Part22 - Sri Ramana Paravidyopanishad By Lakshman Sarma

595 The first Guru [Dakshinamurti], who taught those great munis by silence the truth of his own supreme state, and who afterwards appeared as the great Guru, Sri Sankaracharya, is himself our Guru, Sri Ramana [Bhagavan].

This should be self-evident.

A notion prevails among the people that a sage or a perfected man must be able to perform miracles. These miracle-working powers are called siddhis. The word literally means ‘gain’ of something. The sages make a difference between these so-called siddhis and the real siddhi, whereby the whole of samsara is transcended, and the highest state, egolessness, is reached.

596 Our Guru, Sri Ramana, tells us that the real siddhi [to be striven for] is to be firmly established in the natural state of the real Self, which is ever-present in the Heart; nothing else.

And since it is in the Heart, the only thing needed is to seek it there and enjoy its bliss.

597 The notion that the Self has to be won is untrue, because really, from the point of view of truth, it was never lost. The sages therefore say that the real Self is ever-present.

This fact is illustrated by the simile of the forgotten necklace, which was diligently sought while all the time it was on the neck of the seeker.
Those that go after the vanities of the world are enamoured of the false siddhis because they do not know that the Self is the summum bonum, the greatest good.

598 Revelation teaches this truth by saying that the Self is infinite, and all else finite and trivial. He that buys the whole world by selling the real Self is just a pauper, and is to be pitied.

The so-called siddhis are of no value because they are in samsara and are therefore mere vanities, unreal, like the world. A saying of the same import is attributed to Jesus, who was a sage.

599 Therefore, says the revelation, that supreme state is freedom from poverty, and all else is only poverty. Like an emperor, the sage is above all wants [in a different way].

Even when going about begging [his daily meal] he is not cast down.

600 It is the deluded men with outward-turned minds, hankering for worldly enjoyments, who talk of these siddhis, namely becoming minute, etc. Revelation
mentions these siddhis for attracting the dull-witted ones also to the path for deliverance.

601 Since these are in the realm of ignorance, and therefore unreal like dream-gains, no discriminating person will be deluded by them. [Of course,] the sage is not deluded by these unrealities, as he has attained the supreme state, which is the state of reality.

602 Though thus it has been made clear that there is no gain equal to the gain of the Self, undiscriminating ones are afraid of the supreme state, believing that in it the Self will be lost.

That the Self is not lost there is next demonstrated by a summary of a verse from Yoga Vasishtam.

603 ‘Just as, by the oncoming of spring, great qualities such as beauty and so on come to trees, so to the sage who abides in the supreme state, come lustre, keen intelligence and strength [of all kinds].

Even a common man, without education, if he becomes somehow aware of the real Self, becomes a centre of attraction for others and is worshipped as a perfected one.

Also, other perfections are seen in the sage.

604 Peace of mind and other good qualities, which aspirants to deliverance have to acquire and retain with effort, are natural to the sage. He is beyond the [three] qualities [sattva, rajas and tamas] and at the same time is the abode of all good qualities.

So the conclusion is as follows.

605 So, when the ego is lost, there is no real loss. The supreme state [attained on by the loss of the ego] is not one in which the Self is lost. But the Self is as good as lost due to the ego sense, and when this [ego sense] is lost, there is a loss of this loss.

It is like a creditor unexpectedly receiving payment of a debt, which he had written off as irrecoverable.

This loss of the ego is indeed an enormous gain, as shown below.

606 This complete and final loss of the ego is itself all these things [and more]: righteousness, wealth, enjoyment [of all pleasures at once], truthfulness, true renunciation, silence, tapas, union with God and true surrender of oneself to Him.

Innumerable gains and all manner of goodness are comprised in egolessness.

The things that have the same names as the items on this list are next shown to be worthless because they are usually associated with the ego.

607 Those having the same names [which are prized greatly] are tainted and of little worth, because of association with the ego. But these are natural to the sage, who [always] dwells in the supreme state.

Another unique feature of the sage is next dealt with.

608 Two excellent qualities are stated as belonging to the sage, freedom from obligation to perform prescribed actions and at the same time being contented and happy. For the common man the absence of these is due to his ignorance.

The latter is bound by duties and never reaches the goal of action. In the sage these two rare good features are united and inseparable. Bhagavat Pada Sankaracharya has given prominence to these two unique features of the sage at the end of a long discourse that establishes the truth that illumination, unaided, confers deliverance.

609 The sage is not bound to perform actions because for him there is nothing to be gained by means of action. He for whom there is an obligation to perform actions is not free, but is bound by the fetters of delusion.

This shows up well the vast difference there is between the bound and the free.

Incidentally, a question is dealt with next that shows the ignorance of the questioners.

610 Some, not knowing the truth [about sages] ask whether the sage does not need to practise meditation. By others the question is raised: ‘Should not the sage go to foreign countries and teach the people there?’7

611 He that practises the meditation, ‘I am That’ is not a sage, but only a sadhaka. If the sage meditates ‘I am That’, it would be like a man meditating ‘I am a man’.

612 It is proper for one to remember something he has forgotten. In the world, remembrance of something not forgotten cannot occur. Since the truth of the Self is never once forgotten by the sage, how can he meditate on it?

613 The true meditation on the supreme reality [the Self] is only to remain as the Self in the thought-free state. This ‘meditation’ can neither be given up, nor taken up by the sage.

This is the sense of the latter half of the first benedictory verse in Bhagavan’s ‘Forty Verses on the Real’. The experience of the Self by the sage in his natural state is not knowing, but being the Self. From this state of Being there can never be a relapse to the thought ‘I am the body’.

The answer to the question about going about lecturing or teaching the people all over the world is as follows.

614 Even though apparently dwelling in some corner of the world, he is really like the sky. While remaining always [uninterruptedly] in his own natural state [samadhi], by his power he pervades the whole world.

This power of the sage is ‘grace’, the power to bless.

615 The sage, remaining all the time continuously in the natural state, with his mind utterly stilled, protects his own people even from a very great distance by his unthinkable power of grace.

But this protection is automatic, without effort, or even conscious knowledge of doing this work of grace.

616 Does anyone worry, after awakening, about men seen in a dream? So too, the sage who has awakened from the sleep of ignorance is not anxious about those who are still in ignorance.

From his point of view no one is really ignorant.

The actions of a sage ought not to be judged from the ordinary, human standpoint.

617 Since the sage has transcended the three grades of character, there can be no faults in him. Whatever he does in the world is surely blameless.

618 For this reason the sage transcends the sacred books that deal with human conduct, because the mind-free one is not bound by them. Those books are concerned with ignorant ones; they are subject to regulation by them because they have the sense of being performers of activities.

The conventions of samsara have no place in the state of the sage.

619 By revelation the sage’s state is described as one in which the Vedas are not Vedas, and the devas [the gods] are not devas.

Incidentally, a warning is given to disciples and sadhakas.

620 Though one should act upon the teachings of the sages, one must not imitate any act done by a sage.

The teachings of a sage are the highest authority, not their actions.

A noteworthy passage in the Gita in this context is the following: ‘Even if he kills all these people, he is not a killer, nor is he bound.’

Nor is the sage bound to conform to any particular mode of life.

Source: http://www.davidgodman.org/rteach/rpv_intro.shtml