The Maharshi and the Path of Knowledge
By T. M. P. Mahadevan
Prof. T. M. P. Mahadevan, head of the philosophy department of Madras University, is known not only in India but in academic circles throughout the world as one of the leading exponents of Advaita. He has presented the truth of its doctrines in books and articles and at the many international philosophical conferences he has attended. Best known, perhaps, of his books are Gaudapada, A Study in Early Advaita (published by the University of Madras) and Philosophy of Advaita (published by Ganesh & Co., Madras). What is perhaps not so well known is that, behind the defensive armaments of philosophy, Prof. Mahadevan is heart and soul a devotee of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi.
Prof. Mahadevan has the ability, so rare among professional philosophers, to express himself in case of need in direct language free from academic terminology. Knowing The Mountain Path to circulate far beyond academic circles, he has written this article for us in language that all can follow, without sacrificing anything in profundity or exactitude.
Jnana or Knowledge, according to Advaita, is the sole direct means to Liberation. Jnana may mean Self-Knowledge or knowledge as a path to Self-realization. The former, svarupa-jnana, is the Self as pure Consciousness, the latter is the process culminating in akhandakara-vritti, that is the mode of mind whose content is the impartite Self. Advaitic teaching is that knowledge is the path one should follow in order to gain Self-Knowledge, which is the same as Liberation or Moksha.
The reason why knowledge is considered the direct means to Liberation is to be found in the conception of Liberation itself. Liberation means release from the cycle of birth-and-death. It is the psycho-physical organism that is involved in this cycle. However, there is no real involvement because the psycho-physical organism and the world in which it is apparently involved are only projections of nescience (avidya) and not real entities. Again due to nescience, the Self is wrongly identified with the psychophysical organism and is thought to be born and to die. This is the metaphysical error that is at the root of all evil. The confusion between the Self and the not-self and the erroneous mingling of their characteristics constitutes nescience. Each earlier appearance in the world of the apparent self is the cause of the next subsequent appearance, so that in this sense nescience is said to be beginningless. Nevertheless it is not eternal but can be destroyed. But only by true knowledge. When knowledge dawns nescience is destroyed and it is realized that the Self was never bound but is ever free. This is Liberation.
Action cannot effect Liberation because action is not opposed to bondage and to its cause, nescience. When one says this one does not mean by 'action' simple movement of the body but movement with a sense of agency. 'I act' in this sense implies the identification of the Self with the ego as agent. It is this conceit of agency that constitutes the spring of action. The wrong identification and the consequent conceit are caused by nescience. Oblivion to the true nature of the Self as pure Consciousness is thus what gives rise to action; therefore action cannot destroy nescience but only confirm bondage to it.
Action is said to produce any of four results: origination (utpatti), attainment (prapti), modification (vikara) and purification (samskara). Action of various kinds is required for, say, producing a pot out of clay (origination), arriving at a destination (attainment), making curds out of milk (modification), and cleaning a dusty mirror (purification). Liberation, which is the eternal nature of the Self, belongs to none of these four categories. The Self is eternal, so not to be originated; it is all-pervading, being non-dual, so not to be attained; it is uncompounded, being infinite, so not to be modified; it is blemishless, being of the sole consistency of Consciousness, so not to be purified. Therefore action can do nothing to occasion Liberation.
In fact Liberation is not to be occasioned at all. It is true that Liberation is said to be 'attained' when nescience is 'destroyed' by knowledge; but the terms 'attainment' and 'destruction' have to be understood here in a figurative sense. There are two kinds of attainment and two of destruction: attainment of the unattained and apparent attainment of the already attained; destruction of the undestroyed and apparent destruction of the non-existent. For the first kind action is needed, for the second knowledge. For instance, for getting an ornament made out of gold action is needed. But suppose a person thinks he has lost his gold chain when in fact he is wearing it round his neck, all the time only knowledge is needed. Someone points out to him that he is wearing it and it is as though he had found it. Similarly, for destroying a real snake action is needed, but for destroying a snake imagined in what is really a piece of rope all that is needed is enough light to see that there is no snake. The attainment of Liberation and destruction of bondage are of the second kind, since Liberation is eternal and therefore ever attained. It only seems to be unattained on account of nescience, and on the dawn of knowledge its eternal nature is revealed. Similarly, bondage is unreal, being caused by nescience. At the dawn of knowledge it seems to be removed, but it was never there. It follows, then, that knowledge and not action is the means of gaining Liberation and destroying bondage.
