Ramana Maharshi's Death Experience

[Alexander]

I am wondering what we should make of Sri Ramana Maharshi's death experience, which he had at age 16:

It was in 1896, about 6 weeks before I left Madurai for good (to go to Tiruvannamalai) that this great change in my life took place. I was sitting alone in a room on the first floor of my uncle's house. 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. There was nothing in my state of health to account for it nor was there any urge in me to find out whether there was any account for the fear. I just felt I was going to die and began thinking what to do about it. It did not occur to me to consult a doctor or any elders or friends. I felt 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 at once I dramatised the occurrence of death. I lay with my limbs stretched out still as though rigor mortis has set in, and imitated a corpse so as to give greater reality to the enquiry. I held my breath and kept my lips tightly closed so that no sound could escape, and that neither the word "I" nor any 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 burn and be reduced to ashes. But with the death of the 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 "I" within me, apart from it. So I am the Spirit transcending the body. The body dies but the spirit transcending it cannot be touched by death. That means I am the deathless Spirit." All this was not dull thought; it flashed through me vividly as living truths which I perceived directly almost without thought process. "I" was something real, the only real thing about my present state, and all the conscious activity connected with the body was centered on that "I". From that moment onwards, the "I" or Self focused attention on itself by a powerful fascination. Fear of death vanished once and for all. The ego was lost in the flood of Self-awareness. Absorption continued in the Self unbroken from that time. Other thoughts might come and go like the various notes of music, but the "I" continued like the fundamental sruti note which underlies and blends with all other notes.

The indication that he lost lost his sense of an individuated "I" makes me want to say that this was the culminating experience of the "night of spirit," as St. John of the Cross calls it. This would also explain Sri Ramana's statement that he was from then on in a state of samadhi.

But, if so, this means that the Maharshi attained Self-realization at the age of 16. This would be strange for us at the GWV, since in our experience samadhi is usually established over a long period of time, usually through a painful, gradual process.

This also leaves the question of the "night of sense," which would have had to have been skipped over by the Maharshi, or somehow gone through before the age of 16.

So then perhaps we should read this as a proto-"night of sense," the "awakening experience" which often initiates the religious quests of the mystics of history. This would explain the confirmation to the Maharshi at this age that he was not his individuated "I," even if at that age he was not yet established in samadhi. What do you think?

[Alexander]

Bumping the post as I'm interested what Jhananda would think

[Jhanananda]

...Absorption continued in the Self unbroken from that time. Other thoughts might come and go like the various notes of music, but the "I" continued like the fundamental sruti note which underlies and blends with all other notes.

The indication that he lost his sense of an individuated "I" makes me want to say that this was the culminating experience of the "night of spirit," as St. John of the Cross calls it. This would also explain Sri Ramana's statement that he was from then on in a state of samadhi.

But, if so, this means that the Maharshi attained Self-realization at the age of 16. This would be strange for us at the GWV, since in our experience samadhi is usually established over a long period of time, usually through a painful, gradual process.

This also leaves the question of the "night of sense," which would have had to have been skipped over by the Maharshi, or somehow gone through before the age of 16.

So then perhaps we should read this as a proto-"night of sense," the "awakening experience" which often initiates the religious quests of the mystics of history. This would explain the confirmation to the Maharshi at this age that he was not his individuated "I," even if at that age he was not yet established in samadhi. What do you think?

While the Maharshi was one of my inspiration, I cannot point to anything that clearly defines him as a contemplative, nor a mystic, other than his non-dualism; and non-dualism is simply not enough.  I keep going back to:

"For each tree is known by its fruit.“

The fruit referred to in this quote is none other than the fruit of the contemplative life.  What fruit did Maharshi exhibit?  Non-dualism. 

The 8 stages of samadhi are relative degrees of non-dualism.  What level of the religious experience (samadhi) did Maharshi exhibit?  I am not sure.  Maybe the 1st or second stage. 

Sixteen years old is a bit young for religious experiences; however, Michael Hawkins and I had early religious experience.  Nonetheless, we both had a long journey ahead of us, before either of us could say we were in samadhi all of the time.  So, I would not make too much of Ramana Maharshi, because their are better mystics to read, such as: Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Rumi, Kabir, Patanjali, and Sidhartha Gautama.  But, never trust a translation.

[Alexander]

While the Maharshi was one of my inspiration, I cannot point to anything that clearly defines him as a contemplative, nor a mystic, other than his non-dualism; and non-dualism is simply not enough.

I am a fan of Ramana Maharshi, so I've done a lot of digging about him. And he does indeed meet most of the marks of being a full-on contemplative. But it doesn't come out frequently in his teachings.

But (the out of body experience):

Sri Ramana: One day, some years ago, I was lying down and awake when I distinctly felt my body rise higher and higher. I could see the physical objects below growing smaller and smaller until they disappeared and all around me was a limitless expanse of dazzling light. After some time I felt the body slowly descend and the physical objects below began to appear.

