Ramana is the best exemplar of the fruits of his path — joyous living immersed in the bliss, the fullness of consciousness.
Anyone from whom you learn, be it your parents, teachers at school or friends in the life around, is termed a guru. However, one can be guided in the pursuit of truth only by a Sadguru or one who is himself the embodiment of Sat or Truth. He should have direct experience of it and be poised in it always. One can compare the guru to the lamp and the Sadguru to the sun. Ramana is termed Sadguru for he is the sun of knowledge.
Ramana was the name given to him by Ganapati Muni in 1907 when he found him to be constantly revelling in the Self. Ever since he is known by this name all over the world. It also means ‘the sweet one’.
One cannot repay the Sadguru for he has no needs, nothing which can make his cup of happiness full for it is already brimming over. But if you must give some recompense, do tread the path shown with vigilance and persistence so that you too may partake of that beatitude.
A devotee, Amritananda Yogi, wrote on a piece of paper in Malayalam and gave it to Bhagavan, whose written reply is set out below:
A. Yogi: Are you Hari (Vishnu) or Sivaguru (Subrahmanya) or Yativara (Siva) or Vararuchi?
Bhagavan: In the hearts of all beginning with Hari there shines as the pure intellect, the Supreme who is the same as Arunachala Ramana. When the mind, melting with love for him, reaches the heart, wherein he resides as the beloved, the subtle eye of the pure intellect opens and he reveals himself as pure consciousness.
An excerpt from ‘A Practical Guide to Know Yourself - Conversations with Sri Ramana Maharshi’ edited by Sri A.R.Natarajan, Founder President of Ramana Maharshi Centre for Learning, Bangalore, and author of more than 100 books on the life and teachings of the Maharshi that have been published by the Centre. More details about the publications are listed in www.ramanacentre.com.