About this book The Mysterious Ramana The Birth of a Holy Man Enlightenment: July 17, 1896 Arriving at Arunachala Places of Devotion Death of the Body

slide 4 of 7 “One day I was alone in the first floor of my uncle’s house. I was in my usual state of health. But a sudden and unmistakable fear of death seized me. I felt I was going to die. Why I should have so felt cannot now be explained by anything felt in the body. I did not however trouble myself to discover if the fear was well grounded. I did not care to consult doctors or elders or even friends. I felt I had to solve the problem myself then and there. The actual inquiry and discovery of ‘Who am I?’ was over on the very first day, after a short time. Instinctively I held my breath and began to dive inward with my inquiry into my own nature .… I stretched myself like a corpse, and it seemed to me that my body had actually become rigid— ‘I’ was not dead—‘I’ was on the other hand conscious of being alive, in existence. So the question arose in me, ‘What was this “I”?’ I felt that it was a force or current working, despite the rigidity or activity of the body, though existing in connection with it. It was that current or force or center that constituted my personality, that kept me acting, moving etc. The fear of death dropped off. I was absorbed in the contemplation of that current. So further development or activity was issuing from the new life and not from any fear.” —Ramana, on his Enlightenment