Letters from Sri Ramanasramam, by Suri Nagamma

In the afternoon of the day before yesterday, at 3 o’clock
while returning from the Gosala Bhagavan saw the almirahs
that were being made and also the books that were spread
out in the old hall and then came into the new hall. While
sitting on the couch he looked at Venkataratnam and said,
“What, Assistant Librarian? Have you handed over charge
of everything and come here?” Venkataratnam replied in
the affirmative. With a view to remove any little regret about
it that Venkataratnam might be having in his mind, Bhagavan
remarked as follows: “Ancients have said that the
superabundance of book knowledge is the cause of the
rambling of the mind. That will not carry you to the goal.

Reading of Sastras and becoming pandits may give fame to a
person but they destroy the peace of mind which is necessary
for the seeker of truth and deliverance. A Mumukshu (a seeker
of deliverance) should understand the essence of the Sastras
but should give up the reading of Sastras as that is inimical
to dhyana (meditation). It is like accepting the grain and
discarding the chaff. There will be many big almirahs with
many books. How many of them can be read? There are so
many books and religions that one life is not enough to read
all the books relating to even one religion. Where then is the
time for practice? The more you read, the more you feel like
reading further. The result of all that is to go on discussing
with other people who have books and spend time thus, but
that will not lead to deliverance. What books had I seen and
what Vedanta discourses had I heard except to close my
eyes and remain peaceful and quiet during the first two years
of my coming here?”
A person who had come into the hall a little earlier,
said, “Swami, you must favour me by giving me that peace
for my mind.” Bhagavan replied with a smile, “Oho! Is that
so? First find out what is meant by the mind. If you enquire
thus, the mind itself will disappear. That which will be left is
peace itself. You will then know that what is always there is
what is called peace. Even the Vedas begin with ‘Shanti’ and
close with ‘Shanti’ (peace). Everyday the Vedas are being
recited here. Whenever they are recited, the words ‘Shantihi,
Shantihi, Shantihi’ will be repeated. But no one bothers to
find out the meaning of those words. If they understand the
meaning they would realise that what is begun with Shanti
and what is concluded with Shanti must have Shanti in between
also. The whole thing will be full of Shanti. Hence they must
be begun at a time when the mind is peaceful and quiet.”
Venkataratnam remarked, “Sankaracharya has said the
same thing in his ‘Atma Bodha’ when he described the Jnani
as Atmarama and Shanti as Sita:
tITvaR
maeha[Rv< hTva ragÖe;aid ra]san!,
yaegI zaiNt smayu ́ae ýaTmaramae ivrajte.

Having crossed the ocean of illusion and having killed the
demons of likes and dislikes, the yogi, now united to shanti
(peace), finds delight in the Self and so remains in his
own glory.

Atma Bodha, verse 50
It is this sloka, is it not?” “Yes,” said Bhagavan.

“Recently, a gentleman who came here for Bhagavan’s
darshan has written to me. It seems that, since his return he
is seeing a light and hearing a sound while sitting for dhyana.

He is unable to find out what it is. He has asked me to
mention this to Bhagavan and write to him your remarks, if
any,” said Venkataratnam.

“Whatever light is seen and whatever sound is heard,
there must be someone who sees and who hears. Ask him to
find out who that someone is. He should not worry about
these outside things. If he enquires about the someone who
sees, the thought of those outer things will completely
disappear. There will not be any care or concern whether
such things appear or disappear. They are not there without
the Self. None has any doubt about one’s own self. Leaving
such a certain thing as Self, people begin entertaining doubts
and undergo all sorts of troubles to clear those doubts. Let
him doubt the person who gets the doubts,” said Bhagavan.

“If all experiences disappear through the enquiry ‘Who
am I?’ is there any need of Sastras for a sadhaka?” asked
Venkataratnam. “If a person reads Sastras he can debate with
the pandits and thus feel satisfied, but they are of no use for
sadhana. Whenever any thought comes, enquire who gets
the thought. The answer to this is mouna (silence). Where
there is nothing else except one’s own self, whatever you see
or hear, that is Brahman. That is Atma and that is the ‘Self’,”
said Bhagavan.