Sri Ramana Maharshi during
a question answer session stated that realization is only removal of
camouflage.
What comes as a flash disappears as such. That which has a
beginning must also end. Only when the ever present consciousness is realised
will, it be permanent.
Consciousness is indeed always with us. Everyone knows 'I am!'
No one can deny his own being. The man in deep slumber is not aware; while
awake he seems to be aware. But it is the same person. There is no change in
the one who slept and the one who is now awake. In deep sleep he was not aware
of his body ; there was no body- consciousness. In the wakeful state he is
aware of his body ; there is body-consciousness. Therefore the difference lies
in the emergence of body-consciousness and not in any change in the Real
Consciousness.
The body and body-consciousness arise together and sink together.
All this amounts to saying that there are no limitations in deep sleep, whereas
there are limitations in the waking state. These limitations are the bondage;
the feeling 'The body is I' is the error. This false sense of ‘I’ must go. The
real ‘I’ is always there. It is here and now. It never appears anew nor
disappears.
That which is must also persist for ever. That which appears
anew will also be lost. Compare deep sleep and waking. The body appears in one
state but not in the other. Therefore the .body will be lost. The consciousness
was pre-existent and will survive the body. In fact, there is no one who does
not say 'I am.’ The wrong knowledge 'I am the body' is the cause of all the
mischief. This wrong knowledge must go. That is Realisation. Realisation is not
acquisition of anything new nor is it a new faculty. It is only removal of
camouflage.