Question : Why doesn’t Sri Bhagavan direct us to practise concentration on some particular centre or chakra?
Sri Ramana Maharshi : The Yoga Sastras say that the Sahasrara or brain is the seat of the Self. The Purusha Sukta declares that the Heart is its seat. To enable the aspirant to steer clear of any possible doubt, I tell him to take up the thread or the clue of ‘I’-ness and follow it to its source.
Because, firstly it is impossible for anybody to entertain any doubt about this ‘I’ notion; secondly, whatever be the means adopted, the final goal is Realisation of the source of I-am-ness, which is what you begin from in your experience. If you, therefore, practise Self-enquiry, you will reach the Heart which is the Self.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Ramana Maharshi on Concentration at forehead between eyebrows
A visitor said: We are asked to concentrate on the spot in the forehead between the eyebrows. Is that right?
Ramana Maharshi - Everyone is aware that he exists. Yet one ignores that awareness and goes about in search of God. What is the use of fixing one’s attention between the eyebrows? The aim of such advice is to help the mind to concentrate. It is one of the forcible methods of checking the mind and preventing its dissipation. The mind is forcibly directed into one channel and this is a
help to concentration. But the method of realisation is the enquiry ‘Who am I?’. The present trouble affects the mind and it can only be removed by the mind.
Ramana Maharshi - Everyone is aware that he exists. Yet one ignores that awareness and goes about in search of God. What is the use of fixing one’s attention between the eyebrows? The aim of such advice is to help the mind to concentrate. It is one of the forcible methods of checking the mind and preventing its dissipation. The mind is forcibly directed into one channel and this is a
help to concentration. But the method of realisation is the enquiry ‘Who am I?’. The present trouble affects the mind and it can only be removed by the mind.
Ramana Maharshi on Satsang with Realized Sages
Ramana Maharshi - Association with Sages who have realised the Truth removes material attachments; on these attachments being removed, the attachments of the mind are also destroyed. Those whose attachments of mind are thus destroyed become one with That which is Motionless. They attain Liberation while yet alive.
Cherish association with such Sages. That Supreme state which is obtained here and now as a result of association with Sages, and realised through the deep meditation of Self-enquiry in contact with the Heart, cannot be gained with the aid of a Guru or through knowledge of the scriptures, or by spiritual merit, or by any other means.
If association with Sages is obtained, to what purpose are the various methods of self-discipline? Tell me, of what use is a fan when the cool, gentle south wind is blowing? The heat of mental and bodily excitement is allayed by (the rays of) the moon; want and misery are removed by the kalpaka tree; sins are washed away by the sacred water of the Ganges. But all these afflictions
are altogether banished by the mere darshan of the peerless Sage.
Neither the holy waters of pilgrimage nor the images of gods made of earth and stone can stand comparison with the benign look of the Sage. These purify one only after countless days of grace, but no sooner does the Sage bestow his gracious glance than he purifies one
Cherish association with such Sages. That Supreme state which is obtained here and now as a result of association with Sages, and realised through the deep meditation of Self-enquiry in contact with the Heart, cannot be gained with the aid of a Guru or through knowledge of the scriptures, or by spiritual merit, or by any other means.
If association with Sages is obtained, to what purpose are the various methods of self-discipline? Tell me, of what use is a fan when the cool, gentle south wind is blowing? The heat of mental and bodily excitement is allayed by (the rays of) the moon; want and misery are removed by the kalpaka tree; sins are washed away by the sacred water of the Ganges. But all these afflictions
are altogether banished by the mere darshan of the peerless Sage.
Neither the holy waters of pilgrimage nor the images of gods made of earth and stone can stand comparison with the benign look of the Sage. These purify one only after countless days of grace, but no sooner does the Sage bestow his gracious glance than he purifies one
Ramana Maharshi : Is a set meditation necessary for strengthening the Mind
Question : Is a set meditation necessary for strengthening the mind?
Ramana Maharshi : Not if you keep the idea always before you, that it is not your work. At first effort is needed to remind yourself of it, but later on it becomes natural and continuous. The work will go on of its own accord and your peace will remain undisturbed.
Meditation is your true nature. You call it meditation now, because there are other thoughts distracting you. When these thoughts are dispelled, you remain alone – that is, in the state of meditation, free from thoughts; and that is your real nature, which you are now trying to realise by keeping away other thoughts. Such keeping away of other thoughts is now called ‘meditation’. But when the practice becomes firm, your real nature shows itself as true meditation.
Ramana Maharshi : Not if you keep the idea always before you, that it is not your work. At first effort is needed to remind yourself of it, but later on it becomes natural and continuous. The work will go on of its own accord and your peace will remain undisturbed.
Meditation is your true nature. You call it meditation now, because there are other thoughts distracting you. When these thoughts are dispelled, you remain alone – that is, in the state of meditation, free from thoughts; and that is your real nature, which you are now trying to realise by keeping away other thoughts. Such keeping away of other thoughts is now called ‘meditation’. But when the practice becomes firm, your real nature shows itself as true meditation.
Ramana Maharshi Quotes - I am Brahman’ is only a thought
Ramana Maharshi : ‘I am Brahman’ is only a thought. Who says it? Brahman himself does not say so. What need is there for him to say it? Nor can the real ‘I’ say so. For ‘I’ always abides as Brahman. So it is only a thought. Whose thought is it? All thoughts come from the unreal ‘I’, that is the ‘I’-thought. Remain without thinking. So long as there is thought, there will be fear.
Ramana Maharshi : Should I try to help the Suffering World
Question : Should I try to help the suffering world?
Ramana Maharshi : The Power that created you created the world as well. If God created the world it is His business to look after it, not yours
Ramana Maharshi : The Power that created you created the world as well. If God created the world it is His business to look after it, not yours
Ramana Maharshi : Is solitude necessary for a Sannyasin
Question : Is solitude necessary for a sannyasin?
Ramana Maharshi : Solitude is in the mind of a man. One man may be in the thick of the world and yet maintain perfect serenity of mind. Such a person is always in solitude. Another may live in the forest but still be unable to control his mind. He cannot be said to be in solitude. Solitude is an attitude of the mind. A man attached to the things of life cannot get solitude, wherever he
may be, whereas a detached man is always in solitude The silence of solitude is forced.
Restrained speech in society is equivalent to silence, for then a man controls his speech. There must be a speaker before there can be speech. If the mind of the speaker is engaged otherwise, speech is restrained. When the mind is turned inwards it is active in a different way and is
not anxious to speak. The purpose of a vow of silence is to limit the mental activities provoked by speech but if the mind is controlled, this is unnecessary and silence becomes natural.
Ramana Maharshi : Solitude is in the mind of a man. One man may be in the thick of the world and yet maintain perfect serenity of mind. Such a person is always in solitude. Another may live in the forest but still be unable to control his mind. He cannot be said to be in solitude. Solitude is an attitude of the mind. A man attached to the things of life cannot get solitude, wherever he
may be, whereas a detached man is always in solitude The silence of solitude is forced.
Restrained speech in society is equivalent to silence, for then a man controls his speech. There must be a speaker before there can be speech. If the mind of the speaker is engaged otherwise, speech is restrained. When the mind is turned inwards it is active in a different way and is
not anxious to speak. The purpose of a vow of silence is to limit the mental activities provoked by speech but if the mind is controlled, this is unnecessary and silence becomes natural.
Ramana Maharshi : What is the significance of the life of a Spiritually minded Householder
Question : What is the significance of the life of a spiritually minded householder who has to devote all his time merely to earning a living and supporting his family and what mutual
benefit do they get?
Ramana Maharshi : The discharge of his duties by a householder such as this, who works for the support of his family, quite unmindful of his own physical comforts in life, should be regarded as selfless service rendered to his family, whose needs it is his destiny to meet. It may, however, be asked what benefit such a householder derives from the family.
The answer is that there is no benefit for him from the family as such, since he has made the discharge of his duties to them a means of spiritual training and since he finally obtains perfect contentment by realising the supreme Bliss of Liberation, which is the ultimate goal of every path and the supreme reward. He therefore stands in need of nothing from the members of his family or from his family life.
benefit do they get?
Ramana Maharshi : The discharge of his duties by a householder such as this, who works for the support of his family, quite unmindful of his own physical comforts in life, should be regarded as selfless service rendered to his family, whose needs it is his destiny to meet. It may, however, be asked what benefit such a householder derives from the family.
The answer is that there is no benefit for him from the family as such, since he has made the discharge of his duties to them a means of spiritual training and since he finally obtains perfect contentment by realising the supreme Bliss of Liberation, which is the ultimate goal of every path and the supreme reward. He therefore stands in need of nothing from the members of his family or from his family life.
Ramana Maharshi : Free from the ‘I-am-the doer’ feeling in doing Work
Question : It has been definitely stated that so long as there is the least trace of the ‘I-am-the-doer’ idea, there can be no realisation, but is it possible for a householder who earnestly desires Liberation to fulfil his duties without this idea?
Ramana Maharshi : There is no principle that actions can be performed only on the basis of the ‘I-am-the-doer’ idea, and therefore there is no reason to ask whether they can be performed and the duties discharged without that idea.
To take a common example, an accountant working all day in his office and scrupulously attending to his duties might seem to the spectator to be shouldering all the financial responsibilities of the institution.
But, knowing that he is not personally affected by the intake or outgoings, he remains unattached and free from the ‘I-am-the doer’ feeling in doing his work, while at the same time he does it perfectly well. In the same way, it is quite possible for the wise householder who earnestly seeks liberation to discharge his duties in life (which, after all, are his destiny) without any attachment, regarding himself merely as an instrument for the purpose.
Such activity is not an obstacle on the path of Knowledge nor does Knowledge prevent a man from discharging his duties in life. Knowledge and activity are never mutually antagonistic and the realisation of one does not impede performance of the other, nor performance of one the realisation of the other.
Ramana Maharshi : There is no principle that actions can be performed only on the basis of the ‘I-am-the-doer’ idea, and therefore there is no reason to ask whether they can be performed and the duties discharged without that idea.
To take a common example, an accountant working all day in his office and scrupulously attending to his duties might seem to the spectator to be shouldering all the financial responsibilities of the institution.
But, knowing that he is not personally affected by the intake or outgoings, he remains unattached and free from the ‘I-am-the doer’ feeling in doing his work, while at the same time he does it perfectly well. In the same way, it is quite possible for the wise householder who earnestly seeks liberation to discharge his duties in life (which, after all, are his destiny) without any attachment, regarding himself merely as an instrument for the purpose.
Such activity is not an obstacle on the path of Knowledge nor does Knowledge prevent a man from discharging his duties in life. Knowledge and activity are never mutually antagonistic and the realisation of one does not impede performance of the other, nor performance of one the realisation of the other.
Ramana Maharshi : To think about one’s Renunciation defeats the purpose of Renouncing
Question : Is it necessary to take sannyasa (a vow of renunciation) in order to attain Self-realisation?
Ramana Maharshi : ‘Sannyasa’ means renouncing one’s individuality, not shaving one’s head and putting on ochre robes. A man may be a householder but if he does not think he is one he is a sannyasin. On the other hand, he may wear ochre robes and wander about, but so long as he thinks he is a sannyasin he is not one.
To think about one’s renunciation defeats the purpose of renouncing. What do you mean by ‘taking sannyasa’? Do you think it means leaving your home or wearing robes of a certain colour? Wherever you go, even if you fly up into the air, will your mind not go with you? Or, can you leave it behind you and go without it?
Why should your occupation or duties in life interfere with your spiritual effort? For instance, there is a difference between your activities at home and in the office. In your office activities, you are detached and so long as you do your duty you do not care what happens or whether it results in gain or loss to the employer.
Your duties at home, on the other hand, are performed with attachment and you are all the time anxious whether they will bring advantage to you and your family. But it is possible to perform all the activities of life with detachment and regard only the Self as real. It is wrong to suppose that if one is fixed in the Self, one’s duties in life will not be properly performed.
It is like an actor. He dresses and acts and even feels the part he is playing, but he knows really that he is not that character but someone else in real life. In the same way, why should the body consciousness or the feeling ‘I-am-the-body’ disturb you, once you know for certain that you are not the body but the Self?
Nothing that the body does should shake you from abidance in the Self. Such abidance will never interfere with the proper and effective discharge of whatever duties the body has any more than an actor’s being aware of his real status in life interferes with his acting a part on the stage.
