Ego dth. SJ

very common to see Sages roaming like deluded madmen in the streets of India.

We often see them in rags, going about, unconcerned with everything around.

Even Ramana Maharishi was one of those before he somehow decided to reveal himself to public.

Even then, he alone knows how much of himself he actually revealed to the world.

Ramakrishna Paramahamsa too was understood by many as a deluded mad man. Even his greatest disciple Swami Vivekananda suspected him many times to be deluded with his many visions, of course before surrendering totally.

Unless one realises the ‘I-free’ source, or at least gains a glimpse, a conviction is impossible. The only other option is to exude faith on others’ statements.

Again, an unquestionable faith which is not a blind fanaticism is a great Grace, and does not come by that often.

A Mastan Swami’s faith on Ramana Maharishi, or a Swami Adbuthananda’s faith on Ramakrishna Paramahamsa is unparalleled even among their own other disciples.

Swami Vivekananda would not accept anything without evidence or experience. Many of Ramana Maharishi’s disciples were scientists and scholars who could not be convinced by mere faith.

In this backdrop,

If you are concerned about being deluded, you will withhold your sense of ‘I’ that is scared of getting deluded, and there is no way to realise the ‘I-free’ while you so fearfully hold the ‘I’ to your bosom.

That’s the direct and unpleasant answer!

Going further…

Keep questioning your ‘I’, and keep negating using the same ‘I’.

Gradually, you will gain intellectual clarity- I am not the body, I am not the thoughts, I am not my possessions, wife and children are not me, assets and wealth are not me, and so on…. until you realise your ‘I’ to be a functional phantom. This is easy and quick for a rational ‘I’.

You will now have useful convictions on ‘I’, and can use this to negate gripping thoughts, ‘rat-race convictions’ and ‘relationship entanglements’,.

As the ‘I’ loosens, you will have glimpses of the emptiness and simultaneously gain a great faith on the words of the Sages, because now you know both intellectually and experientially that ‘I’ is not there.

In this way, use your ‘I’ to rationally explore your ‘I’ without preconceived notions, and you will be there without getting deluded.