You Are Not Book.indb - Stephen H. Wolinsky Ph. D.

CHApTER 5
The structural
differential diagram
The Organization of the Nervous System
and the Appearance of “I”
“Go Back The Way You Came”
—Ramana Maharishi
The story of the great Sage Ramana Maharishi might be
a good place to begin and illustrate the physiological
understanding of YOU ARE NOT.
A student journeyed from Europe to Ramana’s Ashram in the
1940s. Suffering from the pain of not knowing who he was,
he arrived after many months at the feet of this revered sage.
Bowing down and touching his feet he begged Maharishi,
“Show me who I am!” to which Maharishi proclaimed “Go
back the way you came.” Ramana’s disciples were angry at
such a response because they imagined he was treating this
seeker so badly by telling him to go. Maharishi explained,
“No, “I” told him to go back the way he came.” Translated,
trace the “I” thought or “I” back to before it arose. This is
the same as Nisargadatta Maharaj saying to a student, “Prior
to your last thought – stay there.” Below we will try this as
an experiment.
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