Insights from Indian Sages
Sri Ramakrishna and Sri Ramana Maharshi, two renowned Indian sages from the 19th and 20th centuries, respectively, gained profound insights through deep contemplation of their own mortality.
Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa (1836 – 1886)
Sri Ramakrishna, originally named Gadadhar, was born in Kamarpukur, India, in 1836. From a young age, he displayed an inclination towards spirituality, often entering deep spiritual moods triggered by natural beauty, devotional music, or religious imagery. A pivotal moment in his early life occurred when he was around six or seven years old, shortly after the death of his father, which had already deepened his introspective nature.
During a period of solitary reflection, Ramakrishna experienced a vivid inner vision of his own death. This was not a morbid fantasy but a spontaneous and overwhelming perception:
- He felt himself leaving his body.
- He saw the world receding, as if crossing a threshold.
- He perceived a vast, luminous presence—an infinite consciousness—into which he seemed to merge.
This experience was so powerful that it left him physically still and mentally absorbed for a long time. Villagers who found him in these states often thought he had fainted, but he later described these episodes as moments of profound spiritual clarity.
For Ramakrishna, this early vision of death was not frightening. Instead, it revealed several truths that shaped his entire spiritual life:
The Body is Not the Self
He realized that consciousness persists beyond physical form. This insight, typically the result of long spiritual practice, came to him intuitively and directly.
Death is Not an End but a Transition
The vision dissolved any fear of death. He saw it as a passage into a greater reality, not an annihilation. This fearlessness became a hallmark of his later teachings.
The Divine is the Ultimate Ground of Existence
The luminous presence he felt himself merging into became, for him, the experiential proof of the Divine as the true Self. This was not a philosophical conclusion but a lived experience.
Spiritual Truth is Accessible Through Direct Experience
This early event convinced him that the deepest truths are not learned from books or rituals but through inner realization. It set the tone for his lifelong emphasis on anubhava—direct spiritual experience.
This childhood vision significantly influenced Sri Ramakrishna’s spiritual journey:
- It contributed to his natural detachment from worldly concerns.
- It prepared him for the intense mystical states he would later enter during his worship of Kali at Dakshineswar.
- It gave him an unshakeable conviction that the Divine is real, immediate, and accessible.
- It allowed him to speak about death with serenity and compassion, reassuring disciples that the soul is immortal.
As a boy, Ramakrishna’s vision of his own death was not a brush with mortality but an early glimpse into immortality. It awakened in him a direct awareness of the Divine and set the foundation for the spiritual genius he would later become.
Reference: Swami Saradananda’s Sri Ramakrishna the Great Master (1909)
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Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi (1879-1950)
In July 1896, a transformative event occurred in the life of sixteen-year-old Ramana, then known as Venkataraman. While alone in a room, he was suddenly overwhelmed by an intense fear of death. Despite being neither ill nor in any immediate danger, he was seized by a powerful conviction that he was about to die. Instead of succumbing to panic or seeking help, he embarked on an extraordinary journey of self-inquiry.
Ramana lay down on the floor, stiffening his body like a corpse, and held his breath to simulate death as realistically as possible. With fierce concentration, he turned his attention inward and posed a profound question to himself: "Now death has come. What does it mean? What is it that is dying?"
Through deep introspection, he realized with stunning clarity that while the body might perish, there existed within him a sense of "I" or pure awareness that remained untouched by the body's fate. This consciousness, which observed the body, was deathless, eternal, and fundamentally separate from the physical form. In that moment, the question "Who am I?" was answered not through intellectual reasoning but through direct experience. He recognized his true nature as the pure Self or Ātman, transcending all temporary forms.
This realization was not merely a philosophical insight but a complete transformation of identity. The fear of death vanished permanently, replaced by an unshakeable peace and knowledge of his immortal nature.
Within weeks of this profound experience, Ramana lost all interest in his former life—studies, family, friends—everything seemed meaningless compared to the bliss of abiding in Self-awareness. Approximately six weeks later, he left home without informing anyone and journeyed to the sacred mountain Arunachala in Tiruvannamalai. There, he spent the rest of his life as the sage Sri Ramana Maharshi, teaching others through his example and the practice of self-inquiry: "Who am I?"
This singular experience of investigating death became the cornerstone of his teachings, emphasizing that liberation comes through questioning the nature of the self and discovering the unchanging awareness that witnesses all experience.
Reference: B. V. Narasimha Swami’s Self-Realization (1931)
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