How the false sense of “I” exhausts itself, and what it means to live as an instrument of the Divine
The gopuram example given by Sri Ramana is given in talk #63 in Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi. E.g.
Talk 63.
..... The present difficulty is that the man thinks that he is the doer. But
it is a mistake. It is the Higher Power which does everything and
the man is only a tool. If he accepts that position he is free from
troubles; otherwise he courts them. Take for instance, the figure
in a gopuram (temple tower), where it is made to appear to bear
the burden of the tower on its shoulders. Its posture and look are a
picture of great strain while bearing the very heavy burden of the
tower. But think. The tower is built on the earth and it rests on its
foundations. The figure (like Atlas bearing the earth) is a part of the
tower, but is made to look as if it bore the tower. Is it not funny?
So is the man who takes on himself the sense of doing .....
Sri Ramana Maharshi refers to the figure at the base of the temple tower.
The gopuram example given by Sri Ramana is given in talk #63 in Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi. E.g.
Talk 63.
..... The present difficulty is that the man thinks that he is the doer. But
it is a mistake. It is the Higher Power which does everything and
the man is only a tool. If he accepts that position he is free from
troubles; otherwise he courts them. Take for instance, the figure
in a gopuram (temple tower), where it is made to appear to bear
the burden of the tower on its shoulders. Its posture and look are a
picture of great strain while bearing the very heavy burden of the
tower. But think. The tower is built on the earth and it rests on its
foundations. The figure (like Atlas bearing the earth) is a part of the
tower, but is made to look as if it bore the tower. Is it not funny?
So is the man who takes on himself the sense of doing .....
Sri Ramana Maharshi refers to the figure at the base of the temple tower.