Ramana Maharshi also said,
“That which you take to be as your normal state is on the contrary, an abnormal state. Do you have to search for a long time before finding this ‘I’ which is none other than yourself?
This is what I mean when we declare that no spiritual discipline (sadhana) is necessary in order to realise the Self.
All one asks of you is to abstain from doing anything whatever of a disciplinary nature. That you remain calm. And finally that you be That, which you really are.
You have only to free yourself from the hypnotic spell, in which your abnormal state holds you.”
~ Wei Wu Wei
Question: Acharya Ji, Pranaam! The Maharishi is apparently saying that attaining the normal state is easy. You too often say that it is easy. But it is also apparent that I am carrying a thousands of years of old evolutionary baggage, apart from accumulations in this life.
If I have to face and examine all that is in that baggage, and again and again, how it is going to be easy? Is it said to be easy only in a relative sense? What am I missing here?
Acharya Prashant Ji: You aren’t missing anything here.
It’s easy, just pay the price.
Don’t pay the price, it is impossibly difficult.
Pay the price, it’s very easy.
And you are right, ease is relative. Relative to what? Not relative to others. It is relative to your own honesty, it is relative to your own burning desire to be free. If that desire is there, it is easy. If it is not there, it is not easy.
Rather impossible.
See what Maharishi is saying. Maharishi is saying, “You do not require any cumbersome Sadhana (spiritual discipline). All you require is a few small things. And what are those few small things he is listing?
“Abstain from doing anything whatever.” So easy.
“Remain calm.” Very easy.
“Be That which you really are.” Obvious.
“Free yourself from the hypnotic spell in which you are abnormal state holds you.” See how easy it is.
Ramana Maharishi finds it easy because he paid the price.
If you are not prepared to pay the price, it will be very difficult.
You go to particular shop, you make a transaction of rupees two hundred. How much time does it take to swipe the card? Give me some number.
Questioner: Thirty seconds.
Acharya Prashant Ji: You make a transaction of two lacs, how much time does it take to swipe the card?
Questioner: Thirty seconds.
Acharya Prashant Ji: It is easy. You just have to be prepared to pay the price. It is easy. Or does it take two years to swipe the card if you are making a huge transaction?
Even if you make a petty transaction, it still takes only thirty seconds to swipe the card. You make a tremendous transaction, it happens in the same time. You just have to have the will. If the will is there, it is easy. Thirty seconds flat. Game over!
Is the will there?
So it is not related to Ramana Maharishi, Subraneel (the questioner) . It is related to you. Do you have the will? If you have the will, then it is very easy. It is so easy, that Ramana Maharishi says, “No Sadhana is needed.” Of course he is joking.
There is no Saint who has not loved jokes. It would be a bit offensive to a few people, but in a lighter vein you can call all the religious Scriptures as – ‘the greatest joke-books ever written’.
He is saying, “No Sadhana is needed, just come out of the hypnotic spell. No Sadhana is needed, just keep calm. No Sadhana is needed, just don’t do anything whatsoever.”
“I don’t want anything from you, just bring me the moon.”
“From you, nothing at all. Just bring the best foods on the planet.”
That’s how he is talking. I can see him smiling.
Why does he say, “No Sadhana is needed”? Because the moment we become a sadhak (the seeker), Sadhana becomes our identity. We take refuge in Sadhana . We say, “Now that we are engaged in Sadhana , we are already doing what we are supposed to do.”
No, you are not supposed to be a sadhak (seeker) for long. You are supposed to hit the sadhya (the sought). You are supposed to reach the destination very early, you are supposed to be at the destination in very little time. You are supposed to be at the destination right now.
And if you take Sadhana as your identity, then Sadhana will continue and the Sadhya will remain distant.
So Ramana Maharishi is telling you to hurry up. He is saying, “Just do this, just do this, just do this. Game over.” And what he calling as ‘easy’ is indeed easy, if you are prepared to swipe the card.
It won’t take too long, I tell you.
