Answer To Aspiriants Who Say Self-enquiry Is Already Taught By Sastras And Ramana Maharshi Did Not Teach Nothing New

The story of the herb: Some friends of a patient who had been suffering from an incurable disease for a long time and who was on his deathbed, brought a new doctor to him. After diagnosing the disease, the doctor walked about here and there in the patient’s garden and plucked a herb, by the application of which the longstanding disease was at once cured ! All were wonder-struck at this and expressed their gratitude to the doctor with words of praise, “it is you alone who have given him life !”

Though that herb was there all the time in the patient’s own garden, his sufferings did not end.Was not the doctor’s discovery and application of the herb as good as giving life itself to the patient ?

Suppose either the patient or some of his friends were to say, not fully realizing the importance of the doctor’s help, “After all, what has he done ? This herb was all the time in our garden”, this would be exactly like the words of those who say,
“Self-enquiry is already mentioned in the sastras; what new discovery has been made by Bhagavan Sri Ramana ?”

A treasure, though hidden under the floor of our own house, is as if non-existent for us until we come to know about it, dig it out and enjoy it – just like the herb that
was discovered by the doctor in the patient’s own garden.

If some one makes us aware of the existence of the treasure and enables us to dig it out and to enjoy it then he is truly the one who has given it to us anew. In fact, it is he alone who has made us rich; before that we were certainly poor.

However there are some among us who have not been able to gain the experience of Self in spite of having read about Self-enquiry in the sastras, yet who, not knowing the
invaluable help, the greatness and the novelty of the technique of Self-enquiry taught by Sri Bhagavan, ask superficially, “Self-enquiry is already mentioned in the
sastras; what new discovery has been made by Sri Bhagavan ?”.

This is similar to the poor man saying, “Was not this treasure already there in my own house ?”, though he did not know about it and thus could not dig it out and enjoy
it, The reason why we say that it is similar to the statement or the poor man is that had he gained that immense treasure, known its value and experienced its joy, he would no longer be a poor man and hence he would not have spoken so belittlingly about his friend’s invaluable help!

Only those pandits who have mastered the mere letter of the ancient sastras, but have never experienced even a fringe of the bliss of Self through the Self-enquiry taught there, can speak in such a way, since they do not know the unique greatness of the clue discovered and given to the world by Sri Ramana, the Sadguru, for following the path of Selfenquiry.If they had found the correct method of practising Self-enquiry by studying the sastras for all these years, why then should they still be struggling and not obtaining the experience of Self? In striking contrast to this, all those who have known the Reality through the great help of the clue given by Sri Bhagavan were almost ignorant of the ancient sastras !

Source: The Path of Sri Ramana PART ONE The Jñana aspect of the teaching By Sri Sadhu Om


Readers interested are requested to read below article as well

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2009/06/ramana-maharshi-about-kantabharanam.html