Ramana Maharshi : ‘Sannyasa’ means renouncing one’s individuality, not shaving one’s head and putting on ochre robes. A man may be a householder but if he does not think he is one he is a sannyasin. On the other hand, he may wear ochre robes and wander about, but so long as he thinks he is a sannyasin he is not one.
To think about one’s renunciation defeats the purpose of renouncing. What do you mean by ‘taking sannyasa’? Do you think it means leaving your home or wearing robes of a certain colour? Wherever you go, even if you fly up into the air, will your mind not go with you? Or, can you leave it behind you and go without it?
Why should your occupation or duties in life interfere with your spiritual effort? For instance, there is a difference between your activities at home and in the office. In your office activities, you are detached and so long as you do your duty you do not care what happens or whether it results in gain or loss to the employer.
Your duties at home, on the other hand, are performed with attachment and you are all the time anxious whether they will bring advantage to you and your family. But it is possible to perform all the activities of life with detachment and regard only the Self as real. It is wrong to suppose that if one is fixed in the Self, one’s duties in life will not be properly performed.
It is like an actor. He dresses and acts and even feels the part he is playing, but he knows really that he is not that character but someone else in real life. In the same way, why should the body consciousness or the feeling ‘I-am-the-body’ disturb you, once you know for certain that you are not the body but the Self?
Nothing that the body does should shake you from abidance in the Self. Such abidance will never interfere with the proper and effective discharge of whatever duties the body has any more than an actor’s being aware of his real status in life interferes with his acting a part on the stage.
Ramana Maharshi - Isn’t Brahmacharya (celibacy) necessary for Realisation of Self
Question : I believe celibacy is necessary even for a householder if he is to succeed in Self-enquiry. Am I right?
Ramana Maharshi : First find out who the wife and husband are. Then the question will not arise.
Question : Isn’t Brahmacharya (celibacy) necessary for realisation of the Self?
Ramana Maharshi : Brahmacharya means ‘living in Brahman’; it has no connection with celibacy as commonly understood. A real Brahmachari is one who lives in Brahman and finds bliss in Brahman, which is the same as the Self. Why, then, should he look for other sources of happiness? In fact, it is emergence from the Self that is the cause of all misery.
Question : But isn’t celibacy necessary for yoga?
Ramana Maharshi : It is one aid to realisation among many others.
Question : Then is it not indispensable? Can a married man realise the Self?
Ramana Maharshi : Certainly. It is a question of fitness of mind. Married or unmarried, a man can realise the Self, because the Self is here and now. If it were not, but were obtainable by some effort at some future time, if it were something new to be acquired, it would not be worth seeking, because what is not natural cannot be permanent. What I say is that the Self is here and now and that IT alone is.
Ramana Maharshi : First find out who the wife and husband are. Then the question will not arise.
Question : Isn’t Brahmacharya (celibacy) necessary for realisation of the Self?
Ramana Maharshi : Brahmacharya means ‘living in Brahman’; it has no connection with celibacy as commonly understood. A real Brahmachari is one who lives in Brahman and finds bliss in Brahman, which is the same as the Self. Why, then, should he look for other sources of happiness? In fact, it is emergence from the Self that is the cause of all misery.
Question : But isn’t celibacy necessary for yoga?
Ramana Maharshi : It is one aid to realisation among many others.
Question : Then is it not indispensable? Can a married man realise the Self?
Ramana Maharshi : Certainly. It is a question of fitness of mind. Married or unmarried, a man can realise the Self, because the Self is here and now. If it were not, but were obtainable by some effort at some future time, if it were something new to be acquired, it would not be worth seeking, because what is not natural cannot be permanent. What I say is that the Self is here and now and that IT alone is.
Ramana Maharshi :Remember who you are. Then work will not bind you
Question : Is it possible to enjoy samadhi while busy with worldly work?
Ramana Maharshi : It is the feeling ‘I work’ that is the hindrance. Ask yourself: ‘Who works?’ Remember who you are. Then the work will not bind you. It will go on automatically. Make no effort either to work or to renounce; your effort is the bondage.
What is destined to happen will happen. If you are destined to work, you will not be able to avoid it; you will be forced to engage in it. So leave it to the Higher Power. It is not really your choice whether you renounce or retain.
When women carrying jars of water on their heads, stop to talk, they are very careful, keeping their mind on the water jars. Similarly, when a sage engages in activity, his mind remains fixed in the Self and his activity does not distract him
Ramana Maharshi : It is the feeling ‘I work’ that is the hindrance. Ask yourself: ‘Who works?’ Remember who you are. Then the work will not bind you. It will go on automatically. Make no effort either to work or to renounce; your effort is the bondage.
What is destined to happen will happen. If you are destined to work, you will not be able to avoid it; you will be forced to engage in it. So leave it to the Higher Power. It is not really your choice whether you renounce or retain.
When women carrying jars of water on their heads, stop to talk, they are very careful, keeping their mind on the water jars. Similarly, when a sage engages in activity, his mind remains fixed in the Self and his activity does not distract him
Ramana Maharshi - Grace is necessary for the removal of ignorance
Question : Grace is necessary for the removal of ignorance.
Ramana Maharshi : Certainly. But Grace is there all along. Grace is the Self. It is not something to be acquired. All that is necessary is to know its existence. In the same way, the sun is pure brightness; it does not know darkness, although others speak of darkness fleeing away on its approach. Like darkness, ignorance is a phantom, not real. Because of its unreality, it is said to be
removed when its unreality is discovered.
The sun is there and shines and you are surrounded by sunlight; still, if you would know the sun you must turn your eyes in its direction and look at it. Similarly, Grace is only to be found by effort, although it is here and now.
Ramana Maharshi : Certainly. But Grace is there all along. Grace is the Self. It is not something to be acquired. All that is necessary is to know its existence. In the same way, the sun is pure brightness; it does not know darkness, although others speak of darkness fleeing away on its approach. Like darkness, ignorance is a phantom, not real. Because of its unreality, it is said to be
removed when its unreality is discovered.
The sun is there and shines and you are surrounded by sunlight; still, if you would know the sun you must turn your eyes in its direction and look at it. Similarly, Grace is only to be found by effort, although it is here and now.
Ramana Maharshi - only enquiry leading to Self-realisation is seeking the source of the word ‘I’
Ramana Maharshi - Just as a man would dive in order to get something that had fallen into the water, so one should dive into oneself with a keen, one-pointed mind, controlling speech and breath, and find the place whence the ‘I’ originates. The only enquiry leading to Self-realisation is seeking the source of the word ‘I’.
Meditation on ‘I am not this; I am that’ may be an aid to enquiry but it cannot be the enquiry. If one enquires ‘Who am I?’ within the mind, the individual ‘I’ falls down abashed as soon as one reaches the Heart and immediately Reality manifests itself spontaneously as ‘I-I’. Although it reveals itself as ‘I’, it is not the ego but the perfect Being, the Absolute Self
Meditation on ‘I am not this; I am that’ may be an aid to enquiry but it cannot be the enquiry. If one enquires ‘Who am I?’ within the mind, the individual ‘I’ falls down abashed as soon as one reaches the Heart and immediately Reality manifests itself spontaneously as ‘I-I’. Although it reveals itself as ‘I’, it is not the ego but the perfect Being, the Absolute Self
Ramana Maharshi : All Concepts depend upon ‘I’-thought
Devotee : Should we not find out the ultimate reality of the world as individual and God?
Ramana Maharshi : These are conceptions of the ‘I’. They arise only after the advent of the ‘I’-thought. Did you think of them in deep sleep? Yet you existed in sleep, and the same ‘you’ is speaking now. If they were real, would they not exist in your sleep also?
They are dependent on the ‘I’-thought. Again, does the world tell you: ‘I am the world’? Does the body say: ‘I am the body’? You say: ‘This is the world’ ‘this is the body’, and so on. So these are only your conceptions. Find out who you are, and that will be the end of all doubts.
Ramana Maharshi : These are conceptions of the ‘I’. They arise only after the advent of the ‘I’-thought. Did you think of them in deep sleep? Yet you existed in sleep, and the same ‘you’ is speaking now. If they were real, would they not exist in your sleep also?
They are dependent on the ‘I’-thought. Again, does the world tell you: ‘I am the world’? Does the body say: ‘I am the body’? You say: ‘This is the world’ ‘this is the body’, and so on. So these are only your conceptions. Find out who you are, and that will be the end of all doubts.
Ramana Maharshi : The feeling ‘I have nor Realised’ is Obstruction to Realisation
Devotee : If ‘I’ am always – here and now – why do I not feel so?
Ramana Maharshi : Who says that you do not? Does the real ‘I’ or the false ‘I’? Ask yourself and you will find that it is the false ‘I’. The false ‘I’ is the obstruction which has to be removed in order that the true ‘I’ may cease to be hidden.
The feeling ‘I have nor realised’ is the obstruction to realisation. In fact, it is already realised. There is nothing more to be realised. If there were, realisation would be something new which did not yet exist, but was to come about in the future; but whatever is born will also die.
If realisation is not eternal, it is not worth having. Therefore, what we seek is not something that must begin to exist but only that which is eternal but is veiled from us by obstructions. All that
we need do is to remove the obstruction. What is eternal is not recognised as such, owing to ignorance. Ignorance is the obstruction.
Get rid of it and all will be well. This ignorance is identical with the ‘I’-thought. Find its source and it will vanish. The ‘I’-thought is like a spirit which, although not palpable, rises up simultaneously with the body, flourishes with it and disappears with it.
The body-consciousness is the wrong ‘I’. Give it up. You can do so by seeking the source of ‘I’. The body does not say: ‘I am’. It is you who say ‘I am the body.’ Find out who this ‘I’ is. Seek its source and it will vanish.
Ramana Maharshi : Who says that you do not? Does the real ‘I’ or the false ‘I’? Ask yourself and you will find that it is the false ‘I’. The false ‘I’ is the obstruction which has to be removed in order that the true ‘I’ may cease to be hidden.
The feeling ‘I have nor realised’ is the obstruction to realisation. In fact, it is already realised. There is nothing more to be realised. If there were, realisation would be something new which did not yet exist, but was to come about in the future; but whatever is born will also die.
If realisation is not eternal, it is not worth having. Therefore, what we seek is not something that must begin to exist but only that which is eternal but is veiled from us by obstructions. All that
we need do is to remove the obstruction. What is eternal is not recognised as such, owing to ignorance. Ignorance is the obstruction.
Get rid of it and all will be well. This ignorance is identical with the ‘I’-thought. Find its source and it will vanish. The ‘I’-thought is like a spirit which, although not palpable, rises up simultaneously with the body, flourishes with it and disappears with it.
The body-consciousness is the wrong ‘I’. Give it up. You can do so by seeking the source of ‘I’. The body does not say: ‘I am’. It is you who say ‘I am the body.’ Find out who this ‘I’ is. Seek its source and it will vanish.
Ramana Maharshi : Seek the root ‘I’; question yourself: ‘Who am I'
Ramana Maharshi : How do you meditate?
Devotee : I begin by asking myself ‘Who am I?’ and eliminate the body as not ‘I’, the breath as not ‘I’, the mind as not ‘I’, but then I am unable to proceed further.
Ramana Maharshi : Well, that is all right so far as the mind goes. Your process is only mental. Actually all the scriptures mention this process only in order to guide the seeker to the Truth. The Truth cannot be directly indicated; that is why this mental process is used.
You see, he who eliminates all the ‘not-I’ cannot eliminate the ‘I’. In order to be able to say ‘I am not this’ or ‘I am That’, there must be the ‘I’ to say it. This ‘I’ is only the ego, or the ‘I’-thought. After the rising up of this ‘I’-thought, all other thoughts arise. The ‘I’-thought is therefore the root thought. If the root is pulled out, all the rest is uprooted at the same time.
Therefore seek the root ‘I’; question yourself: ‘Who am I?’; find out the source of the ‘I’. Then all these problems will vanish and the pure Self alone will remain.
Devotee : But how am I to do it?
Ramana Maharshi : The ‘I’ is always there, whether in deep sleep, in dream or in the waking state. The one who sleeps is the same as the one who is now speaking. There is always the feeling of ‘I’. If it were not so you would have to deny your existence. But you do not. You say: ‘I am’. Find out who is.
Devotee: I still do not understand. You say the ‘I’ is now the false ‘I’. How am I to eliminate this wrong ‘I’?
