Question

Andrew: In Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, Ramana Maharishi, replying to a disciple, states the following:

D[isciple]: Will the knowledge gained by direct experience be lost afterwards?

[Ramana] M[aharshi]: Kaivalya Navanita says it may be lost. Experience gained without rooting out all the vasanas cannot remain steady. Efforts must be made to eradicate the vasanas. Otherwise rebirth after death takes place. Some say direct experience results from hearing from one’s master; others say it is from reflection; yet others say from one-pointedness and also from samadhi. Though they look different on the surface, ultimately they mean the same. Knowledge can remain unshaken only after all the vasanas are rooted out.

“Talk 172,” Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi

I would love to hear your thoughts about this passage.

Mikka Nandri

Answer

Dear A.,

1. Typically, Ramana distinguishes between nirvikalpa samadhi and sahaja samadhi. The former, when gained, can be lost. I equate nirvikalpa samadhi with satori/kensho in Zen. Meaning: “sudden awakening” but not “final or Great Awakening.” For its part, the latter is the natural, established state, or what Buddhists term “Great Awakening.”

2. Vasanas = samskaras. Essentially, when all sense of egoity has been seen through, then this is sahaja samadhi. If not, then it’s just, e.g., nirvikalpa samadhi: awakening without the end of egoity, for ego will rise again thanks to extant vasanas/samskaras. “Knowledge can remain unshaken only after all the vasanas are rooted out.” In a characteristic Ramana (or Vedantic) vein, he goes on to say that all methods point to the same result.

3. Which method is best with respect to being permanently established in and as the Self? Ramana, here, refers to the “triple method” of Advaita Vedanta: listening, reflecting, and meditating. His point is very simple: when one is a very ripe soul, simply listening to the teaching can establish you in the Self; when less ripe, you’ll need to listen and ponder; when even less ripe (and this applies to most of us), you’ll need to hear the teaching over and over again, ponder or “churn it” until it’s ghee, and dive deep through meditation.

With palms joined together,

Andrew