I was so fully aware of this incident that I finally concluded that it must be by such means that Sages using the powers of Siddhis travel over vast distances in a short time and Appear and Disappear in such a mysterious manner. While the body thus descended to the ground it occurred to me that I was at Tiruvottiyur though I had never seen the place before.

And (somewhat evasive, but a confirmation of non-human/animal beings):

Question: Do Vishnu, Siva, etc., exist?

Sri Ramana Maharshi: Individual human souls are not the only beings known.

Question: Do they possess a phenomenal existence, like my body? Or are they fictions like the horn of a hare?

Sri Ramana Maharshi: They do exist.

Question: If so, they must be somewhere. Where are they?

Sri Ramana Maharshi: Persons who have seen them say that they exist somewhere. So we must accept their statement.

Unlike you, though, he doesn't explain his attainment in systematic terms, i.e., vitarka & vicara, or the stages of development which are gone through in samadhi. Which if he did, could help advanced practitioners reach the same level he did. Although maybe the Maharshi never really had any serious students, and so had to teach the people who came to him devotionally?

[Jhanananda]

I am a fan of Ramana Maharshi, so I've done a lot of digging about him. And he does indeed meet most of the marks of being a full-on contemplative. But it doesn't come out frequently in his teachings.

But (the out of body experience):

Sri Ramana: One day, some years ago, I was lying down and awake when I distinctly felt my body rise higher and higher. I could see the physical objects below growing smaller and smaller until they disappeared and all around me was a limitless expanse of dazzling light. After some time I felt the body slowly descend and the physical objects below began to appear.

I was so fully aware of this incident that I finally concluded that it must be by such means that Sages using the powers of Siddhis travel over vast distances in a short time and Appear and Disappear in such a mysterious manner. While the body thus descended to the ground it occurred to me that I was at Tiruvottiyur though I had never seen the place before.

Yes, I agree that this is a classic OOBE, but I can see that others would believe it is evidence of levitation.

And (somewhat evasive, but a confirmation of non-human/animal beings):

Question: Do Vishnu, Siva, etc., exist?

Sri Ramana Maharshi: Individual human souls are not the only beings known.

Question: Do they possess a phenomenal existence, like my body? Or are they fictions like the horn of a hare?

Sri Ramana Maharshi: They do exist.

Question: If so, they must be somewhere. Where are they?

Sri Ramana Maharshi: Persons who have seen them say that they exist somewhere. So we must accept their statement.

Unlike you, though, he doesn't explain his attainment in systematic terms, i.e., vitarka & vicara, or the stages of development which are gone through in samadhi. Which if he did, could help advanced practitioners reach the same level he did. Although maybe the Maharshi never really had any serious students, and so had to teach the people who came to him devotionally?

Well, I see this is a confirmation of the immaterial domains where any rigorous-self aware contemplative can spend time studying from any past mystic.  I have done this many times.  I expect it will continue.

I agree that it is unlikely that Maharshi ever had any serious students, because too few are serious contemplatives; however, the case histories here show that a very small percentage of people are serious contemplatives, such as yourself, Sam, Michael, and others here.

I did want to add to yesterday's post on Maharshi that non-dualism is essentially a description of what occurs in the second stage of the religious experience, where the mind becomes still.  To maintain the second stage of the religious experience we must learn to live in the moment, and a characteristic of non-dual dialog is living in the moment.  Thus, I believe it is reasonable that at least some of the Advaita teachers, such as Maharshi, most probably resided in the second stage of the religious experience on a consistent basis.

[Alexander]

an interesting follow up:

In 1912, when he was thirty-two, he went through a lesser-known second death experience which seemed to mark his complete return to normal outward activity. He remarked numerous times that the current of the self he had realized at aged sixteen had never changed, but while this new experience may not have upstaged his previous realization it did serve to reintegrate him with his bodily vehicle and with life. This is how he described what happened. While walking back from Virupaksha Cave one day he was suddenly overcome with physical weakness. He lay down and the world disappeared as if a bright white curtain was drawn across his vision. His breathing and circulation stopped and his body turned a livid blue. For fifteen minutes he lay as if in a state of rigor mortis, although still aware of the Self within. The current of awareness that was his daily experience persisted even with the shutdown of all bodily systems. Then suddenly, he explained, he felt a rush from the Heart on the right to the left side of his chest and the re-establishment of life in the body. After this he was more at ease in everyday circumstances, and began to increasingly associate with those seekers who gathered around him.

This would mean the Maharshi had two 'dark night' episodes, which we can parallel with the two dark night crises explained by St John of the Cross:

The poem is divided into two books that reflect the two phases of the dark night. The first is a purification of the senses. The second and more intense of the two stages is that of the purification of the spirit, which is the less common of the two. Dark Night of the Soul further describes the ten steps on the ladder of mystical love, previously described by Saint Thomas Aquinas and in part by Aristotle. The text was written in 1578 or 1579, while John of the Cross was imprisoned by his Carmelite brothers, who opposed his reformations to the Order.