Sri Ramana Maharshi

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi

The mind is only a projection from the Self, appearing in the waking state. In deep sleep, you do not say whose son you are and so on. As soon as you wake up you say you are so and so, and recognise the world and so on. 

The world is only lokah, lokah = lokyate iti lokah (what is perceived is the world). That which is seen is lokah or the world. Which is the eye that sees it? That is the ego which rises and sinks periodically. But you exist always. Therefore That which lies beyond the ego is consciousness - the Self. 

In deep sleep mind is merged and not destroyed. That which merges reappears. It may happen in meditation also. But the mind which is destroyed cannot reappear. The yogi’s aim must be to destroy it and not to sink in laya. In the peace of dhyana, laya ensues but it is not enough. It must be supplemented by other practices for destroying the mind. 

Some people have gone into samadhi with a trifling thought and after a long time awakened in the trail of the same thought. In the meantime generations have passed away in the world. Such a yogi has not destroyed his mind. 

Its destruction is the non-recognition of it as being apart from the Self. Even now the mind is not. Recognise it. How can you do it if not in everyday activities. They go on automatically. Know that the mind promoting them is not real but a phantom proceeding from the Self. That is how the mind is destroyed.  

 

                   "Talks with Ramana Maharshi"

29 Sep 1935

Sri Ramana Maharshi

D.: I want to know how I can gain that peace of mind. Kindly be pleased to advise me.

M.: Yes - devotion and surrender.

 

D.: Am I worthy of being a devotee?

M.: Everyone can be a devotee. Spiritual fare is common to all and never denied to anyone - be the person old or young, male or female.

 

D.: That is exactly what I am anxious to know. I am young and a grihini (housewife). There are duties of grihastha dharma (the household). Is devotion consistent with such a position?

M.: Certainly. What are you? You are not the body. You are Pure Consciousness. Grihastha dharma and the world are only phenomena appearing on that Pure Consciousness. It remains unaffected. What prevents you from being your own Self?

 

D.: Yes I am already aware of the line of teaching of Maharshi. It is the quest for the Self. But my doubt persists if such quest is compatible with grihastha life.

M.: The Self is always there. It is you. There is nothing but you. Nothing can be apart from you. The question of compatibility or otherwise does not arise.

 

D.: I shall be more definite. Though a stranger, I am obliged to confess the cause of my anxiety. I am blessed with children. A boy - a good brahmachari - passed away in February. I was grief-stricken. I was disgusted with this life. I want to devote myself to spiritual life. But my duties as a grihini do not permit me to lead a retired life. Hence my doubt.

M.: Retirement means abidance in the Self. Nothing more. It is not leaving one set of surroundings and getting entangled in another set, nor even leaving the concrete world and becoming involved in a mental world. The birth of the son, his death, etc., are seen in the Self only. Recall the state of sleep. Were you aware of anything happening? If the son or the world be real, should they not be present with you in sleep? You cannot deny your existence in sleep. Nor can you deny you were happy then. You are the same person now speaking and raising doubts. You are not happy, according to you. But you were happy in sleep. What has transpired in the meantime that happiness of sleep has broken down? It is the rise of ego. That is the new arrival in the jagrat state. There was no ego in sleep. The birth of the ego is called the birth of the person. There is no other kind of birth. Whatever is born is bound to die. Kill the ego: there is no fear of recurring death for what is once dead. The Self remains even after the death of the ego. That is Bliss - that is Immortality.

 

D.: How is that to be done?

M.: See for whom these doubts exist. Who is the doubter? Who is the thinker? That is the ego. Hold it. The other thoughts will die away. The ego is left pure; see where from the ego arises. That is pure consciousness.

 

 

Extract from “Talks with Ramana Maharshi”

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi

 

 

 

 

“Become conscious of being conscious. Say or think “I am”, and add nothing to it. Be aware of the stillness that follows the “I am”. Sense your presence, the naked unveiled, unclothed beingness. It is untouched by young or old, rich or poor, good or bad, or any other attributes. It is the spacious womb of all creation, all form.”

