2-13-98 RAMANA MAHARISHI, PAPAJI, GANGAJI AND THE NO-PATH PHENOMENON

Gangaji is a popular western spiritual teacher whose own teacher was Papaji, author of "Wake Up and Roar", a popular book on the no-path approach to enlightenment. He, in turn, was a disciple of Ramana Maharishi, esteemed by most everyone as one of the greatest Vedic sages of our time. Most people accept at face value Gangaji's and Papaji's claim that their teaching comes from the tradition established by Ramana Maharishi, but let us compare the two teachings to see whether this is in fact the case.

When a student would approach Ramana Maharishi for guidance, he would first emphasize the fact that the student is actually pure consciousness and not the body-mind complex. He would seek to show the individual that anything he is identified with cannot be his true Self. The great Vedic saying of: "I am That"; "Thou art That" and "All This is That" would be expounded not in some theoretical fashion, but from Ramana's own lively and rich spiritual experience. This approach is sometimes called the short-path or no-path technique, because it emphasizes his real, unbounded nature and not the illusory self which seeks perpetuation through various forms of spiritual seeking.

If the student found it difficult to grasp this message, Ramana would tell him to concentrate in a contemplative or meditative way. on the question: "Who am I?" This is a classic technique of Gyana Yoga. In other words, Ramana would bring the student from the highest level teaching, the path beyond yoga, the path beyond any sense of doership, to an intermediate teaching, the path of yoga, where doership, agency and effort are deemed useful to the seeker. Although the "Who am I?" technique was central to his intermediate teaching, Ramana also recommended other traditional yogic practices when appropriate.

If the seeker couldn't grasp the advanced or intermediate teachings, Ramana would give him some moral or ethical prescription to follow. He would bring him to the most elementary, but indispensable level, the path of religion.

In this way Ramana Maharishi sought to meet each student at his or her own level. This same strategy has been followed by the Buddhists for centuries. In fact, it probably exists in every spiritual tradition if you look hard enough.

Were there any weaknesses in his approach? Paul Brunton, an early student of Ramana Maharishi, and later a sage in his own right, had reservations about the suitability of Ramana's teaching for the typical westerner-- at least the teaching as interpreted by Ramana's more secular disciples who had unrealistic assumptions and expectations about Ramana's advanced level teaching and who placed undue emphasis on it.

The real problem arose with the teaching of Papaji and then Gangaji. Here there truly is an overemphasis on the advanced no-path teaching. However, to quote Da Avabhasa: "To have no method, no Spiritual Master, no practice, no meditation and no discipline has become a popular approach to Realization, and it is clearly ridiculous. Yet is reinforced by the universal and easy availability of esoteric literature, the development of university scholarship in traditions other than the Judeo-Christian, and the development of realistic and idealistic movements in the world including psychiatry and the conventional psychologies, scientism and materialism in general."

Nor does it stop with Papaji and Gangaji. There are now a growing number of their disciples who have mistaken a certain form of intellectual enlightenment for the real thing, and who are now, themselves, acting as spiritual teachers and asking spiritual seekers to join them for satsang, mimicking in satsang the teachings and even the mannerisms of either Papaji, Gangaji or both.

These comments are not likely to be well received, especially since Gangaji is an extremely charismatic teacher with a growing following. After all, what other standard does a westerner have these days for judging the worth of a spiritual teacher but their charisma and the size of their following? They may never admit that these are their standards, but more often than not, this is the case.

In defense of Gangaji, she may offer her students more than the classic Vedic "mahavakyas", such as "Thou art That", in her private retreats, but it is equally clear that she is not promoting spiritual science in the tradition of The Art of Multi-Dimensional Living. There is nothing wrong with this, but prospective students should be aware that there are three levels of spiritual teaching, eight archetypal paths to God in practicing the intermediate levels of Yoga and a technology available to ascertain which path is most suitable for each individual. Spiritual instructions which treat all people alike rarely awaken spiritual genius.