The meaning of Liberation

In the teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi, liberation is called Sahaja Samadhi. 
However, people who have experienced Kevala Samadhi are often fooled into thinking they are liberated.

In sahaja, the mind has resolved itself into the Self and has been lost.
Differences and obstructions mentioned above do not therefore exist here. The activities of such a being are like the feeding of a somnolent boy, perceptible to the onlooker (but not to the subject). The driver sleeping on his moving cart is not aware of the motion of the cart, because his mind is sunk in darkness.

Similarly the sahaja jnani (liberated sage) remains unaware of his bodily activities because his mind is dead, having been resolved in the ecstasy of Awareness (Self).

SLEEP :     1.  Mind alive;  2. sunk in oblivion.

KEVALA:  1.  Mind alive;  2. sunk in light 
3. like a bucket with the rope, left lying in the water in a well
4. to be drawn out by the other end of the rope.

SAHAJA:  1.  Mind dead   2. resolved into the Self 
3. like a river discharged into the ocean and its identity lost
4. a river cannot be redirected from the ocean."

From the above talk by Sri Ramana we can see that the liberated sage is not aware of objects, the world, the body, the universe, activity, walking, talking, etc.

However, the onlooker who is still under the illusion of the ego imagines a sage with a body walking, talking, etc.

That is unfortunate because according to Sri Ramana, only the liberated sage can be of genuine help and others are the blind leading the blind.  It is very rare that a human consciousness ever reaches the point where it truly wishes for the end of the ego.

The following is verse 40 of "Reality in 40 verses" by Sri Ramana Maharshi:

'Liberation is the extinction of the ego which inquires
'With form, without form, or with and without form?'"

Verse 40 above is from "The Collected Works of Ramana Maharshi"

Liberation is the extinction of the ego that inquires.
Liberation is the extinction of the ego.
Liberation is the extinction of the ego that speculates about what liberation is or is not.
Liberation is the extinction of the ego that wonders
if the experience it has had is liberation or not.
Liberation is the extinction of the ego that imagines the Self has parts or qualities
or aspects or form.
Liberation is the end of the ego that experiences.
Liberation is the end of experience.
Liberation is the end of the experiencer.

According to the teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi.
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Source: http://uarelove1.tripod.com/SAHAJA.htm
Tags: RamanaMaharshi | Realization