Ramana Maharshi : You need not eliminate any false ‘I’. How can ‘I’ eliminate itself? All that you need do is to find out its origin and stay there. Your effort can extend only so far. Then the Beyond will take care of itself. You are helpless there. No effort can reach It.
Devotee : I begin by asking myself ‘Who am I?’ and eliminate the body as not ‘I’, the breath as not ‘I’, the mind as not ‘I’, but then I am unable to proceed further.
Ramana Maharshi : Well, that is all right so far as the mind goes. Your process is only mental. Actually all the scriptures mention this process only in order to guide the seeker to the Truth. The Truth cannot be directly indicated; that is why this mental process is used.
You see, he who eliminates all the ‘not-I’ cannot eliminate the ‘I’. In order to be able to say ‘I am not this’ or ‘I am That’, there must be the ‘I’ to say it. This ‘I’ is only the ego, or the ‘I’-thought. After the rising up of this ‘I’-thought, all other thoughts arise. The ‘I’-thought is therefore the root thought. If the root is pulled out, all the rest is uprooted at the same time.
Therefore seek the root ‘I’; question yourself: ‘Who am I?’; find out the source of the ‘I’. Then all these problems will vanish and the pure Self alone will remain.
Devotee : But how am I to do it?
Ramana Maharshi : The ‘I’ is always there, whether in deep sleep, in dream or in the waking state. The one who sleeps is the same as the one who is now speaking. There is always the feeling of ‘I’. If it were not so you would have to deny your existence. But you do not. You say: ‘I am’. Find out who is.
Devotee: I still do not understand. You say the ‘I’ is now the false ‘I’. How am I to eliminate this wrong ‘I’?
Ramana Maharshi : You need not eliminate any false ‘I’. How can ‘I’ eliminate itself? All that you need do is to find out its origin and stay there. Your effort can extend only so far. Then the Beyond will take care of itself. You are helpless there. No effort can reach It.
Ramana Maharshi : Who am I? How is the answer to be found
Question : Who am I? How is the answer to be found?
Ramana Maharshi : Ask yourself the question. The body (annamayakosa) and its functions are not ‘I’. Going deeper, the mind (manomayakosa) and its functions are not ‘I’. The next step takes one to the question: Wherefrom do these thoughts arise? The thoughts may be spontaneous, superficial, or analytical.
They operate in the mind. Then who is aware of them? The existence of thoughts, their clear conception and operation, become evident to the individual. This analysis leads to the conclusion that the individuality is operative as the cogniser of the existence of thoughts and their sequence.
This individuality is the ego, or, as people say, ‘I’. Vijnanamayakosa (intellect) is only the sheath of the ‘I’ and not the ‘I’ itself. Enquiring further, the questions arise: What is this ‘I’? Wherefrom does it come? ‘I’ was not aware in sleep. Simultaneously with its rise, sleep changes to dream and
wakefulness. But I am not concerned with the dream state just now.
Who am I now, in the wakeful state? If I originated on waking from sleep, then the ‘I’ was covered up with ignorance. Such an ignorant ‘I’ cannot be what the scriptures refer to or the wise affirm. ‘I’ am beyond even sleep; ‘I’ must be here and now, and must be what I was all along in sleep and dream also, unaffected by the qualities of these states. ‘I’ must therefore be the unqualified substratum underlying these three states (after anandamayakosa is transcended).
Ramana Maharshi : Ask yourself the question. The body (annamayakosa) and its functions are not ‘I’. Going deeper, the mind (manomayakosa) and its functions are not ‘I’. The next step takes one to the question: Wherefrom do these thoughts arise? The thoughts may be spontaneous, superficial, or analytical.
They operate in the mind. Then who is aware of them? The existence of thoughts, their clear conception and operation, become evident to the individual. This analysis leads to the conclusion that the individuality is operative as the cogniser of the existence of thoughts and their sequence.
This individuality is the ego, or, as people say, ‘I’. Vijnanamayakosa (intellect) is only the sheath of the ‘I’ and not the ‘I’ itself. Enquiring further, the questions arise: What is this ‘I’? Wherefrom does it come? ‘I’ was not aware in sleep. Simultaneously with its rise, sleep changes to dream and
wakefulness. But I am not concerned with the dream state just now.
Who am I now, in the wakeful state? If I originated on waking from sleep, then the ‘I’ was covered up with ignorance. Such an ignorant ‘I’ cannot be what the scriptures refer to or the wise affirm. ‘I’ am beyond even sleep; ‘I’ must be here and now, and must be what I was all along in sleep and dream also, unaffected by the qualities of these states. ‘I’ must therefore be the unqualified substratum underlying these three states (after anandamayakosa is transcended).
The enquiry: ‘Who am I?’ really means trying to find the source of the Ego
Question : When I think, ‘Who am I?’, the answer comes: I am not this mortal body but am Consciousness or the Self. And then another thought suddenly arises. Why has the Self become manifest? In other words; ‘Why has God created the world?’
Ramana Maharshi : The enquiry: ‘Who am I?’ really means trying to find the source of the ego or of the ‘I’-thought. You are not to occupy the mind with other thoughts, such as ‘I am not the body’.
Seeking the source of the ‘I’ serves as a means of getting rid of all other thoughts. You should not allow any scope for other thoughts such as you mention, but should keep the attention fixed on finding the source of the ‘I’- thought by asking, when any other thought arises, to whom it occurs; and if the answer is ‘to me’, you then resume the thought: ‘What is this ‘I’ and what is its source?’
Ramana Maharshi : The enquiry: ‘Who am I?’ really means trying to find the source of the ego or of the ‘I’-thought. You are not to occupy the mind with other thoughts, such as ‘I am not the body’.
Seeking the source of the ‘I’ serves as a means of getting rid of all other thoughts. You should not allow any scope for other thoughts such as you mention, but should keep the attention fixed on finding the source of the ‘I’- thought by asking, when any other thought arises, to whom it occurs; and if the answer is ‘to me’, you then resume the thought: ‘What is this ‘I’ and what is its source?’
Ramana Maharshi saying on Guru, Guru is the Self
Ramana Maharshi - The Guru is the Self. At some time a man grows dissatisfied with his life and, not content with what he has, seeks the satisfaction of his desires through prayer to God. His mind is gradually purified until he longs to know God, more to obtain His Grace than to satisfy worldly desires. Then God’s grace begins to manifest.
God takes the form of a Guru and appears to the devotee, teaches him the Truth and, moreover, purifies his mind by association with him. The devotee’s mind thus gains strength and is then able to turn inward. By meditation it is further purified until it remains calm without the least ripple. That calm Expanse is the Self.
The Guru is both outer and inner. From outside he gives a push to the mind to turn inward while from inside he pulls the mind towards the Self and helps in quieting it. That is the Grace of the Guru. There is no difference between God, Guru and Self.
God takes the form of a Guru and appears to the devotee, teaches him the Truth and, moreover, purifies his mind by association with him. The devotee’s mind thus gains strength and is then able to turn inward. By meditation it is further purified until it remains calm without the least ripple. That calm Expanse is the Self.
The Guru is both outer and inner. From outside he gives a push to the mind to turn inward while from inside he pulls the mind towards the Self and helps in quieting it. That is the Grace of the Guru. There is no difference between God, Guru and Self.
Ramana Maharshi - essential nature of Upadesa or Spiritual instruction
Question : What is the essential nature of upadesa or spiritual instruction given by the Guru?
Ramana Maharshi - The word upadesa literally means ‘restoring an object to its proper place’. The mind of the disciple, having become differentiated from its true and primal state of Pure Being, which is the Self and which is described in the scriptures as Sat-chitananda (Being-Consciousness-Bliss), slips away therefrom and,
assuming the form of thought, constantly pursues objects of sense-gratification.
Therefore it is assailed by the vicissitudes of life and becomes weak and dispirited. Upadesa consists in the Guru restoring it to its primal state and preventing it from slipping away from the state of Pure Being, of absolute identity with the Self or, in other words, the Being of the Guru.
The word can also be understood as meaning ‘to present an apparently distant object to close view’; that is to say, it consists in the Guru showing the disciple what he had considered as distant and different from himself to be immediate and identical with himself.
Ramana Maharshi - The word upadesa literally means ‘restoring an object to its proper place’. The mind of the disciple, having become differentiated from its true and primal state of Pure Being, which is the Self and which is described in the scriptures as Sat-chitananda (Being-Consciousness-Bliss), slips away therefrom and,
assuming the form of thought, constantly pursues objects of sense-gratification.
Therefore it is assailed by the vicissitudes of life and becomes weak and dispirited. Upadesa consists in the Guru restoring it to its primal state and preventing it from slipping away from the state of Pure Being, of absolute identity with the Self or, in other words, the Being of the Guru.
The word can also be understood as meaning ‘to present an apparently distant object to close view’; that is to say, it consists in the Guru showing the disciple what he had considered as distant and different from himself to be immediate and identical with himself.
Ramana Maharshi sayings on Self and Ego
Ramana Maharshi - It is like a cinema show. There is the light on the screen and the shadows flitting across impress the audience as the acting of some story. Now suppose that in this film story an audience is also shown on the screen. The seer and the seen will then both be on the screen.
Apply this to yourself. You are the screen, the Self has created the ego, the ego has its accretions of thoughts, which are displayed as the world, trees, plants, etc., about which you are asking. In reality all these are nothing but the Self. If you see the Self it will be found to be all, everywhere and always. Nothing but the Self exists.
Apply this to yourself. You are the screen, the Self has created the ego, the ego has its accretions of thoughts, which are displayed as the world, trees, plants, etc., about which you are asking. In reality all these are nothing but the Self. If you see the Self it will be found to be all, everywhere and always. Nothing but the Self exists.
Ramana Maharshi : Is every thing Dream or illusory
Question : But we see pain in the world. A man is hungry. It is a physical reality. It is very real to him. Are we to call it a dream and remain unmoved by his suffering?
Ramana Maharshi : From the point of view of jnana or Reality, the suffering you speak of is certainly a dream, as is the world of which that suffering is an infinitesimal part. In a dream you have when you are asleep you yourself feel hunger and see others also suffering from hunger.
You feed yourself and, moved by pity, feed the others who are hungry. So long as the dream lasted, all this suffering was quite as real as the suffering you see in the world is to you now. It was only when you woke up that you discovered it to be unreal. You might have eaten heartily before going to sleep, but you still dreamt that you had been working hard in the hot sun all day and were tired and hungry.
Then you woke up and found that your stomach was full and that you had not stirred from your bed. But all this is not to say that while you are in the dream you can act as if the suffering you feel in it is not real. The hunger in the dream has to be appeased by dream food. The fellow beings you find hungry in the dream have to be provided with dream food. You can never mix the two states, the dream and the waking state.
Similarly, till you attain the state of Realisation and thus wake out of this illusory, phenomenal world, you must do social service by relieving suffering whenever you see it. But even so you must do it without ahankara that is without the sense of: ‘It-is-I-who-am-doing-it’.
Instead you should feel: ‘I am the Lord’s instrument.’ Similarly you must not be conceited and think: ‘I am helping a man who is below me. He needs help and I am in a position to give it. I am superior and he is inferior’. You must help him as a means of worshipping God in him. All such service is serving the Self, not anybody else. You are not helping anybody else, but only
yourself
Ramana Maharshi : From the point of view of jnana or Reality, the suffering you speak of is certainly a dream, as is the world of which that suffering is an infinitesimal part. In a dream you have when you are asleep you yourself feel hunger and see others also suffering from hunger.
You feed yourself and, moved by pity, feed the others who are hungry. So long as the dream lasted, all this suffering was quite as real as the suffering you see in the world is to you now. It was only when you woke up that you discovered it to be unreal. You might have eaten heartily before going to sleep, but you still dreamt that you had been working hard in the hot sun all day and were tired and hungry.
Then you woke up and found that your stomach was full and that you had not stirred from your bed. But all this is not to say that while you are in the dream you can act as if the suffering you feel in it is not real. The hunger in the dream has to be appeased by dream food. The fellow beings you find hungry in the dream have to be provided with dream food. You can never mix the two states, the dream and the waking state.
Similarly, till you attain the state of Realisation and thus wake out of this illusory, phenomenal world, you must do social service by relieving suffering whenever you see it. But even so you must do it without ahankara that is without the sense of: ‘It-is-I-who-am-doing-it’.
