I had many panic attacks in 2013 due to adrenal exhaustion. The easiest way to describe it is the total, overwhelming fear of imminent death. If you've never had a panic attack, it is a powerful, visceral experience. Today a friend posted some of these types of statements and, in the resulting discussion, Ramana was quoted and later in the conversation I wrote, "so many beliefs and philosophies are just the fear of death in action." Then I remembered Ramana's "awakening" story and it dawned on me that his entire philosophy was born in the fear of a panic attack!
"I was never born and I will never die." "I am infinite, timeless awareness." "I am the Truth beyond all appearances." "I am the unchanging reality." When I was really taken with these ideas, I would tell them to my wife and she'd point out that they sound like the insane ramblings of a complete megalomaniac. I felt, as many do who come in contact with the concepts of Advaita Vedanta, that I had reached "the end of the road" and that I had finally encountered "absolute knowledge." One hallmark of the form is extremely grandiose statements expressed with total authority. Now I wonder if the fascination with "transcendence" is really just hopeful thinking and wish fulfillment. Some might even call it an "enlightenment" experience! Many people came to me to talk about these things when I was speaking about them with certainty. I was also once very good at explaining these beliefs to others and could often cause them to have an "aha" moment and corresponding dopamine rush. I find it impossible to believe any of these absolutist statements anymore so, when I hear my friends discussing them, I recognize the same religious fervor I once held for these ideas. Then I realized that I had just internalized another conceptual system by accepting the tenets of non-duality. I was once a believer in these concepts but part of my personal experience was a deep, spontaneous questioning of all of the things I accepted as truth. This is the same idea as the ancient Hindu concept of Brahman - the singular, unchanging, timeless reality. The core of his philosophy is that we are an absolute, transcendental Self (capitol "S") that is synonymous with pure awareness. A thriving tourist trade has sprung up around Ramana's ashram in Thiruvannammalai, India and pictures and quotes of his flood social media. From all accounts, he was a really nice guy and that probably makes him more of a lightning rod for worship than many modern gurus who have been caught taking part in one or more criminal behaviors. He passed away in 1950.Īmong many modern spiritual folks, it seems that Ramana is held in even higher esteem than the iconic and ever-popular Jesus Christ or Gautama Buddha. That means I am deathless Spirit."Īfter this transformative experience, Ramana maintained silence for many years before eventually being recognized as a guru and having an ashram built up around him. The body dies but the Spirit that transcends it cannot be touched by death.
Ramana nanda maharshi full#
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. It will be carried stiff to the burning ground and there burnt and reduced to ashes. "Well then," I said to myself, "this body is dead. I held my breath and kept my lips tightly closed so that no sound could escape, so that neither the word "I" nor any other word could be uttered. I lay with my limbs stretched out stiff as though rigor mortis had set in and imitated a corpse so as to give greater reality to the inquiry. 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 at once I dramatized the occurrence of death. I just felt "I am going to die" and began thinking what to do about it. There was nothing in my state of health to account for it, and I did not try to account for it or find out whether there was any reason for the fear. ".a sudden violent fear of death overtook me. For those who have been living in a hermit's cave for the last several decades, Ramana had a panic attack when he was 16 years old, described here in his own words: Who is THE definitive poster boy of modern Advaita Vedanta (Non-Duality), beloved by traditionalists and progressives alike? Without a doubt it would have to be Ramana Maharshi.
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