‘I’ and You - Ramana Maharshi

An earnest devotee asked Sri Bhagavan about the method to realize the Self. As usual Sri Bhagavan told him to find out who is the ‘I’ in his question. After a few more questions in this strain the devotee asked, "Instead of enquiring ‘Who am I?’, can I put the question to myself ‘Who are you?’ since then, my mind may be fixed on you whom I consider to be God in the form of Guru".

Sri Bhagavan replied, "Whatever form your enquiry may take, you must finally come to the one ‘I’, the Self. All these distinctions made between `I’ and `you’, master and disciple, are merely a sign of one’s ignorance. That `I’ Supreme alone is. To think otherwise is to delude oneself". Thereupon Sri Bhagavan told the following story.

A puranic story of Sage Ribhu and his disciple Nidagha, is particularly instructive.

Although Ribhu taught his disciple the supreme Truth of the One Brahman without a second, Nidagha, in spite of his erudition and understanding, did not get sufficient conviction to adopt and follow the path of Jnana, but settled down in his native town to lead a life devoted to the observance of ceremonial religion.

© "Spiritual Stories" by Joan Greenblatt, published by Sri Ramanasramam, Tiruvannamalai 606 603. Website: ramana-maharshi.org. Reprinted with permission.

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