Instead you should feel: ‘I am the Lord’s instrument.’ Similarly you must not be conceited and think: ‘I am helping a man who is below me. He needs help and I am in a position to give it. I am superior and he is inferior’. You must help him as a means of worshipping God in him. All such service is serving the Self, not anybody else. You are not helping anybody else, but only
yourself
Ramana Maharshi : Know Truth by abiding in the state of Self.
Question : So the world is real when it is experienced as the Self and unreal when it is seen as separate names and forms?
Ramana Maharshi : Just as fire is obscured by smoke, the shining light of consciousness is obscured by the assemblage of names and forms, the world. When by compassionate divine grace the mind becomes clear, the nature of the world will be known to be not the illusory forms but only the reality.
Only those people whose minds are devoid of the evil power of maya, having given up the knowledge of the world and being unattached to it, and having thereby attained the knowledge of the self-shining supreme reality, can correctly know the meaning of the statement `The world is real.' If one's outlook has been transformed to the nature of real knowledge, the world of the five elements beginning with ether [akasa] will be real, being the supreme reality, which is the nature of knowledge.
The original state of this empty world, which is bewildering and crowded with many names and forms, is bliss, which is one, just as the egg-yolk of a multi-coloured peacock is only one. Know this truth by abiding in the state of Self.
Ramana Maharshi : Just as fire is obscured by smoke, the shining light of consciousness is obscured by the assemblage of names and forms, the world. When by compassionate divine grace the mind becomes clear, the nature of the world will be known to be not the illusory forms but only the reality.
Only those people whose minds are devoid of the evil power of maya, having given up the knowledge of the world and being unattached to it, and having thereby attained the knowledge of the self-shining supreme reality, can correctly know the meaning of the statement `The world is real.' If one's outlook has been transformed to the nature of real knowledge, the world of the five elements beginning with ether [akasa] will be real, being the supreme reality, which is the nature of knowledge.
The original state of this empty world, which is bewildering and crowded with many names and forms, is bliss, which is one, just as the egg-yolk of a multi-coloured peacock is only one. Know this truth by abiding in the state of Self.
Ramana Maharshi Meditation Quotes, Meditation insights
Ramana Maharshi - Meditation is initiated and sustained by a conscious effort of the mind. When such effort entirely subsides, it is called samadhi.
If you can keep still without engaging in any other pursuits, well and good. But if that cannot be done, what is the use of remaining inactive only with regard to realisation? So long as you are obliged to be active, do not give up the attempt to realise the Self.
Meditation is a fight. As soon as you begin meditation, other thoughts will crowd together, gather force and try to overwhelm the single thought to which you try to hold. This thought must gradually gain strength by repeated practice. When it has grown strong, the other thoughts will be put to flight. This is the battle always going on in meditation.
So long as the ego lasts, effort is necessary. When the ego ceases to exist, actions become spontaneous. No one succeeds without effort. Mind control is not your birthright. The few who succeed owe their success to their perseverence.
If you can keep still without engaging in any other pursuits, well and good. But if that cannot be done, what is the use of remaining inactive only with regard to realisation? So long as you are obliged to be active, do not give up the attempt to realise the Self.
Meditation is a fight. As soon as you begin meditation, other thoughts will crowd together, gather force and try to overwhelm the single thought to which you try to hold. This thought must gradually gain strength by repeated practice. When it has grown strong, the other thoughts will be put to flight. This is the battle always going on in meditation.
So long as the ego lasts, effort is necessary. When the ego ceases to exist, actions become spontaneous. No one succeeds without effort. Mind control is not your birthright. The few who succeed owe their success to their perseverence.
Ramana Maharshi : Effortless and Choiceless awareness is our real nature
A young man from Colombo, Ceylon, said to Bhagavan: J. Krishnamurthi teaches the method of effortless and choiceless awareness as distinct from that of deliberate concentration. Would Sri Bhagavan be pleased to explain how best to practise meditation and what form the object of meditation should take?
Ramana Maharshi : Effortless and choiceless awareness is our real nature. If we can attain that state and abide in it, that is all right. But one cannot reach it without effort, the effort of deliberate meditation. All the age-old vasanas (inherent tendencies) turn the mind outwards to external objects. All such thoughts have to be given up and the mind turned inwards and that, for most people, requires effort.
Of course, every teacher and every book tells the aspirant to keep quiet, but it is not easy to do so. That is why all this effort is necessary. Even if we find somebody who has achieved this supreme state of stillness, you may take it that the necessary effort had already been made in a previous life. So effortless and choiceless awareness is attained only after deliberate meditation.
That meditation can take whatever form most appeals to you. See what helps you to keep out all other thoughts and adopt that for your meditation.
Ramana Maharshi : Effortless and choiceless awareness is our real nature. If we can attain that state and abide in it, that is all right. But one cannot reach it without effort, the effort of deliberate meditation. All the age-old vasanas (inherent tendencies) turn the mind outwards to external objects. All such thoughts have to be given up and the mind turned inwards and that, for most people, requires effort.
Of course, every teacher and every book tells the aspirant to keep quiet, but it is not easy to do so. That is why all this effort is necessary. Even if we find somebody who has achieved this supreme state of stillness, you may take it that the necessary effort had already been made in a previous life. So effortless and choiceless awareness is attained only after deliberate meditation.
That meditation can take whatever form most appeals to you. See what helps you to keep out all other thoughts and adopt that for your meditation.
Ramana Maharshi : Is there predestination, Is there any use in Prayer or Effort
Question : Is there predestination? And if what is destined to happen will happen, is there any use in prayer or effort or should we just remain idle?
Ramana Maharshi : There are only two ways in which to conquer destiny or be independent of it. One is to enquire who undergoes this destiny and discover that only the ego is bound by it and not the Self, and that the ego is non-existent.
The other way is to kill the ego by completely surrendering to the Lord, by realising one’s helplessness and saying all the time: ‘Not I, but Thou, Oh, my Lord’, and giving up all sense of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ and leaving it to the Lord to do what he likes with you. Surrender can never be regarded as complete so long as the devotee wants this or that from the Lord.
True surrender is love of God for the sake of love and for nothing else, not even for the sake of salvation. In other words, complete effacement of the ego is necessary to conquer destiny, whether you achieve this effacement through Self enquiry or through bhakti-marga.
Ramana Maharshi : There are only two ways in which to conquer destiny or be independent of it. One is to enquire who undergoes this destiny and discover that only the ego is bound by it and not the Self, and that the ego is non-existent.
The other way is to kill the ego by completely surrendering to the Lord, by realising one’s helplessness and saying all the time: ‘Not I, but Thou, Oh, my Lord’, and giving up all sense of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ and leaving it to the Lord to do what he likes with you. Surrender can never be regarded as complete so long as the devotee wants this or that from the Lord.
True surrender is love of God for the sake of love and for nothing else, not even for the sake of salvation. In other words, complete effacement of the ego is necessary to conquer destiny, whether you achieve this effacement through Self enquiry or through bhakti-marga.
Ramana Maharshi - Whatever is destined to happen will happen
Ramana Maharshi : It is true that we are not bound. That is to say, the real Self has no bondage. And it is true that you will eventually return to your Source. But meanwhile, if you commit sins, as you call them, you have to face the consequences. You cannot escape them.
If a man beats you, can you say: ‘I am free. I am not affected by the beating and feel no pain. Let him continue beating’? If you can really feel that, then you can do what you like, but what is the use of just saying in words that you are free? The Ordainer controls the fate of souls in accordance with their prarabdhakarma (destiny to be worked out in this life, resulting from the balance sheet of actions in past lives).
Whatever is destined not to happen will not happen, try as you may. Whatever is destined to happen will happen, do what you may to prevent it. This is certain. The best course, therefore, is to remain silent
If a man beats you, can you say: ‘I am free. I am not affected by the beating and feel no pain. Let him continue beating’? If you can really feel that, then you can do what you like, but what is the use of just saying in words that you are free? The Ordainer controls the fate of souls in accordance with their prarabdhakarma (destiny to be worked out in this life, resulting from the balance sheet of actions in past lives).
Whatever is destined not to happen will not happen, try as you may. Whatever is destined to happen will happen, do what you may to prevent it. This is certain. The best course, therefore, is to remain silent
Ramana Maharshi - One should realise Self by the Eye of wisdom
Ramana Maharshi - All scriptures without exception proclaim that for attaining salvation, the mind should be subdued. And once one knows that control of the mind is their final aim, it is futile to make an interminable study of them. What is required for such control is actual enquiry into oneself by self-interrogation – ‘Who am I?’ How can this enquiry in quest of the Self be made by means of a studying of the scriptures?
One should realise the Self by the Eye of wisdom. Does Rama need a mirror to recognise himself as Rama? That to which ‘I’ refers is within the five sheaths, whereas the scriptures are outside them. Therefore, it is futile to seek by means of the study of the scriptures, the Self that has to be realised by summarily rejecting even the five sheaths.
To enquire ‘who am I that is in bondage?’ and to know one’s real nature alone is Liberation. To keep the mind constantly turned within and to abide thus in the Self is alone Atmavichara (Self-enquiry), whereas dhyana (meditation) consists in fervent contemplation of the Self as Sat-Chit-Ananda (Being- Consciousness-Bliss).1 Indeed, at some time, one will have to
forget everything that has been learnt.
The Realised Man stands forth as That to which all the attributes enumerated by the scriptures refer. To him therefore, these sacred texts are of no use whatever.
One should realise the Self by the Eye of wisdom. Does Rama need a mirror to recognise himself as Rama? That to which ‘I’ refers is within the five sheaths, whereas the scriptures are outside them. Therefore, it is futile to seek by means of the study of the scriptures, the Self that has to be realised by summarily rejecting even the five sheaths.
To enquire ‘who am I that is in bondage?’ and to know one’s real nature alone is Liberation. To keep the mind constantly turned within and to abide thus in the Self is alone Atmavichara (Self-enquiry), whereas dhyana (meditation) consists in fervent contemplation of the Self as Sat-Chit-Ananda (Being- Consciousness-Bliss).1 Indeed, at some time, one will have to
forget everything that has been learnt.
The Realised Man stands forth as That to which all the attributes enumerated by the scriptures refer. To him therefore, these sacred texts are of no use whatever.
Ramana Maharshi : Why do religions speak of gods, heaven, hell
Question : Why do religions speak of gods, heaven, hell etc?
Ramana Maharshi : Only to make people realise that they are on a par with this world and that the Self alone is real. The religions are according to the viewpoint of the seeker. (Take the Bhagavad Gita for instance; when Arjuna said that he would not fight against his own relations and elders, in order to kill them and gain the kingdom, Sri Krishna said: ‘Not that these, you or I
were not before, are not now, nor will be hereafter. None was born, none has died, nor will it be so hereafter’ and so on.
Later, as he developed the theme and declared that He had given the same instruction to the Sun, through him to Ikshvaku, etc. Arjuna raised the doubt: ‘How can that be? You were born a few years ago. They lived ages ago’. Then Sri Krishna, understanding Arjuna’s standpoint, said: ‘Yes, there have been many incarnations of myself and yourself; I know them all, but you do not’). Such statements appear contradictory, but still both are right according to the point of view of the questioner. Christ also declared “Before Abraham was, I am.”
Question : What is the purpose of such descriptions in religion?
Ramana Maharshi : Only to establish the reality of the Self.
Ramana Maharshi : Only to make people realise that they are on a par with this world and that the Self alone is real. The religions are according to the viewpoint of the seeker. (Take the Bhagavad Gita for instance; when Arjuna said that he would not fight against his own relations and elders, in order to kill them and gain the kingdom, Sri Krishna said: ‘Not that these, you or I
were not before, are not now, nor will be hereafter. None was born, none has died, nor will it be so hereafter’ and so on.
Later, as he developed the theme and declared that He had given the same instruction to the Sun, through him to Ikshvaku, etc. Arjuna raised the doubt: ‘How can that be? You were born a few years ago. They lived ages ago’. Then Sri Krishna, understanding Arjuna’s standpoint, said: ‘Yes, there have been many incarnations of myself and yourself; I know them all, but you do not’). Such statements appear contradictory, but still both are right according to the point of view of the questioner. Christ also declared “Before Abraham was, I am.”
Question : What is the purpose of such descriptions in religion?
Ramana Maharshi : Only to establish the reality of the Self.
Ramana Maharshi : Can’t we see God in concrete form
Question : Can’t we see God in concrete form?
