Letters from Sri Ramanasramam, by Suri Nagamma

If one does spiritual practice (sadhana) with name and form,
repetition of holy names (japa), or any of these methods with
grim determination and perseverance, one becomes THAT.

According to the capacity of each individual, one spiritual
practice is said to be better than another and several shades
and variations of them have been given. Some people are a
long way from Tiruvannamalai, some are very near; some are
in Tiruvannamalai, while some get into Bhagavan’s hall itself.

For those who come into the hall, it is enough, if they are
told as they step in, ‘Here is the Maharshi’, and they realize
him immediately. For others they have to be told which route
to take, which trains to catch, where to change, which road
to turn into. In like manner, the particular path to be taken
must be prescribed according to the capacity of the practiser
(sadhaka). These spiritual practices are not for knowing one’s
own Self, which is all-pervading, but only for getting rid of
the objects of desire. When all these are discarded, one
remains as one IS. That which is always in existence is the
Self — all things are born out of the Self. That will be known
only when one realizes one’s own Self. So long as one has
not that knowledge, all that is seen in this world appears as
real. Supposing a person sleeps in this hall. In his sleep he
dreams of going somewhere, loses his way, wanders from
one village to another, from one hill to another, and during
that time, and for days together, searches without food or
water. He suffers a good deal, enquiries of several people
and finally finds the correct place. He reaches it, and feeling
that he is stepping into this hall, greatly relieved, he opens
his eyes with a startled look. All this will have happened within
a short time and it is only after he wakes up that he realizes
that he had not been anywhere. Our present life is also like
that. When the eye of knowledge is opened, a person realizes
that he remains ever in his own Self.”
The questioner asked further: “Is it true that all spiritual
practices, as is said, merge into the path of Self-enquiry?”
“Yes,” replied Bhagavan, “the enquiry ‘Who am I?’ is
the beginning and the end of the teachings of Vedanta. It
is said that only he who has the assets of the four kinds of
spiritual practice is fit for Vedantic enquiry. Of the four
categories of practice the first is the knowledge of the Self
and the non-Self (atma and anatma). That means a
knowledge that the Self is eternal (nitya) and that the world
is unreal (mithya). How to know this is the question. It is
possible to know this by enquiry as to ‘Who am I?’ and
what is the nature of my self! Usually this procedure is
suggested at the beginning of the spiritual practice, but
generally it does not carry conviction. So all sorts of other
spiritual practices are resorted to and it is only ultimately,
as a last resort, that the practiser takes to Self-enquiry. The
alphabet A B C D E, etc., are learnt while young. If it is
stated that these letters are the fundamentals for all
education and that there is no need to study for B.A. or
M.A., will people listen to such advice? It is only after
studying and passing these examinations that it will be
realized that all that has been studied is contained in those
fundamental letters A B C, etc. Are not all the scriptures
contained in the elementary thing, the alphabet? That it is
so, is only known after learning by heart all the scriptures.

It is the same with every one of these things. There are a
number of rivers, some flow straight, some wind and twist
zig-zag, but all of them ultimately become merged in the
ocean. In the same way, all paths become merged in the
path of Self-enquiry, just as all languages become merged
in Silence (mouna). Mouna means continuous speech; it does
not mean that it is a vacuum. It is the speech of self,
identifying with the Self. It is Self-luminous. Everything is
in the Self. In Tamil Nad a great person composed and
sang a song the purport of which is, ‘We are like a screen,
and the whole world appears like pictures on it. Silence is
full and all-pervading’. Like the saying, ‘` pU[Rmd> pU[Rimd<
pU[aRTpU[RmudCyte’ (om purnamadah purnamidam purnath purnam
udachyate),* everything appears to be the same for the
Realized Soul. Even though he sees something it is as good
as his not seeing it.”
So saying, Bhagavan was once more silent.

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* “From the Fullness when the Full is taken the Full remains.”
The Abstract Brahman in Its fullness is all-pervading. The Jiva in
the body is also full with the knowledge of the Brahman and
awareness of the world. From the former, i.e., nirvikalpa Brahman,
is born the latter, i.e., savikalpa Brahman, with all the fullness of
the world.