Hridaya Kshetram

‘What Is’: That Alone is the Truth

18 September 2025

Question: Amma, one part of me says Realisation is possible anywhere, even in a big city. Another says being in a sacred place or near a Master is more effective, as sages have shown. I also fear that starting a family may hinder Realisation.
AMMA: Both are true. The Self is always present, wherever you are. But sometimes destiny places you in satsang, in Arunachala, or with a Master. Let life itself decide. A pure intention is enough; such things happen by themselves.

Question: Amma, is existence an illusion? After each kalpa, does only existence remain?
AMMA: Existence — what existence do you mean? If this existence is merely manifestation, then it is not real; the pure existence is real.
Yes — not just every kalpa; every time only that remains. In the scriptures there is a phrase, 'neither existence nor non-existence.' What does that mean? Bhagavan mostly used the word, ulladu, what is.
We often say 'absolute,' 'nothing,' 'emptiness,' but Bhagavan always pointed to 'what is' — that alone is the truth. For Ramana Maharshi, 'what is' alone existed; there was nothing else to be emptied. Do you see?
Emptiness is a term for the mind; what he pointed to is fullness, poornam. His words were always about pure existence. What exists is the Atma. All other things have no true existence — that’s why he said, Ulladu Naapadu.
So 'what is' alone is the truth, the Self.
Think also of the word hridayam — everything has a heart; it is the heart of everything. It is in that pure heart. Go into that cave of the heart — deep in the sense that the mind subsides into the heart. There nothing is seen, yet it is full. As he said, that 'nothingness' is so beautiful — it is not emptiness; it is complete.
If you go within, you will close your eyes; you will not be able to speak — the questioner will disappear. And what is, simply is — without any question, without any answer, without time, without space, without experience, without experiencer — neither existence nor non-existence in the relative sense. All our japa, tapas, Realisation, bondage — everything becomes play.
Self-realisation has two aspects. First is abidance — how do you know yourself? Simply by abiding as you are. The second is surrender: if you sense another self within, surrender it — surrender all fear of death to the fearless One, to the feet of the Self. That one will not have fear of death anymore; they have already attained eternity, the immortal nature of the Self. Will such fear return? No.
Because of this question on existence, I had to come to Ulladu Naapadu.