Ramana Maharshi : Yes. God is seen in the mind. A concrete form may be seen but still it is only in the devotees’ mind. The form and appearance in which God manifests are determined by the mind of the devotee. But that is not the ultimate experience. There is a sense of duality in it. It is like a dream or vision. After God is perceived, Self-enquiry begins and that leads to Realisation of the Self. Self-enquiry is the ultimate route
Ramana Maharshi : Yes. God is seen in the mind. A concrete form may be seen but still it is only in the devotees’ mind. The form and appearance in which God manifests are determined by the mind of the devotee. But that is not the ultimate experience. There is a sense of duality in it. It is like a dream or vision. After God is perceived, Self-enquiry begins and that leads to Realisation of the Self. Self-enquiry is the ultimate route
Ramana Maharshi : What is meditation? It is suspension of thoughts
Question : What should one think of when meditating?
Ramana Maharshi : What is meditation? It is the suspension of thoughts. You are perturbed by thoughts which rush one after another. Hold on to one thought so that others are expelled. Continuous practice gives the necessary strength of mind to engage in meditation.
Meditation differs according to the degree of advancement of the seeker. If one is fit for it one can hold directly to the thinker; and the thinker will automatically sink into his source, which is Pure Consciousness. If one cannot directly hold on to the thinker, one must meditate on God; and in due course the same individual will have become sufficiently pure to hold on to the thinker and sink into the absolute Being. In case the path of worship was chosen, he demanded absolute surrender.
Ramana Maharshi : What is meditation? It is the suspension of thoughts. You are perturbed by thoughts which rush one after another. Hold on to one thought so that others are expelled. Continuous practice gives the necessary strength of mind to engage in meditation.
Meditation differs according to the degree of advancement of the seeker. If one is fit for it one can hold directly to the thinker; and the thinker will automatically sink into his source, which is Pure Consciousness. If one cannot directly hold on to the thinker, one must meditate on God; and in due course the same individual will have become sufficiently pure to hold on to the thinker and sink into the absolute Being. In case the path of worship was chosen, he demanded absolute surrender.
Ramana Maharshi -There is more pleasure in Meditation than in Sensual Enjoyment
Question : There is more pleasure in meditation than in sensual enjoyment and yet the mind seeks the latter and not the former. Why is that?
Ramana Maharshi - Pleasure and pain are only aspects of the mind. Our essential nature is happiness, but we have forgotten the Self and imagine that the body or the mind is the Self. It is this wrong identification that gives rise to misery. What is to be done?
This tendency is very deep-rooted and has continued for many past births and so has grown strong. It will have to go before the essential nature, which is happiness, can be realised. And above all, not to create new vasanas or latent tendencies.
Ramana Maharshi - Pleasure and pain are only aspects of the mind. Our essential nature is happiness, but we have forgotten the Self and imagine that the body or the mind is the Self. It is this wrong identification that gives rise to misery. What is to be done?
This tendency is very deep-rooted and has continued for many past births and so has grown strong. It will have to go before the essential nature, which is happiness, can be realised. And above all, not to create new vasanas or latent tendencies.
Ramana Maharshi - Thoughts suddenly cease and ‘I-I’ rises up equally suddenly
Question : Thoughts suddenly cease and ‘I-I’ rises up equally suddenly and continues. It is only a feeling, not a thought. Can it be right?
Ramana Maharshi : Yes, it is quite right. Thoughts have to cease and reason to disappear for the ‘I-I’ to rise up and be felt. Feeling is the main thing, not reason.
Question : Moreover, it is not in the head, but at the right side of the chest.
Ramana Maharshi : That is where it should be, because the heart is there.
Question : When I look outwards it disappears. What should I do?
Ramana Maharshi : Hold fast to it. This does not mean that thought is impossible during the state of ‘I’ consciousness, as indeed one can see from the example of Bhagavan himself, who was permanently in that state. For the ignorant person, thought is like a dense cloud overhead, shutting him off from the illumination of the sun.
When the ceiling of cloud has been broken and rolled back, letting in the light, he can use thought without being imprisoned by it. To change the metaphor, Bhagavan sometimes compared the mind of the Realised Man to the moon in the sky in day-time – it is there but its light is not needed – because one can see without it by the direct light of the sun.
Ramana Maharshi : Yes, it is quite right. Thoughts have to cease and reason to disappear for the ‘I-I’ to rise up and be felt. Feeling is the main thing, not reason.
Question : Moreover, it is not in the head, but at the right side of the chest.
Ramana Maharshi : That is where it should be, because the heart is there.
Question : When I look outwards it disappears. What should I do?
Ramana Maharshi : Hold fast to it. This does not mean that thought is impossible during the state of ‘I’ consciousness, as indeed one can see from the example of Bhagavan himself, who was permanently in that state. For the ignorant person, thought is like a dense cloud overhead, shutting him off from the illumination of the sun.
When the ceiling of cloud has been broken and rolled back, letting in the light, he can use thought without being imprisoned by it. To change the metaphor, Bhagavan sometimes compared the mind of the Realised Man to the moon in the sky in day-time – it is there but its light is not needed – because one can see without it by the direct light of the sun.
Ramana Maharshi - When a room is dark you need a lamp to light it
Ramana Maharshi - When a room is dark you need a lamp to light it, but when the sun rises there is no need for a lamp; objects are seen without one. And to see the sun itself no lamp is needed because it is self-luminous. Similarly with the mind. The reflected light of the mind is necessary to perceive objects, but to see the heart it is enough for the mind to be turned towards it. Then the mind loses itself and the Heart shines forth.
Ramana Maharshi - Vedas are eloquent in neti-neti and then remain silent.
Lakshman Brahmachari from Sri Ramakrishna Mission asked, “Enquiry of ‘Who am I?’ or of the ‘I-thought’ being itself a thought, how can it be destroyed in the process?”
Sri Bhagavan replied with a story. When Sita was asked who was her husband among the rishis (Rama himself being present there as a rishi) in the forest, by the wives of the rishis, she denied each one as he was pointed out to her, but simply hung down her head when Rama was pointed out. Her silence was eloquent.
Similarly, the Vedas also are eloquent in neti-neti (not this, not this) and then remain silent. Their silence is the Real State. This is the meaning of exposition by silence. When the source of the ‘I’-thought is reached it vanishes and what remains is the Self.
Sri Bhagavan replied with a story. When Sita was asked who was her husband among the rishis (Rama himself being present there as a rishi) in the forest, by the wives of the rishis, she denied each one as he was pointed out to her, but simply hung down her head when Rama was pointed out. Her silence was eloquent.
Similarly, the Vedas also are eloquent in neti-neti (not this, not this) and then remain silent. Their silence is the Real State. This is the meaning of exposition by silence. When the source of the ‘I’-thought is reached it vanishes and what remains is the Self.
Bhagavan Ramana Story on Greatness of Japa
A devotee asked, “Swami, what is the easiest way to attain moksha?”
Bhagavan said with a smile, “As and when the mind goes astray, it should be turned inward and made to steady itself in the thought of the Self. That is the only way.”
Another devotee said, “To do so, the repeating of the name of Rama is good, is it not?”
“Certainly, it is good,” said Bhagavan. “What could be better? The greatness of the japa of the name of Rama is extraordinary. In the story of Namadeva he is reported to have told one devotee, ‘If you want to know the greatness of the name of Rama you must first know what your own name is, what your real nature (swarupa) is, who you are and how you were born.
Unless you know your own origin, you will not know your name!’ This idea is found in the Abhangas of Namadeva written in Marathi language and in the Malayalam Adhyatma Ramayana.” Thereupon Bhagavan related a story from the latter.
It is stated in that book that when Anjaneya went in search of Sita, he seated himself opposite to Ravana in the Darbar Hall on a high pedestal and fearlessly spoke to him thus: ‘Oh Ravana, I give you a teaching (upadesa) for attaining liberation (moksha). Please listen to me carefully. It is certain that the Self (Atma) gets purified by intense devotion to Hari, who is in the lotus of the Heart at all times. The ego gets destroyed and then the sin gets destroyed.
Afterwards, in its place, the knowledge of the transcendent Self emerges. With a pure mind and with the Bliss (Ananda) generated by a firm knowledge of the Self, the two letters ‘Ra’ ‘Ma’ which are like mantras, will repeat themselves within you automatically.
What more is required for a person who has this knowledge, however little it might be? Hence worship the lotus feet of Vishnu, which will remove all worldly fears, which are dear to all devotees and which shine as brightly as the light of a crore of Suns. Give up the ignorance of your mind’. This has been mentioned in two or three slokas in the Sanskrit Adhyatma Ramayanam but not as elaborately as in the Malayalam text. Is the greatness of the name of Rama ordinary?
Bhagavan said with a smile, “As and when the mind goes astray, it should be turned inward and made to steady itself in the thought of the Self. That is the only way.”
Another devotee said, “To do so, the repeating of the name of Rama is good, is it not?”
“Certainly, it is good,” said Bhagavan. “What could be better? The greatness of the japa of the name of Rama is extraordinary. In the story of Namadeva he is reported to have told one devotee, ‘If you want to know the greatness of the name of Rama you must first know what your own name is, what your real nature (swarupa) is, who you are and how you were born.
Unless you know your own origin, you will not know your name!’ This idea is found in the Abhangas of Namadeva written in Marathi language and in the Malayalam Adhyatma Ramayana.” Thereupon Bhagavan related a story from the latter.
It is stated in that book that when Anjaneya went in search of Sita, he seated himself opposite to Ravana in the Darbar Hall on a high pedestal and fearlessly spoke to him thus: ‘Oh Ravana, I give you a teaching (upadesa) for attaining liberation (moksha). Please listen to me carefully. It is certain that the Self (Atma) gets purified by intense devotion to Hari, who is in the lotus of the Heart at all times. The ego gets destroyed and then the sin gets destroyed.
Afterwards, in its place, the knowledge of the transcendent Self emerges. With a pure mind and with the Bliss (Ananda) generated by a firm knowledge of the Self, the two letters ‘Ra’ ‘Ma’ which are like mantras, will repeat themselves within you automatically.
What more is required for a person who has this knowledge, however little it might be? Hence worship the lotus feet of Vishnu, which will remove all worldly fears, which are dear to all devotees and which shine as brightly as the light of a crore of Suns. Give up the ignorance of your mind’. This has been mentioned in two or three slokas in the Sanskrit Adhyatma Ramayanam but not as elaborately as in the Malayalam text. Is the greatness of the name of Rama ordinary?
Ramana Maharshi : How to attain control over my thoughts and desires
Question : What should I do to overcome the pull of these thoughts and desires? How should I regulate my life so as to attain control over my thoughts?
Ramana Maharshi : The more you get fixed in the Self the more other thoughts will drop off of themselves. The mind is nothing but a bundle of thoughts, and the `I'-thought is the root of all of them. When you see who this `I' is and find out where it comes from all thoughts get merged in the Self. Regulation of life, such as getting up at a fixed hour, bathing, doing mantra, japa, observing ritual, all this is for people who do not feel drawn to self-enquiry or are not capable of it. But for those who can practise this method all rules and discipline are unnecessary.
Ramana Maharshi : The more you get fixed in the Self the more other thoughts will drop off of themselves. The mind is nothing but a bundle of thoughts, and the `I'-thought is the root of all of them. When you see who this `I' is and find out where it comes from all thoughts get merged in the Self. Regulation of life, such as getting up at a fixed hour, bathing, doing mantra, japa, observing ritual, all this is for people who do not feel drawn to self-enquiry or are not capable of it. But for those who can practise this method all rules and discipline are unnecessary.
Ramana Maharshi story on Permanent Realisation and a Glimpse
Question : What is the difference between a man who makes no attempt and remains an ajnani, and another who gains a glimpse and returns to ajnana?
Ramana Maharshi : In the latter case a stimulus is always present to goad him on to further efforts until the Realisation is perfect.
Question : The Srutis say, ‘this knowledge of Brahman shines forth once and for ever’.
Ramana Maharshi : They refer to the permanent Realisation and not to the glimpse.
Question : How is it possible that a man forgets his own experience and falls back into ignorance?
Sri Bhagavan illustrated this with the following story.
There was a king who treated his subjects well. One of his ministers gained his confidence and misused the influence. All the other ministers and officers were adversely affected and they hit upon a plan to get rid of him. They instructed the guards not to let the man enter the palace. The king noted his absence and enquired after him.
He was informed that the man was taken ill and could not therefore come to the palace. The king deputed his physician to attend on the minister. False reports were conveyed to the king that the minister was sometimes improving and at other times collapsing.
