It was 1896 when young Venkataraman, a 16-year-old South Indian village boy, had an experience that was to change his life forever. Sitting alone in his room, he was seized by a sudden and unmistakable fear of death. But instead of panicking or calling for help, Venkataraman simply laid himself down on the floor. With his mind driven inward by an intense fear of death, he started questioning himself: “Who is it that is dying? …with the death of the body, am I dead? Is the body I?” Inquiring in this fashion, “perceived directly, almost without thought process”, he realized himself as the Absolute Reality and from that moment on continued to live in unbroken awareness of that realization.
Venkataraman Becomes Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi
After this dramatic awakening, the then 16-year-old secretly left his home to travel to the sacred hill of Arunachala in the South-Indian State of Tamil Nadu, about 200 miles away from his home. At first, he stayed in different temples in the city of Tiruvannamalai, located at the foot of the mountain. At that time, he seemed completely unconcerned, even unaware, of his bodily needs and spent most of his time absorbed in the bliss of Samadhi (conscious union with God or Reality). In 1899, he left the bustle of the city to live in the Virupaksha cave on the hill itself. Slowly, the fame of this young ‘Sadhu’ (ascetic) began to spread as visitors felt that they were in the presence of a truly great one. Although he was still young and usually observing silence, more and more people started seeking his advice, teachings and blessings. Sri Ganapati Sastri, a Vedic scholar of high reputation, was so impressed by the young master, that he called him ‘Bhagavan’ (Lord) and ‘Maharshi’ (great seer). Thus the identity of young Venkataraman, which had had died in that dramatic awakening many years ago, was replaced by that of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi.
Skandashram and Ramanashram
By and by, the Maharshi began to relinquish his silence and started answering the spiritual questions put to him, eventually even writing books and spiritual poetry. As the stream of visitors grew and several people chose to become his disciples and live around him, he moved to a bigger cave called Skandashram, where he stayed from 1916 to 1922. In 1922, he moved to a spot on the foot of the hill, where the present day Sri Ramanashram grew around him.
Sahaja Samadhi
While in his early years, Ramana lived the life of a recluse and ascetic mostly absorbed in the bliss of Samadhi, he lead a very regulated life in his later years. He occupied himself with numerous activities like helping with cooking, talking to visitors, writing and correcting books - even seemingly mundane ones as listening to the radio and reading the newspaper. However, his state of consciousness seemed to have expanded even more and he was constantly aware of his true identity as the Infinite Self while outwardly using his mind and body like any other person. Ramana himself called this ‘Sahaja Samadhi’ the natural, uninterrupted Samadhi that is in no way hindered by activities of mind and body.
The Final Days
After having suffered from a cancerous growth on his left arm for over a year, Ramana Maharshi died on the evening of April 14th, 1950. It is said that exactly at that moment, a bright light (described by some as a shooting star) was seen rising into the sky. To his distraught disciples, who had voiced concern about losing him before, he had simply replied: “I am not going anywhere, where can I go? I shall be there always.”
The Legacy of Ramana Maharshi
Ramana Maharshi is generally seen as a major exponent of the path of Jnana-Yoga (Yoga of Self-Knowledge) and Advaita Vedanta (Advaita: “not-two” or Non-Duality; Vedanta: ultimate knowledge). With time, spiritual searchers from the West made Ramana Maharshi known all over the world. The influence of his life and teachings continue as there is a considerable spiritual community who follow Ramana’s emphasis on Non-Duality and the Practice of Self-Inquiry (Atma-Vichara) as the direct path for self-realization.
Literature:
Ramana Maharshi and the Path of Self Knowledge. By Arthur Osborne
Ramana Maharshi: His Life. By Gabriele Ebert
Be as You Are. The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi. By David Godman (Editor)
The Collected Works of Sri Ramana Maharshi. Sri Ramanasramam
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