Jeff Carreira - The Miracle of Self-Realization

The Miracle of Self-Realization

REFLECTIONS ON THE SPIRITUAL TEACHINGS OF RAMANA MARHARSHI

Jeff Carreira

E MERGENCE E DUCATION P RESS

Philadelphia, Pennsylvannia

The Miracle of Self-Realization

Reflections on the Spititual Teachings of Ramana Maharshi

Copyright 2020

Emergence Education & Jeff Carreira

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

ISBN: 978-1-7352650-3-2

Emergence Education Press

P.O. Box 63767

Philadelphia, PA 19147

www.EmergenceEducation.com

Cover design by Silvia Rodrigues

Contents

INTRODUCTION

Introduction

R AMANA M AHARSHI WAS ONE of the greatest and most revered Hindu saints of the twentieth century. Throughout the first half of that century, his reputation as a pure soul who had awakened deeply to the profound truth of the True Self grew until he had gathered a large international following. His teachings of Self-Realization were so simple, and at the same time so profound, that many of the people who came to see him reported dramatic glimpses into their essential nature, and some appeared to be catapulted into profound depths of recognition of the True Self.

In this short book, I offer my understanding of what Ramana Maharshi taught. A book this size could never exhaust a topic this vast and subtle, and I admit freely that I am not a scholarly expert on this great sages work. What I am is a deeply dedicated spiritual practitioner who has been working for nearly three decades with practices that were directly inspired by Ramanas teachings and the Hindu tradition of Advaita Vedanta, which was his spiritual heritage. I feel compelled to share with you what I have learned and discovered from those teachings that have had the greatest impact on my own spiritual growth and awakening process. As a teacher of meditation and spiritual awakening myself, Ramanas path of Self Realization, and its invitation to an immediate recognition of who we really are, has always been the central core of everything I teach.

The preeminent Swiss psychologist, Carl Gustav Jung, wrote the foreword to an early collection of Ramana Maharshis teachings published in 1944. In that foreword, Jung described the essence of Ramanas message as the realization that the spiritual source of the Self is God and he goes on to explain that the ultimate aim of that teaching is to shift our focus of awareness from the I to the Self, from man to God. (Maharshi, ix)

Jung concludes his short essay claiming that the materialistic-technical and commercial concerns of Western Culture have led to the creation of an externalization-culture that, although it has made many advances, has also led to the loss of spiritual culture. (Maharshi, xi)

Jung recognizes in the teachings of Ramana Maharshi, and in the Advaita Vedanta tradition generally, an antidote to the insatiable appetite for more and the relentless habit of excessive striving that he sees as the great illness of the West. He concludes that we have a great deal to learn from the East, and from Ramana Maharshi in particular, because they remind us of depths contained in our own culture and our own Self that we have forgotten.

It is my sincere desire to present the teachings of Ramana Maharshi in a form so accessible and palpably felt that you will not only see the truth they contain, but more importantly, recognize that truth as the deepest part of your own heart.

CHAPTER 1

On the Practice of Self Inquiry

L ETS START WITH A brief historical snapshot. Ramana Maharshi was born in South India in 1879, he lived in Tiruchuli, in Tamil Nadu, until the age of eleven when he went to live with his uncle. There, as per his fathers wishes, he attended a school to learn English so that he could eventually join government service. But, not long after, Ramanas life took a very different path.

At the age of sixteen, he felt compelled to overcome his fear of death by imitating the experience of death. He laid down on the floor completely still, attempting to mimic rigor mortis in the body. Internally, he also mimicked the final release of consciousness from the body by allowing his mind to settle. He released all bodily movement and all of the inner movements of his mind. As he lay on the floor as if dead, he realized that, even after letting everything go, he was still there. Although everything was gone, including his body and his mind, he remained.

This insight radically shifted his consciousness and sparked a deep desire to pursue a spiritual calling. Six weeks later, he left his uncles house and never returned. He set off for the holy mountain of Arunachala and found his way to a town called Tiruvannmalai, where he would remain for the rest of his life. There, Ramana is famed for having sustained a state of deep God absorption. Initially, he remained silent and still. So still, in fact, that those around him who were devoted to him would move him from place to place and help him to eat.

Eventually, however, Maharshi began to speak and teach, sharing the deep wisdom he had attained. Thousands came from far and wide to hear his insights into life and enlightenment, and a vibrate ashram grew around him.

Maharshis story may sound otherworldly, but it is important to remember that he wasnt born in times of antiquity. He died at the age of 70 - less than 100 years ago in 1950 - well into the modern age. Today, huge numbers of spiritual seekers and aspirants continue to visit Ramanas ashram in Tiruvannmalai, seeking spiritual solace and inspiration.

Ramanas life is fascinating, but of course it is what he discovered that day on the floor, and the wisdom and the practice that grew out of it, that has changed the lives of so many people, including my own. What Ramana discovered during his death experience was the True Self that remains even after death.

Ramana taught within the Hindu tradition of Advaita Vedanta, the non-dual tradition of Hinduism. This mystical tradition of India teaches that the apparent multiplicity of the world is only an illusion. In reality, the Self and the universe are unified as one. The term non-duality is used rather than oneness because oneness might imply the existence of a second and the term non-duality, which specifically means not-two, leaves no room for any other.

The recognition of non-duality occurs when we cease to make any distinctions between anything and anything else. We allow all lines of separation to fall away until there is only this left. Ultimately, this , which is the totality of everything, is recognized to be the True Self and nothing can be separate or external from That. By releasing all distinctions, we move beyond any common understanding of attainment or achievement, because since all is one, then what we seek can never exist in a future that is separate from the present. The source of power in this perspective comes from the recognition of this inherent oneness. The first thing that makes this such a subtle, and sometimes baffling, path to follow is the necessity to give up any sense of a present that is separate from the future. We cannot think of Self-Realization as a goal that we will attain later. There is only one, and who we are right now is already that. The truth is that we are already whole and complete, and there is no path that can lead to where you already are. There is nowhere you need to go if everything is already always here.

I realize that this may sound perplexing to you at this point, but if you give me some time, I believe I can make it clear to you. You might also very reasonably be asking an obvious question. If everything is always already here, and if we are already That, and there is no goal in the future, then why practice?

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