 

― Ramana Maharshi

Sri Ramana Maharshi

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi

 

 

 

 

The Real is ever-present, like the screen on which the cinematographic pictures move. While the picture appears on it, the screen remains invisible. Stop the picture, and the screen will become clear. All thoughts and events are merely pictures moving on the screen of Pure Consciousness, which alone is real.

 

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi

 

 

First you must decide what sat-sangha is. It means association with sat or reality. One who knows or has realized sat is also regarded as sat.

 

Such association with sat or with one who knows sat is absolutely necessary for all. Sankara has said that in all the three worlds there is no boat like sat-sangha to carry one safely across the ocean of births and deaths.

 

Sat-sangha means sangha [association] with sat. Sat is only the Self. Since the Self is not now understood to be sat, the company of the sage who has thus understood is sought. That is satsanga. Introversion results. Then sat is revealed.

Sri Ramana Maharshi

Sri Ramana Maharshi

 

 

It is the nature of the mind to wander.

You are not the mind.

 

The mind springs up and sinks down.

It is impermanent, transitory, whereas you are eternal.

 

There is nothing but the Self.

To inhere in the Self is the thing.

 

Never mind the mind.

If its source is sought, it will vanish leaving the Self unaffected.

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi

 

Bhagawan Ramana Maharshi

 

Question: Please tell us a method to destroy the mind. Ramana: Find out who has the mind. If the mind is still there after you succeed, you may then look for a method to destroy it. Question: I have a mind. Ramana: Who are you? Are you this body? Why do you not raise questions like this while you are asleep? Do you agree that the mind and the life-force which animates the body are not yourself? Question: No. Ramana: You are the Self. If there is anything separate from you, you can think about doing good or bad things to it. But if you yourself are the only thing that exists, how can there be any likes and dislikes? Desirelessness is absolute bliss. Question: We are asking you again about destroying the mind because of our ignorance. We pray to Sri Bhagavan to forgive us and give us a reply. It is said that one must do spiritual practice to get rid of the mind. How should this be done? Ramana: Enquiring with the mind, "Whose is the mind that ought to be destroyed?" , is the spiritual practice to get rid of the mind. Question: Who am I? I do not know. Ramana: Without even knowing who we are we want to attain something else. That which we want to attain is that which we already are. The experience of any state or heavenly world that comes to us will eventually go away again. That which comes and goes is not the Self. That which is always within the experience of everyone; that alone is our real Self. That is liberation, enlightenment.

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi

 

“If a man considers that he is born, he cannot avoid the fear of death. Let him find out if he has been born or if the Self has any birth. He will discover that the Self always exists, that the body that is born resolves itself into thought and that the emergence of thought is the root of all mischief. Find from where thoughts emerge. Then you will be able to abide in the ever-present inmost Self and be free from the idea of birth or the fear of death.”

Sri Ramana Maharshi

 

Sri Ramana Maharishi

If one keeps fixed in the Self, the activities will still go on and their success will not be affected. One should not have the idea that one is the doer. The activities will still go on. 

That force, by whatever name you may call it, which brought the body into existence will see to it that the activities which this body is meant to go through are brought about. 

If you are not the body and do not have the idea ‘I-am-the-doer’ the consequences of your good or bad actions will not affect you. Why do you say about the actions.

Ramana Maharishi

Sri Ramana Maharshi

Sri Ramana Maharshi

Ramana Maharshi said: ‘When various notes are played or sung by the musician, if you keep your attention fixed on the sruti, i.e., the accompanying tanpura or harmonium with its monotone alone, it will not be distracted by the diverse notes or tunes; similarly in the world which is nothing but sense-perceptions, keep attuned to the sruti, the one Reality alone, and your inner awareness will remain undisturbed.’

Sri Ramana Maharshi

“It is false to speak of realisation. What is there to realise? The real is as it is always. We are not creating anything new or achieving something which we did not have before. The illustration given in books is this. We dig a well and create a huge pit. The space in the pit or well has not been created by us. We have just removed the earth which was filling the space there. The space was there then and is also there now. Similarly we have simply to throw out all the age-long samskaras [innate tendencies] which are inside us. When all of them have been given up, the Self will shine alone.”

Sri Ramana Maharshi

Sri Ramana Maharshi

Sri Ramana Maharshi

Sri Ramana Maharshi