Ramana Maharshi’s profound spiritual awakening through an experiment with death
Ramana Maharishi very graphically described his experiment at the age of sixteen, “I seldom had any sickness and on that day there was nothing wrong with my health, but a sudden, violent fear of death overtook me.... I just felt, ‘I am going to die,’ and began thinking what to do about it. It did not occur to me to consult a doctor or my elders or friends. I felt that I had to solve the problem myself, then and there.
The shock of the fear of death drove my mind inwards and I said to myself mentally, without actually framing the words: ‘Now death has come; what does it mean? What is it that is dying? This body dies.’ And I at once dramatised the occurrence of death. I lay with my limbs stretched out stiff as though rigor mortis had set in and imitated a corpse to give greater reality to the enquiry. I held my breath and kept my lips tightly closed so that no sound could escape, so that neither the word ‘I’ or any other word could be uttered, ‘Well then,’ I said to myself, ‘this body is dead. It will be carried stiff to the burning ground and there burnt and reduced to ashes.
But with the death of this body am I dead? Is the body ‘I’? It is silent and inert but I feel the full force of my personality and even the voice of the ‘I’ within me, apart from it. So I am Spirit transcending the body.
The body dies but the Spirit that transcends it cannot be touched by death. This means I am the deathless Spirit.” During this period of intense introspection, Ramana Maharshi experienced what he described as a spontaneous and profound spiritual awakening. He realised that the true “I” transcends the physical body and the limitations of individual identity. He recognised that the essence of his being was eternal and unaffected by physical birth or death.
This realisation led to a profound shift in consciousness for him. The realised state of inner peace, clarity, and self-realisation remained with him for the rest of his life. Following this awakening, he left his family home and travelled to the sacred mountain of Arunachala in Tiruvannamalai, where he lived in solitude and continued his spiritual practice.
Ramana Maharshi’s experiment with death was a catalyst for his spiritual awakening and the development of his teachings on self-inquiry and non-duality. He shared his insights with seekers from all walks of life, guiding them on the path to self-realisation and liberation from the cycle of birth and death. His teachings continue to inspire spiritual seekers around the world to this day.
Cultural and Religious Perspectives Many cultures have traditions that grant the right to die to those who are mentally prepared for death when it is time. In Jainism, santhara is the practice of giving up food when death is imminent. It is permitted for ascetics and householders. The concepts of karma and reincarnation are two steady pillars of Vedanta.
The belief that our actions in this life determine the circumstances of future lives suggests that exercising the right to die or taking one’s life amounts to interfering with the natural course of life and death and can disrupt the karmic cycle. But even in this system, there are instances of “withdrawing” consciously by giving up food and water.
The practice of prayopavesha is a voluntary fast to attain spiritual liberation before death. Sages and ascetics were known to adopt this practice, to give up their bodies with dignity. The ancient choice of householders to move to the forests was motivated by the need to take the first step towards final liberation from the body. Sanjeevan samadhi is a yogic meditative practice of “remaining absorbed in meditation till the end of the mortal body”. Swami Vivekananda gave up his body in this manner after having decided the appropriate date and time according to the almanac.
Nirvikalpa samadhi is the highest meditative level, when the person attains an elevated level of losing complete body consciousness. In such a meditative state, the choice of physical termination is entirely voluntary. Whether such people stay in that state to give up the body or “bring” themselves down to a world conscious level depends on their desire and ability to “come back”.
Pramahansa Yogananda, another realised monk and yogi, explained that sleep is a partial life-force control, while death is the complete withdrawal of life-force from the body. In Hindu culture, the god of death is called Yama. Ecstasy is “Yama by your own will”. The highly advanced yogi learns to “die” (or leave the body) at will in meditation by consciously stopping breath and heartbeat, after which one can freely return to the physical frame.
Extcerpted from Genome to Om: Evolving Journey of Modern Science to Meta-science, published by BluOne Ink
The belief that our actions in this life determine the circumastances of future lives suggests that taking one's life amounts to interfering with the natural course of life and death