The king desired to see the patient. But the pandits said that such an action was against the dharma. Later the minister was reported to have died. The king was very sorry when he heard the news. The arrogant minister was kept informed of all the happenings by spies of his own.
He tried to foil the other ministers. He waited for the king to come out of the palace so that he might report himself to the king. On one occasion he climbed up a tree, hid himself among the branches and awaited the king. The king came out that night in the palanquin and the man in hiding jumped down in front of the palanquin and shouted his identity.
The companion of the king was equally resourceful. He at once took out a handful of sacred ashes (vibhuti) from his pocket and scattered it in the air so that the king was obliged to close his eyes. The companion also shouted victory (jai) to the king and ordered the band to play so that the other man’s shout was drowned in the noise.
He also ordered the palanquin-bearers to move fast and he himself sang incantations to keep off evil spirits. The king was thus left under the impression that the dead man’s ghost was playing pranks with him.
The disappointed man became desperate and retired into the forest for tapasya (austerities). After a long time the king happened to go hunting. He came across the former minister seated in deep contemplation. But he hastened away from the spot lest the ghost should molest him.
Ramana Maharshi : In the latter case a stimulus is always present to goad him on to further efforts until the Realisation is perfect.
Question : The Srutis say, ‘this knowledge of Brahman shines forth once and for ever’.
Ramana Maharshi : They refer to the permanent Realisation and not to the glimpse.
Question : How is it possible that a man forgets his own experience and falls back into ignorance?
Sri Bhagavan illustrated this with the following story.
There was a king who treated his subjects well. One of his ministers gained his confidence and misused the influence. All the other ministers and officers were adversely affected and they hit upon a plan to get rid of him. They instructed the guards not to let the man enter the palace. The king noted his absence and enquired after him.
He was informed that the man was taken ill and could not therefore come to the palace. The king deputed his physician to attend on the minister. False reports were conveyed to the king that the minister was sometimes improving and at other times collapsing.
The king desired to see the patient. But the pandits said that such an action was against the dharma. Later the minister was reported to have died. The king was very sorry when he heard the news. The arrogant minister was kept informed of all the happenings by spies of his own.
He tried to foil the other ministers. He waited for the king to come out of the palace so that he might report himself to the king. On one occasion he climbed up a tree, hid himself among the branches and awaited the king. The king came out that night in the palanquin and the man in hiding jumped down in front of the palanquin and shouted his identity.
The companion of the king was equally resourceful. He at once took out a handful of sacred ashes (vibhuti) from his pocket and scattered it in the air so that the king was obliged to close his eyes. The companion also shouted victory (jai) to the king and ordered the band to play so that the other man’s shout was drowned in the noise.
He also ordered the palanquin-bearers to move fast and he himself sang incantations to keep off evil spirits. The king was thus left under the impression that the dead man’s ghost was playing pranks with him.
The disappointed man became desperate and retired into the forest for tapasya (austerities). After a long time the king happened to go hunting. He came across the former minister seated in deep contemplation. But he hastened away from the spot lest the ghost should molest him.
Ramana Maharshi - Why cannot Mind be turned inward easily
Question : Why cannot the mind be turned inward in spite of repeated attempts?
Ramana Maharshi : It is done by practice and dispassion and it succeeds only gradually. The mind, having been so long a cow accustomed to graze stealthily on others' estates, is not easily confined to her stall. However much her keeper tempts her with luscious grass and fine fodder, she refuses the first time. Then she takes a bit, but her innate tendency to stray away asserts itself and she slips away. On being repeatedly tempted by the owner, she accustoms herself to the stall until finally, even if let loose, she does not stray away. Similarly with the mind. If once it finds its inner happiness it will not wander outward.
Ramana Maharshi : It is done by practice and dispassion and it succeeds only gradually. The mind, having been so long a cow accustomed to graze stealthily on others' estates, is not easily confined to her stall. However much her keeper tempts her with luscious grass and fine fodder, she refuses the first time. Then she takes a bit, but her innate tendency to stray away asserts itself and she slips away. On being repeatedly tempted by the owner, she accustoms herself to the stall until finally, even if let loose, she does not stray away. Similarly with the mind. If once it finds its inner happiness it will not wander outward.
Ramana Maharshi - Should we Suppress or Satisfy the Desires and Vasanas
Question : What is the best way of dealing with desires and vasanas with a view to getting rid of them - satisfying them or suppressing them?
Ramana Maharshi : If a desire can be got rid of by satisfying it, there will be no harm in satisfying such a desire. But desires generally are not eradicated by satisfaction. Trying to root them out that way is like trying to quench a fire by pouring inflammable spirits on it. At the same time, the proper remedy is not forcible suppression, since such repression is bound to react sooner or later into a forceful surging up of desires with undesirable consequences.
The proper way to get rid of a desire is to find out `Who gets the desire? What is its source?' When this is found, the desire is rooted out and it will never again emerge or grow. Small desires such as the desire to eat, drink, sleep and attend to calls of nature, though these may also be classed among desires, you can safely satisfy.
They will not implant vasanas in your mind, necessitating further birth. Those activities are just necessary to carry on life and are not likely to develop or leave behind vasanas or tendencies. As a general rule, therefore, there is no harm in satisfying a desire where the satisfaction will not lead to further desires by creating vasanas in the mind.
Ramana Maharshi : If a desire can be got rid of by satisfying it, there will be no harm in satisfying such a desire. But desires generally are not eradicated by satisfaction. Trying to root them out that way is like trying to quench a fire by pouring inflammable spirits on it. At the same time, the proper remedy is not forcible suppression, since such repression is bound to react sooner or later into a forceful surging up of desires with undesirable consequences.
The proper way to get rid of a desire is to find out `Who gets the desire? What is its source?' When this is found, the desire is rooted out and it will never again emerge or grow. Small desires such as the desire to eat, drink, sleep and attend to calls of nature, though these may also be classed among desires, you can safely satisfy.
They will not implant vasanas in your mind, necessitating further birth. Those activities are just necessary to carry on life and are not likely to develop or leave behind vasanas or tendencies. As a general rule, therefore, there is no harm in satisfying a desire where the satisfaction will not lead to further desires by creating vasanas in the mind.
Sri Bhagavan Ramana story of Krishna saving Parikshit Life
Sri Bhagavan warned the hearers against the mistake of disparaging a jnani for his apparent conduct and again cited the story of Parikshit. He was a still born child. The ladies cried and appealed to Sri Krishna to save the child.
The sages round about wondered how Krishna was going to save the child from the effects of the arrows (apandavastra) of Asvattama. Krishna said, “If the child be touched by one eternally celibate (nityabramachari) the child would be brought to life.” Even Suka dared not touch the child. Finding no one among the reputed saints bold enough to touch the child, Krishna went and touched it, saying, “If I am eternally celibate (nityabramachari) may the child be brought to life.” The child began to breathe and later grew up to be Parikshit.
Just consider how Krishna surrounded by 16,000 gopis is a brahmachari! Such is the mystery of jivanmukti! A jivanmukta is one who does not see anything separate from the Self.
The sages round about wondered how Krishna was going to save the child from the effects of the arrows (apandavastra) of Asvattama. Krishna said, “If the child be touched by one eternally celibate (nityabramachari) the child would be brought to life.” Even Suka dared not touch the child. Finding no one among the reputed saints bold enough to touch the child, Krishna went and touched it, saying, “If I am eternally celibate (nityabramachari) may the child be brought to life.” The child began to breathe and later grew up to be Parikshit.
Just consider how Krishna surrounded by 16,000 gopis is a brahmachari! Such is the mystery of jivanmukti! A jivanmukta is one who does not see anything separate from the Self.
Ramana Maharshi story - Disciple gratitude to the Master
Ramana Maharshi - A Disciple served his master for a long time and realised the Self. He was in Bliss and wanted to express his gratitude to the Master. He was in tears of joy and his voice choked when he spoke. He said, “What a wonder that I did not know my very Self all these years! I suffered long and you so graciously helped me to realise the Self. How shall I repay your grace?
It is not in my power to do it.” The Master replied, “Well, well. Your repayment consists in not lapsing into ignorance again but in continuing in the state of your real Self.”
Ramana Maharshi story on festival of the gods and goddess
Ramana Maharshi - On a particular day in the year the God and the Goddess are taken to an adjoining field and the festival of the gods and goddess is celebrated. This is in memory of the fact that one day Sundaramurti Swami entered the temple and found to his dismay that neither God nor Goddess was there, and that on searching for them he found them in a field working at transplanting seedlings for a devotee, a Harijan.
Ramana Maharshi - Brahma jnana is not a knowledge to be acquired
Question - Not having realised the Truth that the Self alone exists, should I not adopt bhakti and yoga margas as being more suitable for purposes of sadhana than vichara marga? Is not the Realization of one’s Absolute Being that is, Brahma jnana, something quite unattainable to a layman like me?
Ramana Maharshi - Brahma jnana is not a knowledge to be acquired, so that acquiring it one may obtain happiness. It is one’s ignorant outlook that one should give up. The Self you seek to know is verily yourself. Your supposed ignorance causes you needless grief like that of the ten foolish men who grieved the ‘loss’ of the tenth man who was never lost.
The Ten Foolish men in the parable forded a stream and on reaching the other shore wanted to make sure that all of them had in fact safely crossed the stream. One of the ten began to count, but while counting others left himself out. “I see only nine; sure enough we have lost one. Who can it be?” he said.
“Did you count correctly?” asked another, and did the counting himself. But he too counted only nine. One after the other each of the ten counted only nine, missing himself. “We are only nine” they all agreed, “but who is the missing one?”, they asked themselves. Every effort they made to discover the ‘missing’ individual failed. “Whoever he be that is drowned” said the sentimental of ten fools, “we have lost him”. So saying he burst into tears, and the rest of the nine followed suit.
Seeing them weeping on the river bank, a sympathetic wayfarer enquired for the cause. They related what had happened and said that even after counting themselves several times they could find no more than nine. On hearing the story, but seeing all the ten before him, the wayfarer guessed what had happened.
In order to make them know for themselves that they were really ten, that all of them had come safe from the crossing, he told them, “Let each of you count for himself but one after the other serially, one, two, three and so on, while I shall give you each a blow so that all of you may be sure of having been included in the count, and included only once. The tenth ‘missing’ man will
then be found.” Hearing this they rejoiced at the prospect of finding their ‘lost’ comrade and accepted the method suggested by the wayfarer.
While the kind wayfarer gave a blow to each of the ten in turn, he that got the blow counted himself aloud. “Ten” said the last man as he got the last blow in his turn. Bewildered they looked at one another, “We are ten” they said with one voice and thanked the wayfarer for having removed their grief. That is the parable. From where was the tenth man brought in?
Was he ever lost? By knowing that he had been there all the while, did they learn anything new? The cause of their grief was not the real loss of any one of the ten, it was their own ignorance, rather their mere supposition that one of them was lost – though they could not find who he was – because they counted only nine.
Ramana Maharshi - Brahma jnana is not a knowledge to be acquired, so that acquiring it one may obtain happiness. It is one’s ignorant outlook that one should give up. The Self you seek to know is verily yourself. Your supposed ignorance causes you needless grief like that of the ten foolish men who grieved the ‘loss’ of the tenth man who was never lost.
The Ten Foolish men in the parable forded a stream and on reaching the other shore wanted to make sure that all of them had in fact safely crossed the stream. One of the ten began to count, but while counting others left himself out. “I see only nine; sure enough we have lost one. Who can it be?” he said.
“Did you count correctly?” asked another, and did the counting himself. But he too counted only nine. One after the other each of the ten counted only nine, missing himself. “We are only nine” they all agreed, “but who is the missing one?”, they asked themselves. Every effort they made to discover the ‘missing’ individual failed. “Whoever he be that is drowned” said the sentimental of ten fools, “we have lost him”. So saying he burst into tears, and the rest of the nine followed suit.
Seeing them weeping on the river bank, a sympathetic wayfarer enquired for the cause. They related what had happened and said that even after counting themselves several times they could find no more than nine. On hearing the story, but seeing all the ten before him, the wayfarer guessed what had happened.
In order to make them know for themselves that they were really ten, that all of them had come safe from the crossing, he told them, “Let each of you count for himself but one after the other serially, one, two, three and so on, while I shall give you each a blow so that all of you may be sure of having been included in the count, and included only once. The tenth ‘missing’ man will
then be found.” Hearing this they rejoiced at the prospect of finding their ‘lost’ comrade and accepted the method suggested by the wayfarer.
