'No,' he (Ramana Maharshi) answered. 'I cannot show you God or enable you to see God because God is not an object that can be seen. God is the subject. He is the seer. Don't concern yourself with objects that can be seen. Find out who the seer is.' He also added, 'You alone are God,' as if to rebuke me for looking for a God who was outside and apart from me.
**
When I appeared before him (again),
the Maharshi asked, 'Where have you been? Where are you living?'
'On the other side of the mountain,' I replied.
'And what were you doing there?' he enquired.
He had given me my cue.
'I was playing with my Krishna,' I said, in a very smug tone of voice.
I was very proud of my achievement and felt superior to the Maharshi because I was absolutely convinced that Krishna had not appeared to him during that period.
'Oh, is that so?' he commented, looking surprised and interested. 'Very good, very nice. Do you see Him now?'
'No, sir, I do not,' I replied. 'I only see Him when I have visions.'
I was still feeling very pleased with myself, feeling that I had been granted these visions, whereas the Maharshi had not.
'So Krishna comes and plays with you and then He disappears,' said the Maharshi. 'What is the use of a God who appears and disappears? If He is a real God, He must be with you all the time.'
The Maharshi's lack of interest in my visionary experiences deflated me a little, but not to the extent that I was willing to listen to his advice. He was telling me to give up my search for an external God and instead find the origin and identity of the one who wanted to see Him. This was too much for me to swallow. A lifetime of devotion to Krishna had left me incapable of conceiving the spiritual quest in any other terms than that of a quest for a personal God
- Papaji
From the biography of H.W.L. Poonja aka Papaji
"Nothing Ever Happened"
by David Godman
http://www.realization.org/page/doc0/doc0096a.htm
Sri Ramana Maharshi's life was an example of simplicity, purity, equality and equanimity, born from an unalterable experience of supreme peace and oneness.
His Advaita teaching of 'Self-enquiry' was understood through silence and countless numbers of devotees and visitors experienced the pure bliss of True Being.
The Maharshi's teaching of 'Self-enquiry' is simplicity itself, requiring no outward formalities, no outer change of life, only a simple change in 'point of view' and a sustained effort on the part of the seeker. The goal is no heaven after death or a faraway ideal, but rather the removal of the ignorance that prevents us from knowing that we are eternally one with our Source, the Supreme Self. It is an experience than can be had now.
On his deathbed the Maharshi told his grieving devotees, "You say I am going away, but where can I go? I am always here. You give too much importance to the body." His promise of a 'continued presence' is daily being experienced by numerous admirers and devotees from around the world, and it is that experience of 'continued presence' that has inspired many to devote themselves to the path of peace and love.
http://ramana-maharshi.org/inform.htm
