500 years before Christ, the Greek philosopher Socrates already spoke about the importance of self-knowledge when preaching “know thyself”. Some time later, more precisely at the beginning of the XNUMXth century, one of the great Indian gurus of the last hundred years would make this principle the basis of a new religion that sought "I real". Sri Raman Maharshi became known for his life in holiness, fullness and for transmitting this and other precepts, as well as a powerful transformative energy to his visitors.
Ramana Maharshi was born Venkateshwara on December 30, 1879, in a village called Tiruccili, located in southern India. A member of a middle-class family and the Tamil Brahmin caste, the boy, then 12 years old, went to live with his uncle in Madurai, where he attended an American school, Mission High School.
At that time he lived life like any teenager in his neighborhood, played sports and played with his friends normally. That was until he was 16, when he heard someone mention Arunachala, name of a sacred mountain associated with the god Shiva. Although he didn't know the meaning of that word, he was curious to go to the place. At about the same time, he read a copy of Sekkilar's Periyapuranam, a book describing the lives of Shaivite saints, and was fascinated by the work.
After these signs of fate, he was at home and was suddenly taken by the feeling that he was about to die. He lay down on the floor, stiffened, and held his breath. “My body is dead now”, said Venkateshwara to himself, "but I'm still alive". In a spiritual stream of consciousness he realized that he was no longer the same. At that moment he was starting to become Ramana Maharshi.
In spiritual terminology, he had “realized the self”, or “achieved Enlightenment/Liberation”, which normally only happens after years of intense spiritual practice (sadhana). That is, a young Sage appeared spontaneously, without any previous practice or desire.
Six weeks later, he fled to the holy hill of Arunachala, where he would remain for the rest of his life. Moved by an inner call, he dropped everything he had and for several years stopped talking, spending hours a day in "samadhi", a close attunement to spirit and the highest state that can be achieved through prolonged and deep meditation. Later, when he began to speak again, people began to ask him questions and he soon acquired the status of a sage.
In 1907, when he was 28 years old, one of his first followers named him Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi, title given to great enlightened masters. “Sri” is a prefix of respect; “Ramana” is a contraction of his given name; and “Maharshi” means “Great Sage”. He became world famous and an “ashram”, a kind of shrine, was built around the sage.
Sadly, in 1950, at the age of 70, Sri Ramana Maharshi passed away from cancer. But its precepts are alive to this day. One of his main teachings is the constant questioning “who am I”, which must always be done to reach truth, peace and bliss.
However, according to Sri Ramana Maharshi himself, his most important teaching was transmitted without uttering a word or sound, when he emanated a silent force capable of transmitting peace. It was enough to tune into the presence of the master to feel the direct experience of the state in which the guru was immersed. This powerful energy has been described by thousands of people and portrayed in articles and books. one of them is the The Power of the Presence (The power of presence, in its translation) written by David Godman, an American writer turned disciple.
Even endowed with supernatural power, the master Ramana Maharshi treated his visitors equally, regardless of social class, race, sex and age, and he did not like to be considered a superior being.
His possessions were only the clothes on his back, a bowl of water and his cane, but his inner wealth was incalculable. It was distributed to thousands of people whose lives were transformed by its words and even the silence that came from their powerful inner “I”.
Text written by Diego Rennan from the Eu Sem Fronteiras Team
