Ramana Maharshi Self-Enquiry
 

Picture

 
 

The Example

(1) The Lamp 
(2) The door 
(3) The door-step 
(4) The inner wall 
(5) The mirror 
(6) The windows 
(7) The inner chamber 
(8) The middle chamber 
(9) The outer court

The Exemplified

The Self 
Sleep 
Mahat-tattva 
Nescience or the causal body 
The egoity
The five cognitive sense-organs. 
Deep sleep in which the causal body is manifest 
Dream in which the subtle body is manifest 
Waking state in which the gross body is manifest

 
The Self which is the lamp (1) shines of its own accord in the inner chamber, i.e., the causal body (7) that is endowed with nescience as the inner wall (4) and sleep as the door (2); when by the vital principle as conditioned by time, karma, etc., the sleep-door is opened, there occurs a reflection of the Self in the egoity-mirror (5) that is placed next to the door-step — Mahat-tattva; the egoity-mirror thus illumines the middle chamber, i.e., the dream state (8), and, through the windows which are the five cognitive sense-organs (6), the outer court, i.e., the waking state. When, again, by the vital principle as conditioned by time, karma, etc., the sleep-door gets shut, the egoity ceases along with waking and dream, and the Self alone ever shines. The example just given explains how the Self is unmoving, how there is difference between the Self and the egoity and how the three states of experience, the three bodies, etc., appear.