4 Spirituality Studies 10-1 Spring 2024 1 Introduction The core teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi (1879–1950) are centred around the need for us to investigate what we actually are and to surrender ourself, because he taught that knowing ourself as we actually are and thereby giving up all that we now mistake ourself to be is the summum bonum. But why is it the summum bonum? Why is it necessary for us to investigate and know what we actually are? Do we not already know what we actually are? If we are not what we now seem to be, then what are we? What stands in the way of our knowing ourself as we actually are? What is the nature of self-knowledge, and how does it differ from all other kinds of knowledge? How can we know what we actually are? Is self-investigation the only means, or are there other means? Is not the grace of God required? Can we not know ourself by means of “devotion” (Sa. bhakti)? What is self-surrender, and how is it related to self-investigation? How can we surrender ourself completely to God? How can we know God as he actually is? Can we know him as he actually is without knowing ourself as we actually are? Can we know him without surrendering ourself completely to him? All these and many other related questions have been clearly answered by Bhagavan Ramana either explicitly or implicitly in his teachings, so this paper aims to answer these questions on the basis of his teachings and the logical reasons they provide. However, if we want to understand what answers he provided clearly and unequivocally to all such questions, we need to consider what sources of his teachings we can confidently rely upon. The most popular sources are various books in which conversations with him were recorded in English, but such books are not the most reliable sources for a number of reasons. Firstly, though he could understand English and speak it when necessary, he seldom spoke more than a few sentences in English. He generally answered questions in Tamil, or occasionally in Telugu or Malayalam, so what has been recorded in English is not his own words. Secondly, whatever answers he gave were always tailored to suit the spiritual needs of whoever asked him questions, so the answers he gave were often not accurate representations of his core teachings. And thirdly, those who recorded his answers did so from memory, albeit often within a few hours of hearing them, so what they recorded was what they remembered of what they had understood rather than what he had actually said. If we listen to a conversation and afterwards try to record what we heard, what we record will not be verbatim but will only be our general impression of what was said, so it will have been filtered through and therefore coloured by firstly our understanding and secondly our memory. Therefore, though such books do contain useful ideas, and though we can get a general impression of his teachings by reading them, we should not assume that everything recorded in such books is an accurate account of his core teachings. Fortunately, however, we do not have to rely on such second-hand sources, because he wrote one original prose work and about a dozen poetic ones in which he expressed his core teachings in his own words, so these original writings of his are the primary and most reliable source from which we can understand the core principles of his teachings in a clear, coherent, systematic and unambiguous manner. Therefore in this paper I aim to discuss and explain his core teachings in the clear light of his own original writings. All the passages I cite are my own translations of these writings, in which I have endeavoured to convey their meaning as accurately as possible, and in the notes I give the original Tamil text of each of these passages. 2 We Like to Be Happy Because Happiness Is Our Real Nature It is the nature of ourself as “ego” or jīva (Sa. a “soul” or “sentient being”) to have likes, dislikes, wants, wishes, desires, aversions, attachments, hopes, fears and so on, and to act by mind, speech and body under the sway of such inclinations. That is, we are naturally inclined to like, love, want, desire, wish for, hope for or be attached to whatever we believe to be in some way or other conducive to our happiness or satisfaction, and to dislike, hate, be averse to or fear whatever we believe to be in some way or other detrimental to our happiness or satisfaction, so what we all ultimately like, love and want is to be happy or satisfied. Whatever we may do by mind, speech or body, we do it in the expectation or hope that it will at least to some extent give us happiness or satisfaction, or that it will at least to some extent relieve us of our suffering or dissatisfaction, which amounts to the same. Even the kindest, most caring, most altruistic or most self-sacrificing action we may do is ultimately motivated by our fundamental love for happiness or satisfaction. We are pained when we see others suffering, so we are relieved and happy when their suffering is removed, and hence we are happy to do whatever we can to help relieve them of their suffering or to give them whatever joy we can. Our liking to be happy or satisfied and to be free of unhappiness or dissatisfaction is therefore the fundamental liking that underlies and motivates all our
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