While the kind wayfarer gave a blow to each of the ten in turn, he that got the blow counted himself aloud. “Ten” said the last man as he got the last blow in his turn. Bewildered they looked at one another, “We are ten” they said with one voice and thanked the wayfarer for having removed their grief. That is the parable. From where was the tenth man brought in?
Was he ever lost? By knowing that he had been there all the while, did they learn anything new? The cause of their grief was not the real loss of any one of the ten, it was their own ignorance, rather their mere supposition that one of them was lost – though they could not find who he was – because they counted only nine.
Question : People practising meditation are said to get new diseases; at any rate, I feel some pain in the back and front of the chest. This is stated to be a test by God. Will Bhagavan explain this and say if it is true?
Ramana Maharshi : There is no Bhagavan outside you and no test is therefore instituted. What you believe to be a test or a new disease resulting from spiritual practices is really the strain that is now brought to play upon your nerves and the five senses. The mind which was hitherto operating through the nadis [nerves] to sense external objects, maintaining a link between itself and the organs of perception, is now required to withdraw from the link' and this action of withdrawal naturally causes a strain, a sprain or a snap attendant with pain.
Some people call this a disease and some call it a test of God. All these pains will go if you continue your meditation, bestowing your thought solely on understanding your Self or on Self-realization. There is no greater remedy than this continuous yoga or union with God or atman. Pain is inevitable as a result of discarding the vasanas [mental tendencies] which you have had for so long.
Ramana Maharshi : There is no Bhagavan outside you and no test is therefore instituted. What you believe to be a test or a new disease resulting from spiritual practices is really the strain that is now brought to play upon your nerves and the five senses. The mind which was hitherto operating through the nadis [nerves] to sense external objects, maintaining a link between itself and the organs of perception, is now required to withdraw from the link' and this action of withdrawal naturally causes a strain, a sprain or a snap attendant with pain.
Some people call this a disease and some call it a test of God. All these pains will go if you continue your meditation, bestowing your thought solely on understanding your Self or on Self-realization. There is no greater remedy than this continuous yoga or union with God or atman. Pain is inevitable as a result of discarding the vasanas [mental tendencies] which you have had for so long.
Ramana Maharsh on disturbance during Meditation
Question : Suppose there is some disturbance during meditation, such as mosquito bites. Should one persist in meditation and try to bear the bites and ignore the interruption, or drive the mosquitoes away and then continue the meditation?
Ramana Maharshi : You must do as you find most convenient. You will not attain mukti simply because you drive them away. The thing is to attain one-pointedness and then to attain mano-nasa [destruction of the mind]. Whether you do this by putting up with the mosquito bites or driving the mosquitoes away is left to you. If you are completely absorbed in your meditation you will not know that the mosquitoes are biting you. Till you attain that stage why should you not drive them away?
Ramana Maharshi : You must do as you find most convenient. You will not attain mukti simply because you drive them away. The thing is to attain one-pointedness and then to attain mano-nasa [destruction of the mind]. Whether you do this by putting up with the mosquito bites or driving the mosquitoes away is left to you. If you are completely absorbed in your meditation you will not know that the mosquitoes are biting you. Till you attain that stage why should you not drive them away?
Ramana Maharshi - Whenever a thought arises, do not be carried away by it
Question : Can one remain without thoughts rising all the twenty-four hours of the day? Should I remain without meditation?
Ramana Maharshi : What is `hours' again? It is a concept. Each question of yours is prompted by a thought. Whenever a thought arises, do not be carried away by it. You become aware of the body when you forget the Self. But can you forget the Self ? Being the Self how can you forget it ?
There must be two selves for one to forget the other. It is absurd. So the Self is not depressed, nor is it imperfect. It is ever happy. The contrary feeling is a mere thought which has actually no stamina in it. Be rid of thoughts. Why should one attempt meditation? Being the Self one remains always realized. Only be free from thoughts.
You think that your health does not permit your meditation. This depression must be traced to its origin. The origin is the wrong identification of the body with the Self. The disease is not of the Self, it is of the body. But the body does not come and tell you that it is possessed by the disease. It is you who say so. Why ? Because you have wrongly identified yourself with the body. The body itself is a thought. Be as you really are. There is no reason to be depressed.
Ramana Maharshi : What is `hours' again? It is a concept. Each question of yours is prompted by a thought. Whenever a thought arises, do not be carried away by it. You become aware of the body when you forget the Self. But can you forget the Self ? Being the Self how can you forget it ?
There must be two selves for one to forget the other. It is absurd. So the Self is not depressed, nor is it imperfect. It is ever happy. The contrary feeling is a mere thought which has actually no stamina in it. Be rid of thoughts. Why should one attempt meditation? Being the Self one remains always realized. Only be free from thoughts.
You think that your health does not permit your meditation. This depression must be traced to its origin. The origin is the wrong identification of the body with the Self. The disease is not of the Self, it is of the body. But the body does not come and tell you that it is possessed by the disease. It is you who say so. Why ? Because you have wrongly identified yourself with the body. The body itself is a thought. Be as you really are. There is no reason to be depressed.
Ramana Maharshi on sensatiohn of fear during Meditation
Question : When the mind begins to subside into the Self there is often a sensation of fear.
Ramana Maharshi : The fear and the quaking of one's body while one is entering samadhi is due to the slight ego-consciousness still remaining. But when this dies completely, without leaving even a trace, one abides as the vast space of mere consciousness where bliss alone prevails, and the quaking stops.
Ramana Maharshi : The fear and the quaking of one's body while one is entering samadhi is due to the slight ego-consciousness still remaining. But when this dies completely, without leaving even a trace, one abides as the vast space of mere consciousness where bliss alone prevails, and the quaking stops.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Ramana Maharshi on Illusory world and Real world
Question : So the world is not really illusory?
Ramana Maharshi : At the level of the spiritual seeker you have got to say that the world is an illusion. There is no other way. When a man forgets that he is Brahman, who is real, permanent and omnipresent, and deludes himself into thinking that he is a body in the universe which is filled with bodies that are transitory, and labours under that delusion, you have got to remind him that the world is unreal and a delusion.
Why ? Because his vision which has forgotten its own Self is dwelling in the external, material universe. It will not turn inwards into introspection unless you impress on him that all this external, material universe is unreal. When once he realizes his own Self he will know that there is nothing other than his own Self and he will come to look upon the whole universe as Brahman.
There is no universe without the Self. So long as a man does not see the Self which is the origin of all, but looks only at the external world as real and permanent, you have to tell him that all this external universe is an illusion. You cannot help it. Take a paper.
We see only the script, and nobody notices the paper on which the script is written. The paper is there whether the script on it is there or not. To those who look upon the script as real, you have to say that it is unreal, an illusion, since it rests upon the paper. The wise man looks upon both the Paper and script as one. So also with Brahman and the universe.
Ramana Maharshi : At the level of the spiritual seeker you have got to say that the world is an illusion. There is no other way. When a man forgets that he is Brahman, who is real, permanent and omnipresent, and deludes himself into thinking that he is a body in the universe which is filled with bodies that are transitory, and labours under that delusion, you have got to remind him that the world is unreal and a delusion.
Why ? Because his vision which has forgotten its own Self is dwelling in the external, material universe. It will not turn inwards into introspection unless you impress on him that all this external, material universe is unreal. When once he realizes his own Self he will know that there is nothing other than his own Self and he will come to look upon the whole universe as Brahman.
There is no universe without the Self. So long as a man does not see the Self which is the origin of all, but looks only at the external world as real and permanent, you have to tell him that all this external universe is an illusion. You cannot help it. Take a paper.
We see only the script, and nobody notices the paper on which the script is written. The paper is there whether the script on it is there or not. To those who look upon the script as real, you have to say that it is unreal, an illusion, since it rests upon the paper. The wise man looks upon both the Paper and script as one. So also with Brahman and the universe.
Ramana Maharshi discourse on God and the World
Question - What is the relationship between God and the world? Is he the creator or sustainer of it?
Ramana Maharshi - Sentient and insentient beings of all kinds are performing actions only by the mere presence of the sun, which rises in the sky without any volition. Similarly all actions are done by the Lord without any volition or desire on his part. In the mere presence of the sun, the magnifying lens emits fire, the lotus-bud blossoms, the water-lily closes and all the countless creatures perform actions and rest.
The order of the great multitude of worlds is maintained by the mere presence of God in the same manner as the needle moves in front of a magnet, and as the moonstone emits water, the waterlily blossoms and the lotus closes in front of the moon.
In the mere presence of God, who does not have even the least volition, the living beings, who are engaged in innumerable activities, after embarking upon many paths to which they are drawn according to the course determined by their own karmas, finally realize the futility of action, turn back to Self and attain liberation.
The actions of living beings certainly do not go and affect God, who transcends the mind, in the same manner as the activities of the world do not affect that sun and as the qualities of the conspicuous four elements [earth, water, fire and air] do not affect the limitless space.
Ramana Maharshi - Sentient and insentient beings of all kinds are performing actions only by the mere presence of the sun, which rises in the sky without any volition. Similarly all actions are done by the Lord without any volition or desire on his part. In the mere presence of the sun, the magnifying lens emits fire, the lotus-bud blossoms, the water-lily closes and all the countless creatures perform actions and rest.
The order of the great multitude of worlds is maintained by the mere presence of God in the same manner as the needle moves in front of a magnet, and as the moonstone emits water, the waterlily blossoms and the lotus closes in front of the moon.
In the mere presence of God, who does not have even the least volition, the living beings, who are engaged in innumerable activities, after embarking upon many paths to which they are drawn according to the course determined by their own karmas, finally realize the futility of action, turn back to Self and attain liberation.
The actions of living beings certainly do not go and affect God, who transcends the mind, in the same manner as the activities of the world do not affect that sun and as the qualities of the conspicuous four elements [earth, water, fire and air] do not affect the limitless space.
Ramana Maharshi story of King with a Devoted Queen
Ramana Maharshi - There was a king with a devoted queen. She was a devotee of Sri Rama and yearned that her husband should similarly be a devotee. One night she found that the king mumbled something in his sleep. She kept her ears close to his lips and heard the word ‘Rama’ repeated continually as in japa.
She was delighted and the next day ordered the minister to hold a feast. The king having partaken of the feast asked his wife for an explanation. She related the whole occurrence and said that the feast was in gratitude to God for the fulfilment of a long cherished wish.
The king was however annoyed that his devotion should have been found out. Some say that having thus betrayed God he considered himself unworthy of God and so committed suicide. It means that one should not openly display one’s piety. We may take it that the king told the queen not to make a fuss over his piety and they then lived happily together.
She was delighted and the next day ordered the minister to hold a feast. The king having partaken of the feast asked his wife for an explanation. She related the whole occurrence and said that the feast was in gratitude to God for the fulfilment of a long cherished wish.
The king was however annoyed that his devotion should have been found out. Some say that having thus betrayed God he considered himself unworthy of God and so committed suicide. It means that one should not openly display one’s piety. We may take it that the king told the queen not to make a fuss over his piety and they then lived happily together.
Sri Bhagavan - How Does Repetition God name help Realisation
A devotee asked, “How does the repetition of the name of God help Realisation?”
Sri Bhagavan replied, “The original name is always going on spontaneously without any effort on the part of the individual. That name is aham – ‘I’. But when it becomes manifest it manifests as ahamkara – the ego. The oral repetition of the name leads one to mental repetition which finally resolves itself into the eternal vibration. The mind or the mouth cannot act without the Self.” Thereupon Sri Bhagavan told the following story.
Tukaram, The Great Maharashtra Saint, used to remain in samadhi in the day and sing and dance at night with large crowds of people. He always used to utter the name of Sri Rama. Once he was answering the call of nature and also saying “Ram, Ram”. An orthodox priest was shocked at the uttering of the holy name by the saint when his body was not clean. Hence he
reprimanded him and ordered him to be silent. Tukaram said, “All right!” and remained mute.
But at once there arose the name of Rama from every pore of Tukaram and the priest was horrified by the din. He then prayed to Tukaram, “Restrictions are only for the common people and not for saints like you.”
Sri Bhagavan replied, “The original name is always going on spontaneously without any effort on the part of the individual. That name is aham – ‘I’. But when it becomes manifest it manifests as ahamkara – the ego. The oral repetition of the name leads one to mental repetition which finally resolves itself into the eternal vibration. The mind or the mouth cannot act without the Self.” Thereupon Sri Bhagavan told the following story.
