought
at all occurring to any of them and nobody thinking
or asking why they had come there. After three or
four days like this, the Guru moved his mind a bit,
and the people assembled immediately regained their
thought activity. They then declared, "Conquering a
thousand elephants is nothing beside this Guru's
power to conquer the rutting elephants of all our
egos put together. So certainly he deserves the
bharani in his honour!"
Question: How does this silent power
work?
Ramana: Language is only a medium for
communicating one's thoughts to another. It is
called in only after thoughts arise. Other thoughts
arise after the "I"-thought rises and so the
"I"-thought is the root of all conversation. When
one remains without thinking one understands
another by means of the universal language of
silence.
Silence is ever speaking. It is a perennial flow of
language, which is interrupted by speaking. These
words I am speaking obstruct that mute language.
For example, there is electricity flowing in a
wire. With resistance to its passage, it glows as a
lamp or revolves as a fan. In the wire it remains
as electric energy. Similarly also, silence is the
Eternal flow of language, obstructed by words.
What one fails to know by conversation extending to
several years can be known instantly in silence, or
in front of silence. Dakshinamurti and his four
disciples are a good example of this. This is the
highest and most effective language.
Questioner: Bhagavan says, "The influence of
the Self-realised being [jnani] steals into
the devotee in silence." Bhagavan also says,
"Contact with great men [mahatmas] is one
efficacious means of realising one's true
being."
Ramana: Yes. What is the contradiction? Do
you differentiate between a jnani and great
men?
Questioner: No
Ramana: Contact with them is good. They will
work through silence. By speaking their power is
reduced. Silence is most powerful. Speech is always
less powerful than silence, so mental contact is
the best.
Question: Does this hold good even after the
dissolution of the physical body of the jnani or is
it true only so long as he is in flesh and
blood?
Ramana: Guru is not the physical form. So
the contact will remain even after the physical
form of the Guru vanishes. One can go to another
Guru after one's Guru passes away, but all Gurus
are one and none of them is the form, you see.
Always mental contact is the best.
Question: Is the operation of Grace the mind
of the Guru acting on the mind of the disciple or
is it a different process?
Ramana: The highest form of Grace is
silence. It is also the highest teaching.
Questioner: Vivekananda has also said that
silence is the loudest form of prayer.
Ramana: It is so for the seeker's silence.
The Guru's silence is the loudest teaching. It is
also Grace in its highest form. All other
instructions are derived from the mind and are
therefore secondary. Silence is the primary form.
If the Guru is silent, the seeker's mind gets
purified by itself in the Guru's presence.
Questioner: Sri Bhagavan's silence is itself
a powerful force. It brings about a certain peace
of mind in us.
Ramana: Silence is never-ending speech.
Vocal speech obstructs the other speech of silence.
In silence one is in intimate contact with the
surroundings. The silence of Dakshinamurti removed
the doubts of the four sages. Mouna Vyakhya
Prakatita Tattvam means the Truth expounded by
silence. Silence is said to be exposition. Silence
is so potent.
For vocal speech, organs of speech are necessary
and they precede speech. But the other speech lies
even beyond thought. It is in short transcendent
speech or unspoken words [paravak].
Question: Can everyone benefit from this
silence?
Ramana: Silence is the true teaching. It is
the perfect instruction suited only for the most
advanced seeker. The others are unable to draw full
inspiration from it. Therefore they require words
to explain the Truth. But Truth is beyond words. It
does not admit of explanation. All that it is
possible to do is to indicate it.
Questioner: It is said that one look of a
mahatma is enough, that idols, pilgrimages, etc.,
are not so effective. I have been here for three
months, but I do not know how I have been benefited
by the look of Maharshi.
Ramana: The look has a purifying effect.
Purification cannot be visualised. Just as a piece
of coal takes a long time to be ignited, a piece of
charcoal takes a shorter time, and a mass of
gunpowder is instantaneously ignited, so it is with
grades of men coming into contact with mahatmas.
