ABSTRACT
The carrier of mythological and philosophical wisdom in India has been since time immemorial the "holy man"—a Western title which does not quite render the essence and outward appearance of the parallel figure in the East. The Eastern peoples are threatened with a rapid collapse of their spiritual values, and what replaces them cannot always be counted among the best that Western civilization has produced. The life and teaching of Shri Ramana are of significance for India and for the West too. They are more than a document humain: they are a warning message to a humanity which threatens to lose itself in unconsciousness and anarchy. The intrinsically goal-like quality of the self and the urge to realize the goal are, not dependent on the participation of consciousness. The goal of Eastern religious practice is the same as that of Western mysticism: the shifting of the centre of gravity from the ego to the self, from man to God.