Action, however, is not without its use. Disinterested and dedicated action (nishkama karma, karma-yoga) serves to purify the mind and thus prepare it for the path of knowledge. Although knowledge itself is not an act, it is the mind that has to seek and gain it. A mind that is impure and filled with passions and selfish desires cannot even turn in the direction of Self-knowledge. It is only the mind that has been rendered pure by the elimination of passions that will be inclined to pursue the path of knowledge. The discipline by which the passions may be eliminated is the performance of one's duties without caring for rewards. Craving for possessions and thirst for sense-enjoyments are what defile the mind and make it unfit for higher pursuits, Therefore the mind must first, as a preliminary, be freed from defilements, and this can be done through action not motivated by finite ends.
Bhakti yoga (the path of devotion) and raja-yoga (the path of mind control) can also find a place in the Advaitic scheme, as subordinates to the path of knowledge. Their purpose is to make the mind one-pointed and inward-turned. Attraction to false values, distraction and disintegration are the characteristics of the tainted mind. The tendency of the mind to flow outward towards finite objects of enjoyment should be arrested, and it should be orientated towards God, the highest value. This is the purpose of bhakti-yoga.
It is the nature of the mind to be inconstant, darting from object to object,
turbulent, obstinate and wayward. The function of raja-yoga is to discipline
it and render it one-pointed. Constant and sustained practice of concentration
(abhyasa) together with breath-control (pranayama) and other practices and
cultivation of an attitude of detachment (vairagya) help to subdue and purify
the mind and thus make it eligible to follow the path of knowledge.1
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1 - These preliminary exercises of karma yoga, bhakti yoga and raja yoga are
helpful but not essential; the Maharshi was quite definite that the path of
Self-enquiry as taught by him was all-sufficient and would accomplish also
the tasks here assigned to preliminary yogas. (Editor).
Liberation is not necessarily a posthumous achievement, since it is the eternal nature of the Self. Even while in the body one can realize the Truth. This is known as jivanmukti. It is sometimes asked why the body should still continue in the case of one who has attained Liberation; but the question does not arise for the Liberated himself, since for him there is no body. It is the unrealized who see him with a body and ask the question. As a reply it is said that the body lasts as long as the prarabdha (that part of the karma which is to fructify in this lifetime), and that after that there is videhamukti (Liberation without a body). In truth, however, there is no distinction in Moksha.
Thus Advaitic teaching is that knowledge is the sole direct way to Liberation and that Liberation is the eternal nature of the Self.
The teaching of Sri Ramana Maharshi is in perfect accord with this. It is
of unique value as an independent confirmation of the truth of Advaita, since
he did not formulate a theory after formal study of Vedanta but discovered
the path and its Goal afresh, gaining plenary experience through a single brief
act of Self-enquiry. And later, when the texts were read out to him, he recognised
that they were speaking the same heart-language that he knew, the language
of Advaita.2
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2 - For an account of this see Ramana Maharshi
and the Path of Self-Knowledge, Ch, 2, by Arthur Osborne, Rider & Co.,
London.
The Maharshi was no writer in the usual sense of the word. Sometimes he put
in writing his occasional oral instructions and expositions. Some of these
stray writings are in prose, some in verse, mostly in Tamil but some in Sanskrit
and a few in Malayalam and Telugu. They constitute what may rightly be called
the 'Ramanopanishad', since we have in them authentic instruction in the doctrine
and path of Advaita.3
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3 - They are all contained in The Collected
Works of Rarnana Maharshi published in London by Messrs. Rider & Co.,
and at Tiruvannamalai by Sri Ramanasramam.
