Ramana Maharshi Discusses About The Nature Of Self (Atma Swarupa Tiran)

1) That which appears [whatever it may be], let it appear; that which disappears [whatever it may be],let it all disappear. What [loss or gain] is it to Self-knowledge?

That which remains after everything has entered and ceased to exist in the oneness
[kevalam] of Siva – who surges as the Whole [purnam] – alone is Self, one’s own nature.

2) The pure knowledge which shines forth [as the sphurana ‘I-I’] when that deceitful ego is scrutinized [through the enquiry ‘Who is this I?’] and destroyed,which the Upanishads praise as the glorious darshan of Siva’s dance and which is the true clarity of God’s Grace, alone is the form of Self.

3) Sages say that the state [or place] in which the thought ‘I’ [the ego] does not rise even in the least,alone is Silence [mouna] or Self [swarupa]. [That] silent Self alone is God; Self alone is the jiva; Self alone is this ancient world.

4) Knowing that whatever is known objectively as ‘this’ or ‘that’ is [nothing but] an imagination of the mind, if one remains still [summa irukka] in that which is neutral [i.e. if one remains merely as ‘I am’, the neutral consciousness which does not objectively know any second or third person], that reality which [then] shines forth alone is existence-consciousness [satchit],the supreme and great Self.

Sadhu Om: Sri Bhagavan here condemns the way in which scholars waste their time by reading,learning by heart, discussing and endlessly arguing about the details regarding how the universe is created from the five elements,regarding the functioning of the pranas, jnanendriyas,karmendriyas, nadis and so on in the body, regarding the various kinds of jivas, and regarding all the other innumerable such classifications given in the scriptures.

Since all these principles or tattvas are only second or third persons, the non-Self [anatma], one should not waste one’s time in scrutinizing them, but should instead scrutinize Self, the only real principle, through the enquiry ‘Who am I?’

Source: GURU VACHAKA KOVAI The Light of Supreme Truth or THE COLLECTION OF GURU’S SAYINGS translated from original Tamil By Sadhu Om and Michael James

Guru Vachaka Kovai is the biggest collection of Bhagavan’s spoken teachings that was thoroughly checked and revised by him during his lifetime. As such it has a unique place in the Ramana literature.