dbailey11
Bluelighter
Ramana Maharshi was about as enlightened as any one who ever lived ad breathed on this Earth, and he didn't blink out of physical existence after his awakening. But he was so detached from physical existence that he might as well have just disappeared altogether:
Ramana was born in 1879 in Tiruchuli, Tamil Nadu (South India). He was named Venkataraman Ayyar; this was later abbreviated to Ramana. When he was 12, his father died and he moved to his uncle’s house in Madurai. He attended a Christian mission school, a fact that is important because he later drew parallels between Hindu and Christian thought. For example, he said that the whole of Vedanta is contained in the two Biblical statements “I am that I AM” and “Be still and know that I am God.”
As a young boy, Ramana had a profound experience as a result of an enactment of death by himself. He had a sudden, violent fear of death. He lay down and imitated a corpse stretched out stiff, held his breath and kept his lips tightly closed so that no sound could escape. He realized that, even if his body died, his self would survive. He felt that he became absorbed in this self or ‘I’; this feeling never left him after that. It is believed that Ramana was fully enlightened in this experience, without instruction from any guru or teacher.
Ramana said that his enlightenment was not based on Scripture or on the study of other works. At the time of his enlightenment at his home in Madurai, he had not even heard of ‘Brahman’ or ‘samsara’. The only books he had read were the Bible, the Periapuranam [stories of 63 Tamil saints] and bits of the Tayumanavar [hymns of the saint Tayumanavar (1706 - 1744). After his enlightenment, he read other books, and found that they “were analysing and naming what I had felt intuitively without analysis or name.” It is said that Ramana’s experience was therefore not due to these books, but that it was an immediate experience.And it is also claimed that he had not engaged in any yoga or other spiritual disciplines prior to his enlightenment.
A few months after this experience, Ramana secretly left his home and travelled alone to the temple town of Tiruvannamalai, because a relative had told him about the sacred mountain Arunachala which is located there.
For about six months Ramana lived in the temple in a trance, maintaining almost complete silence and seemingly oblivious to his physical discomfort. After that, he lived in the temple grounds, other nearby shrines, and in a nearby orchard. He continued to ignore his physical body, and had to be looked after by others.
Ramana was born in 1879 in Tiruchuli, Tamil Nadu (South India). He was named Venkataraman Ayyar; this was later abbreviated to Ramana. When he was 12, his father died and he moved to his uncle’s house in Madurai. He attended a Christian mission school, a fact that is important because he later drew parallels between Hindu and Christian thought. For example, he said that the whole of Vedanta is contained in the two Biblical statements “I am that I AM” and “Be still and know that I am God.”
As a young boy, Ramana had a profound experience as a result of an enactment of death by himself. He had a sudden, violent fear of death. He lay down and imitated a corpse stretched out stiff, held his breath and kept his lips tightly closed so that no sound could escape. He realized that, even if his body died, his self would survive. He felt that he became absorbed in this self or ‘I’; this feeling never left him after that. It is believed that Ramana was fully enlightened in this experience, without instruction from any guru or teacher.
Ramana said that his enlightenment was not based on Scripture or on the study of other works. At the time of his enlightenment at his home in Madurai, he had not even heard of ‘Brahman’ or ‘samsara’. The only books he had read were the Bible, the Periapuranam [stories of 63 Tamil saints] and bits of the Tayumanavar [hymns of the saint Tayumanavar (1706 - 1744). After his enlightenment, he read other books, and found that they “were analysing and naming what I had felt intuitively without analysis or name.” It is said that Ramana’s experience was therefore not due to these books, but that it was an immediate experience.And it is also claimed that he had not engaged in any yoga or other spiritual disciplines prior to his enlightenment.
A few months after this experience, Ramana secretly left his home and travelled alone to the temple town of Tiruvannamalai, because a relative had told him about the sacred mountain Arunachala which is located there.
For about six months Ramana lived in the temple in a trance, maintaining almost complete silence and seemingly oblivious to his physical discomfort. After that, he lived in the temple grounds, other nearby shrines, and in a nearby orchard. He continued to ignore his physical body, and had to be looked after by others.