Their central teaching is that the path of Self-enquiry is the direct way
to Self-realization. The sense of 'I' is natural and common to all, but few
care to enquire into the actual nature of this 'I'. We take it for granted
and employ such empirical phrases as 'I came', 'I went', 'I did' or 'I was'.
What is this 'I'? What am I? It is not difficult to see that the body is not
'I'. It did not exist before birth and will not survive death. In deep sleep
there is no body-consciousness. Even while waking I am aware that I have the
body and therefore I cannot be the body. What is more difficult is to see that
the mind or ego is not 'I'. It springs from ignorance, being a superimposition
on the Self. The I-thought is the first thought to arise, and the mind is the
same as the ego. Ordinarily it goes out through the sense-channels and apprehends
and enjoys external objects, but it must be made to turn inwards and enquire
into the nature and source of itself. This can only be done with a still mind.
This enquiry "is the only method of putting an end to all misery and ushering
in supreme Beatitude. Whatever may be said and however phrased, this is the
whole truth in a nutshell."4
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4 - From Self-Enquiry, in The Collected Works.
Explaining the technique of Self-enquiry, the Maharshi says: "By steady
and continuous investigation into the nature of the mind, the mind is transformed
into that to which the 'I' refers; and that is in fact the Self."5 He
also instructed people to probe and find out where the I-thought arises. When
the enquiry is persisted in it transpires that the ego dissolves in the Self
which is the Heart (hridayam). It is true that the mind often gets distracted
on the way and strays outwards, but every time this happens it must be brought
back to the enquiry into its nature. This process has to continue till it subsides
into its Source, the Self. For this there is no other means so effective as
Self-enquiry. Other means such as breath-control and meditation for mind-control
may lead to a temporary subsidence of the mind but not to final Liberation.
It will rise up again.
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5 - Ibid.
On the path of Self-enquiry it is admittedly the mind that investigates, but this self-investigation annihilates it and finally it gets destroyed, just as the stick used to stir a funeral pyre is itself finally burnt. This is the state of Liberation in which it is realized that there is no mind at all. What appeared to be the mind is really the Self the Self manifest as 'I-I'. This is aham sphurana, prajnana, self-manifestation, wisdom.
The Maharshi's most compact and compendious, and indeed scriptural, exposition of the path of knowledge and the truth of Advaita is his Forty Verses on Reality, Ulladu Narpadu. It explains that the mind consists of thoughts, of which the first to arise is 'I'. The discipline prescribed is to enquire with a keen mind whence this 'I' arises (verse 23). To say that the 'I' arises means that the Self and the not-self are fastened in a knot which is called technically 'superimposition' or 'nescience'. Bondage, soul, subtle body, egoity, transmigration, mind, all mean the same (24) They are the I-thought or ego functioning in various ways. So long as it dwells in the body it acts, experiences and enjoys; on leaving the body it finds another. But when its nature is investigated it takes to flight and turns out to be devoid of substance (25), The ego is the prop of all appearances. If the ego is all else is; if the ego is not nothing else is. The ego is all. So when the ego is investigated and its unreality perceived all phenomena are given up (26). When, through enquiry, the state where the ego does not rise up is reached, there is the non-dual Self. When the ego is lost the Self is gained (27). One should dive into oneself, with senses and mind controlled, and find the place whence the 'I' rises in order to recover the Self, as one would dive into water to get back some precious jewel that had fallen into it (28). Verbal repetition of the word 'I' is not the enquiry, nor is meditation 'I am not this, I am that'; this may help but the actual enquiry is the direct path. It is to be done with the mind turned inwards (29). Through the enquiry the mind reaches the Heart, which is only another name for the Self, and there the pseudo-I sinks crestfallen and the real 'I', the Self, shines of its own accord. This real I is not an object to be seen or realized; it is the plenary Reality (30). The destruction of the ego through Self-enquiry and the gaining of Self-awareness is the only achievement; there is nothing else to be accomplished. Pure Self-awareness is perfection (31). This is the realization that one always is and was the Self and that there is no other Reality (32).
