self

From ~~~ Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, T.17

D.:

Is work an obstruction to Self-realisation?

M.:

No. For a realised being the Self alone is the Reality, and actions

are only phenomenal, not affecting the Self. Even when he acts he

has no sense of being an agent. His actions are only involuntary

and he remains a witness to them without any attachment.

There is no aim for this action. Even one who is still practising

the path of Wisdom (jnana) can practise while engaged in work. It

may be difficult in the earlier stages for a beginner, but after some

practice it will soon be effective and the work will not be found a

hindrance to meditation.

D.:

What is the practice?

M.:

Constant search for ‘I’, the source of the ego. Find out ‘Who am I?’

The pure ‘I’ is the reality, the Absolute Existence-Consciousness-

Bliss. When That is forgotten, all miseries crop up; when that is

held fast, the miseries do not affect the person.

D.:

Is not brahmacharya (celibacy) necessary for realisation of the Self?

M.:

Brahmacharya is ‘living in Brahman’. It has no connection with

celibacy as commonly understood. A real brahmachari, that is one

who lives in Brahman, finds bliss in the Brahman which is the

same as the Self. Why then should you look for other sources of

happiness? In fact the emergence from the Self has been the cause

of all the misery.

D.:

Celibacy is a sine qua non for Yoga?

M.:

So it is. Celibacy is certainly an aid to realisation among so many

other aids.

D.:

Is it then not indispensable? Can a married man realise the Self?

M.:

Certainly, it is a matter of fitness of mind. Married or unmarried,

a man can realize the Self, because that is here and now. If it were

not so, but attainable by some efforts at some other time, and if it

were new and something to be acquired, it would not be worthy of

pursuit. Because what is not natural cannot be permanent either.

But what I say is that the Self is here and now and alone.

~~~~~