The fire of wisdom consumes all actions. Wisdom is
acquired by association with the wise
[satsanga] or rather its mental
atmosphere.
Question: Can the Guru's silence bring about
realisation if the disciple makes no effort?
Ramana: In the proximity of a great master,
the subtle impressions that lead to desires
[vasanas] cease to be active, the mind
becomes still and absorption in the Self
[samadhi] results. Thus the disciple gains
true knowledge and right experience in the presence
of the master. To remain unshaken in it further
efforts are necessary. Eventually the disciple will
know it to be his real being and will thus be
liberated even while alive.
Question: If the search has to be made
within, is it necessary to be in the physical
proximity of the master?
Ramana: It is necessary to be so until all
doubts are at an end.
Questioner: I am not able to concentrate by
myself. I am in search of a force to help me.
Ramana: Yes, that is called Grace.
Individually we are incapable because the mind is
weak. Grace is necessary. Serving a sadhu or a
mendicant will bring it about. There is however
nothing new to get. Just as a weak man comes under
the control of a stronger one, the weak mind of a
man comes under control easily in the presence of
strong minded sadhus. That which is only Grace;
there is nothing else.
Question: Is it necessary to serve the Guru
physically?
Ramana: The scriptures say that one must
serve a Guru for twelve years in order to attain
Self-realisation. What does the Guru do? Does he
hand it over to the disciple? Is not the Self
always realised? What does the common belief mean
then? Man is always the Self and yet he does not
know it. Instead he confounds it with the non-Self,
the body, etc. Such confusion is due to ignorance.
If ignorance is wiped out the confusion will cease
to exist and the true knowledge will be unfolded.
By remaining in contact with realised sages the man
gradually loses the ignorance until its removal is
complete. The Eternal Self is thus revealed.
Question: You say that association with the
wise and service of them is required of the
disciple.
Ramana: Yes, the first really means
association with the unmanifest Truth [Sat]
or Absolute existence, but as very few can do that,
they have to take second best which is association
with the manifest Truth, that is, the Guru.
Association with sages should be made because
thoughts are so persistent. The sage has already
overcome the mind and remains in peace. Being in
his proximity helps to bring about this condition
in others, otherwise there is no meaning in seeking
his company. The Guru provides the needed strength
for this, unseen by others.
Service is primarily to abide in the Self, but it
also includes making the Guru's body comfortable
and looking after his place of abode. Contact with
the Guru is also necessary, but this means
spiritual contact. If the disciple finds the Guru
internally, then it does not matter where he goes.
Staying here or elsewhere must be understood to be
the same and to have the same effect.
Question: My profession requires me to stay
near my place of work. I cannot remain in the
vicinity of sadhus. Can I have realisation even in
the absence of satsanga?
Ramana: Sat is Aham Pratyaya Saram, the Self
of selves. The sadhu is that Self of selves. He is
immanent in all. Can anyone remain without the
Self? No. So no one is away from satsanga.
Question: Is proximity to the Guru
helpful?
Ramana: Do you mean physical proximity? What
is the good of it? The mind alone matters. The mind
must be contacted. Satsanga will make the mind sink
into the Heart.
Such associations both mental and physical. The
extremely visible being of the Guru pushes the mind
inward. He is also in the Heart of the seeker and
so draws the latter's inward-bent mind into the
Heart.
Questioner: All that I want to know is
whether satsanga is necessary and whether my coming
here will help me or not.
Ramana: First you must decide what is
satsanga. It means association with Sat or Reality.
One who knows or has realised Sat is also regarded
as Sat. Such association with Sat or with one who
knows Sat is absolutely necessary for all. Shankara
has said that in all the three worlds there is no
boat like satsanga to carry one safely across the
ocean of births and deaths.
Satsanga means association [sanga] with
Sat. Sat is only the Self. Since the Self is not
now understood to be Sat, the company of the sage
who has thus understood it is sought. That is
satsanga. Introversion results. Then Sat is
revealed.
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