27/06/2024
When Ramana Maharshi says that, "What has to happen will happen", then what is the role of Upanishads, Geetas, Epics, etc.? Are they just to explain us our helplessness?
Several weeks following a life-changing spiritual experience at the age of 16, Ramana Maharshi went to a traditional holy site in Arunachal, India, where he lived in various places, including several caves. It was a complete surprise to his family, especially his mother. When she found her son, she urged him to come home, but Ramana Maharshi remained silent. Later, he was given a piece of paper and a pencil to communicate. Then he wrote:
The Ordainer controls the fate of souls in accordance with their prarabdhakarma (destiny to be worked out in this life, resulting from the balance-sheet of actions in past lives). Whatever is destined not to happen will not happen, try as you may. Whatever is destined to happen will happen, do what you may to prevent it. This is certain. The best course, therefore, is to remain silent.
This quote is not about hopelessness but about Ramana’s teachings on the law of karma, free will, surrender, etc. The law of karma applies to those who believe themselves to be a separate self (or ego) and act on behalf of that self with the intention of personally benefiting from the results. However, a separate self is like a fleeting and intermittent thought (e.g., I’m the doer or enjoyer or sufferer or decision-maker or thinker, etc.), arising when the mind organizes its functions. We don’t control any of the biological, chemical, physical, etc. processes occurring within the apparent body-mind mechanism. Also, if we could choose our thoughts, then we would always choose thoughts aligned with peace, joy, love, etc. But we cannot.
According to Advaita (nonduality), there is no real, finite, separate, independent self, and our sense of free will, when attributed to this separate self, is an illusion. This spiritual tradition, also known as the path of knowledge, is rooted in canonical scriptures such as the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, and Brahma Sutra. It claims that each of us already is and will always be the one and only pure being (or awareness) there is—eternal (timeless), infinite (dimensionless), indivisibly whole, innately peaceful, and absolutely fulfilled. As this pure being (or awareness), we are already and will always be free of the law of karma. Therefore, let us use our sense of apparent free will to recognize this pure being (or awareness) as our true nature; it is accessible to everyone, everywhere, and always for direct, non-objective recognition.
The pure being (or awareness) has many synonyms, such as pure consciousness, atman, brahman, sat-chit-ananda, god, true self, true soul, pure peace, pure happiness, pure joy, etc. It has no quality, form, beginning, end, or dimension. It does not act, vibrate, will, or desire. It is self-luminous. It is aware of itself by being itself. It possesses an inherent power (or apparent activity) that projects the continuously changing world (minds, bodies, objective experiences, and other known and unknown things, including time and space).
The world seems to emerge from the pure being (or awareness), borrow apparent existence from it, be known by it, play its roles within it, and eventually dissolve back into it. In other words, the one and only pure being (or awareness) manifests itself as different minds—processes of thinking, perceiving, feeling, memorizing, etc.—that generate fleeting and intermittent thoughts, perceptions, feelings, memories, etc. Through these minds, the pure being (or awareness) experiences itself as the continuously changing world; it is both intimately one with and free of (or not at all affected by) its apparent manifestations.
To illustrate this concept, imagine a vast, aware screen watching a movie projected upon it. In this analogy, the vast, aware screen represents the one and only pure being (or awareness), while the movie symbolizes the world projected by its own inherent power (or apparent activity).
Because of past conditioning, the mind may not know its true nature and may believe and behave as if it were a real, finite, separate, independent self. As a result, the mind is always in a state of lack, incompleteness, discontent, insecurity, agitation, stress, etc., including the fear of death, oblivion, etc. In other words, the mind is yearning to return to its true nature—eternal (timeless), infinite (dimensionless), indivisibly whole, innately peaceful, and absolutely fulfilled; however, it does not seem to know that it already is what it is yearning for.
According to Advaita (nonduality), this apparent lack of knowledge (or ignorance) can be neutralized (or dispelled) by spiritual practices such as self-inquiry, contemplation, abidance, etc. As the apparent ignorance disappears (which can happen gradually or spontaneously), the one and only pure being (or awareness) stands revealed, making it possible to recognize (or have glimpses of) it as oneself. Then, one can practice, without any sense of doership, resting in or as (or surrendering to) the one and only pure being (or awareness) there is and naturally manifest one’s inherent peace, fulfillment, joy, or love through thoughts, feelings, and actions amid normal daily life.
The recognition mentioned above is like self-recognition: you, as the one and only pure being (or awareness), recognize yourself by being yourself. Unlike events in time and space, this self-recognition cannot be measured, quantified, or studied objectively because there is no subject-object duality.
