Devotee: How does the name help Realisation?
Ramana Maharishi: The original name is always going on spontaneously without any effort on the part of the individual. That name is aham - ‘I’. But when it becomes manifest it manifests as ahamkara - the ego. The oral repetition of nama leads one to mental repetition which finally resolves itself into the eternal vibration.
Devotee: But these are all mental or physical.
Ramana Maharishi: The mind or the mouth cannot act without the Self. Tukaram, the great Maharashtra Saint, used to remain in samadhi in the day and sing and dance at night with large crowds of people. He always used to utter the name of Sri Rama. Once he was answering calls of nature and also saying “Ram, Ram”. An orthodox priest was shocked at the unholy mention of the sacred name and so reprimanded him and ordered him to be silent when he answered calls of nature. Tukaram said, “All right!” and remained mute. But at once there arose the name of Rama from every pore of Tukaram and the priest was horrified by the din. He then prayed to Tukaramb“Restrictions are only for the common people and not for saints like you.”
Ramana Maharishi: The original name is always going on spontaneously without any effort on the part of the individual. That name is aham - ‘I’. But when it becomes manifest it manifests as ahamkara - the ego. The oral repetition of nama leads one to mental repetition which finally resolves itself into the eternal vibration.
Devotee: But these are all mental or physical.
Ramana Maharishi: The mind or the mouth cannot act without the Self. Tukaram, the great Maharashtra Saint, used to remain in samadhi in the day and sing and dance at night with large crowds of people. He always used to utter the name of Sri Rama. Once he was answering calls of nature and also saying “Ram, Ram”. An orthodox priest was shocked at the unholy mention of the sacred name and so reprimanded him and ordered him to be silent when he answered calls of nature. Tukaram said, “All right!” and remained mute. But at once there arose the name of Rama from every pore of Tukaram and the priest was horrified by the din. He then prayed to Tukaramb“Restrictions are only for the common people and not for saints like you.”
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