It is useless to indulge in metaphysical speculation about Reality. "Does anything exist or not? Has Reality form or is it formless? Is it one, two or neither? These are questions engendered by ignorance" (34). Similarly philosophical questions about time and space, the world and God, free will and predestination, are powerless to lead us out of our state of ignorance. When such questions occur the enquirer should turn to the basic question: to whom do they occur? One must question the questioner. When the questioner is known there will be no questions left to ask or answer.
To seek the eternally achieved Self and abide in it is the true achievement. Delusion and the misery born of it disappear once one is established in the natural state of the Self. The Self is not something to be newly realized; in fact the very expression 'Realization' is inapt, for the real does not need to be 'realized'. The term 'Realization' has to be understood in a figurative sense only. The truth is that there is no plurality at all: from the standpoint of the Absolute there is neither bondage nor release; there is no one bound and no one to be released. All that is is the non-dual Self.
This is the theme of Ulladu Narpadu, a tremendous poem proclaiming the Ultimate Reality and the path to its Realization.
In the later years at Sri Ramanasramam there used to be a daily stream of
visitors and spiritual aspirants seeking to have their doubts clarified and
difficulties removed by putting questions to Sri Ramana Maharshi. Some of the
talks that ensued were recorded by competent resident devotees. The largest
such compendium which has been preserved and published is Talks with Sri Ramana
Maharshi.6 Questions about the path and the goal come up constantly
and the Master's answers are always from the standpoint of Advaita-experience.
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6 - Published by Sri Ramanasramam, Tiruvannamalai.
Again and again he stresses (like Gaudapada and Shankara and other ancient Masters) that Perfection, Moksha, is not anything new to be acquired. "Realization is our nature. It is not anything new to be gained. What is new cannot be eternal" (p. 455). "You do not acquire happiness; your very nature is happiness. Bliss is not newly earned. All that is to be done is to remove unhappiness " (302).
Ajnana (ignorance) is the cause of bondage; and ajnana is unreal. The world of duality is an illusory projection of ajnana. When the unreality of ajnana is realized the eternal Jnana, Knowledge, shines of itself. "To know that there never was ignorance is the goal of all spiritual teachings. Ignorance must be of one who is aware. Awareness is jnana and jnana is eternal and natural. So ajnana is unnatural and unreal" (298).
A mental support to Self-enquiry, though it cannot be the enquiry itself, is to analyse the three states of experience: waking, dream and deep sleep. This is also referred to in the Mandukya Upanishad and by Gaudapada in his Karika. The Maharshi explains that there is no real difference between the waking and dream states and that both are unreal from the standpoint of the Absolute. The state of deep sleep shows that 'I' and the world are not real (in the sense of permanent) since they appear only in the waking and dream states. "How does sleep differ from the other two states? In sleep there are no thoughts, whereas in the other two states there are. Therefore thoughts must be the origin of 'I' and the world. What are they? They cannot be natural (in the sense of permanent) or they could not appear at one moment and disappear at another. Where do they come from? They must be admitted to have an ever-present and invariable source. It must be the eternal state … that from which all beings come forth, that in which they remain and that into which they resolve" (726).
The accepted rule is: that which is constant in variable things is real, that which is inconstant is unreal. 'I' and the world are inconstant; the Self alone is constant. In the waking and dream states our bodies attach themselves to us and we are afflicted by the I-am-the-body idea. "Because the body exists you say that it was born and will die, and then you transfer the idea to the Self, saying that you are born and will die. In fact you remain without the body in sleep, but now you remain with it. The Self can remain without the body but the body cannot exist apart from the Self. The 'I-am-the-body' thought is ignorance; that the body does not exist apart from the Self is knowledge ... So long as there is the sense of separation there will be afflicting thoughts. If the original source is regained and the sense of separation put an end to, there is peace" (439).