Tukaram, The Great Maharashtra Saint, used to remain in samadhi in the day and sing and dance at night with large crowds of people. He always used to utter the name of Sri Rama. Once he was answering the call of nature and also saying “Ram, Ram”. An orthodox priest was shocked at the uttering of the holy name by the saint when his body was not clean. Hence he
reprimanded him and ordered him to be silent. Tukaram said, “All right!” and remained mute.
But at once there arose the name of Rama from every pore of Tukaram and the priest was horrified by the din. He then prayed to Tukaram, “Restrictions are only for the common people and not for saints like you.”
Ramana Maharshi - Householder's life is not a bar
Ramana Maharshi - The householder's life is not a bar, but the householder must do his utmost to practise self-control. If a man has a strong desire for the higher life then the sex tendency will subside. When the mind is destroyed, the other desires are destroyed also.
Ramana Maharshi - attempt to destroy the Ego or Mind
Ramana Maharshi - The attempt to destroy the ego or the mind through sadhanas other than atma-vichara is just like the thief pretending to be a policeman to catch the thief, that is, himself. Atma-vichara alone can reveal the truth that neither the ego nor the mind really exists, and enable one to realize the pure, undifferentiated being of the Self or the absolute. Having realized the Self, nothing remains to be known, because it is perfect bliss, it is the all.
Ramana Maharshi - Turn inwards enquiring `Where is this I'
Ramana Maharshi -The thought `l am this body of flesh and blood' is the one thread on which are strung the various other thoughts. Therefore, if we turn inwards enquiring `Where is this I?' all thoughts (including the `I'-thought) will come to an end and Self-knowledge will then spontaneously shine forth.
Ramana Maharshi - Pure `I' is the pure being, eternal existence
Ramana Maharshi - You must distinguish between the `I', pure in itself, and the `I'-thought. The latter, being merely a thought, sees subject and object, sleeps, wakes up, eats and thinks, dies and is reborn. But the pure `I' is the pure being, eternal existence, free from ignorance and thought-illusion. If you stay as the `I', your being alone, without thought, the `I'-thought will disappear and the delusion will vanish for ever. In a cinema-show you can see pictures only in a very dim light or in darkness. But when all the lights are switched on, the pictures disappear. So also in the floodlight of the supreme atman all objects disappear.
Ramana Maharshi - Self Enquiry by following the clue of aham-vritti
Ramana Maharshi - Self Enquiry by following the clue of aham-vritti is just like the dog tracing his master by his scent. The master may be at some distant unknown place, but that does not stand in the way of the dog tracing him. The master's scent is an infallible clue for the animal, and nothing else, such as the dress he wears, or his build and stature, etc., counts. To that scent the dog holds on undistractedly while searching for him, and finally it succeeds in tracing him.
Ramana Maharshi : Who is the Doer of All actions
Question : But is God really the doer of all the actions I perform?
Ramana Maharshi : The present difficulty is that man thinks he is the doer. But it is a mistake. It is the higher power which does everything and man is only a tool. If he accepts that position he is free from troubles, otherwise he courts them. Take, for instance, the sculpted figure at the base of a gopuram [temple tower], which is made to appear as if it is bearing the burden of the tower on its shoulder. Its posture and look are a picture of great strain which gives the impression that it is bearing the weight of the tower. But think. The tower is built on the earth and it rests on its foundations. The figure is a part of the tower, but it is made to look as if it is bearing the weight of the tower. Is it not funny ? So also is the man who takes on himself the sense of doing.
Ramana Maharshi : The present difficulty is that man thinks he is the doer. But it is a mistake. It is the higher power which does everything and man is only a tool. If he accepts that position he is free from troubles, otherwise he courts them. Take, for instance, the sculpted figure at the base of a gopuram [temple tower], which is made to appear as if it is bearing the burden of the tower on its shoulder. Its posture and look are a picture of great strain which gives the impression that it is bearing the weight of the tower. But think. The tower is built on the earth and it rests on its foundations. The figure is a part of the tower, but it is made to look as if it is bearing the weight of the tower. Is it not funny ? So also is the man who takes on himself the sense of doing.
Ramana Maharshi Story - In the World but not of the World
Ramana Maharshi - Kaduveli Siddhar was famed as a very austere hermit. He lived on the dry leaves fallen from trees. The king of the country heard of him and offered a reward to one who would prove this man’s worth. A rich dasi agreed to do it.
She began to live near the recluse and pretended to attend on him. She gently left pieces of pappadam along with the dry leaves picked by him. When he had eaten them she began to leave other kinds of tasty food along with the dry leaves. Eventually he took good tasty dishes supplied by her. They became intimate and a child was born to them. She reported the matter to the king. The king wanted to know if she could prove their mutual relationship to the general public.
She agreed and suggested a plan of action. Accordingly the king announced a public dancing performance by the dasi and invited the people to it. The crowd gathered and she also appeared, but not before she had given a dose of physic to the child and left it in charge of the saint at home. As the dance was at its height, the child was crying at home for its mother.
The father took the babe in his arms and went to the dancing performance. As she was dancing hilariously he could not approach her with the child. She noticed the man and the babe, and contrived to kick her legs in the dance, so as to unloose one of her anklets just as she approached the place where the saint was. She gently lifted her foot and he tied the anklet.
The public shouted and laughed. But he remained unaffected. Yet to prove his worth, he sang a Tamil song meaning: “For victory, let go my anger! I release my mind when it rushes away. If it is true that I sleep day and night quite aware of my Self, may this stone burst into twain and become the wide expanse!”
Immediately the stone (idol) burst with a loud noise. The people were astounded. Thus he proved himself an unswerving jnani. One should not be deceived by the external appearance of a jnani. Verse 181 of Vedanta Chudamani further explains this. Its meaning is as follows:
Although a jivanmukta associated with the body may, owing to his prarabdha, appear to lapse into ignorance or wisdom, yet he is only pure like the ether (akasa) which is always itself clear, whether covered by dense clouds or without being covered by clouds. He always revels in the Self alone, like a loving wife taking pleasure with her husband alone.
Though she attends on him with things obtained from others (by way of fortune, as determined by her prarabdha). Though he remains silent like one devoid of learning, his supineness is due to the implicit duality of the vaikhari vak (spoken words) of the Vedas; his silence is the highest expression of the realised non-duality which is after all the true content of the Vedas.
Though he instructs his disciples, he does not pose as a teacher in the full conviction that the teacher and disciple are mere conventions born of illusion (maya), and so he continues to utter words like akasvani. If, on the other hand, he mutters words incoherently like a lunatic, it is because his experience is inexpressible.
If his words are many and fluent like those of an orator, they represent the recollection of his experience, since he is the unmoving nondual One without any desire awaiting fulfilment. Although he may appear grief-stricken like any other man in bereavement, yet he evinces just the right love of and pity for the senses which he earlier controlled before he realised that they were mere instruments and manifestations of the Supreme Being.
When he seems keenly interested in the wonders of the world, he is only ridiculing the ignorance born of superimposition. If he appears wrathful he means well to the offenders. All his actions should be taken to be only divine manifestations on the plane of humanity. There should not arise even the least doubt as to his being emancipated while yet alive. He lives only for the good of the world.
She began to live near the recluse and pretended to attend on him. She gently left pieces of pappadam along with the dry leaves picked by him. When he had eaten them she began to leave other kinds of tasty food along with the dry leaves. Eventually he took good tasty dishes supplied by her. They became intimate and a child was born to them. She reported the matter to the king. The king wanted to know if she could prove their mutual relationship to the general public.
She agreed and suggested a plan of action. Accordingly the king announced a public dancing performance by the dasi and invited the people to it. The crowd gathered and she also appeared, but not before she had given a dose of physic to the child and left it in charge of the saint at home. As the dance was at its height, the child was crying at home for its mother.
The father took the babe in his arms and went to the dancing performance. As she was dancing hilariously he could not approach her with the child. She noticed the man and the babe, and contrived to kick her legs in the dance, so as to unloose one of her anklets just as she approached the place where the saint was. She gently lifted her foot and he tied the anklet.
The public shouted and laughed. But he remained unaffected. Yet to prove his worth, he sang a Tamil song meaning: “For victory, let go my anger! I release my mind when it rushes away. If it is true that I sleep day and night quite aware of my Self, may this stone burst into twain and become the wide expanse!”
Immediately the stone (idol) burst with a loud noise. The people were astounded. Thus he proved himself an unswerving jnani. One should not be deceived by the external appearance of a jnani. Verse 181 of Vedanta Chudamani further explains this. Its meaning is as follows:
Although a jivanmukta associated with the body may, owing to his prarabdha, appear to lapse into ignorance or wisdom, yet he is only pure like the ether (akasa) which is always itself clear, whether covered by dense clouds or without being covered by clouds. He always revels in the Self alone, like a loving wife taking pleasure with her husband alone.
Though she attends on him with things obtained from others (by way of fortune, as determined by her prarabdha). Though he remains silent like one devoid of learning, his supineness is due to the implicit duality of the vaikhari vak (spoken words) of the Vedas; his silence is the highest expression of the realised non-duality which is after all the true content of the Vedas.
Though he instructs his disciples, he does not pose as a teacher in the full conviction that the teacher and disciple are mere conventions born of illusion (maya), and so he continues to utter words like akasvani. If, on the other hand, he mutters words incoherently like a lunatic, it is because his experience is inexpressible.
If his words are many and fluent like those of an orator, they represent the recollection of his experience, since he is the unmoving nondual One without any desire awaiting fulfilment. Although he may appear grief-stricken like any other man in bereavement, yet he evinces just the right love of and pity for the senses which he earlier controlled before he realised that they were mere instruments and manifestations of the Supreme Being.
When he seems keenly interested in the wonders of the world, he is only ridiculing the ignorance born of superimposition. If he appears wrathful he means well to the offenders. All his actions should be taken to be only divine manifestations on the plane of humanity. There should not arise even the least doubt as to his being emancipated while yet alive. He lives only for the good of the world.
Sri Bhagavan Ramana Story on Earnestness or Faith - Sraddha
A devotee obtained a copy of Sri Bhagavan’s work Ulladu Narpadu (Forty Verses on Reality) and began to write out the entire work for himself. Seeing him doing this writing with earnestness, though with a certain amount of difficulty and strain, since the devotee was not accustomed to squatting and doing continuous writing work, Bhagavan told the story of a sannyasi and his disciples to illustrate what is called sraddha – earnestness of purpose.
There was once a guru who had eight disciples. One day he instructed them all to make a copy of his teachings from a notebook he had kept. One of them, who had lived an easy-going life before renouncing the world, could not make a copy for himself.
He, therefore paid a couple of rupees to a fellow disciple and requested him to make a copy for him also. The guru examined the copy books one day and, noticing two books in the same handwriting, asked the disciples for an explanation. Both the writer and the one on whose behalf it was written told the truth about it.
The Master commented that, though speaking the truth was an essential quality of a spiritual aspirant, it alone would not carry one to one’s goal, but that sraddha (earnestness of purpose) was also necessary. Since this had not been exhibited by the disciple who had entrusted his own labour to another, he was disqualified from discipleship.
Referring to his making payment for the work, the guru sarcastically remarked that “Salvation” costs more than that and he was at liberty to purchase it rather than undergo training under him. So saying he dismissed that disciple.
There was once a guru who had eight disciples. One day he instructed them all to make a copy of his teachings from a notebook he had kept. One of them, who had lived an easy-going life before renouncing the world, could not make a copy for himself.
He, therefore paid a couple of rupees to a fellow disciple and requested him to make a copy for him also. The guru examined the copy books one day and, noticing two books in the same handwriting, asked the disciples for an explanation. Both the writer and the one on whose behalf it was written told the truth about it.
The Master commented that, though speaking the truth was an essential quality of a spiritual aspirant, it alone would not carry one to one’s goal, but that sraddha (earnestness of purpose) was also necessary. Since this had not been exhibited by the disciple who had entrusted his own labour to another, he was disqualified from discipleship.
Referring to his making payment for the work, the guru sarcastically remarked that “Salvation” costs more than that and he was at liberty to purchase it rather than undergo training under him. So saying he dismissed that disciple.
Bhagavan Ramana Story on Sage Ribhu and his disciple Nidagha
An earnest devotee asked Sri Bhagavan about the method to realize the Self. As usual, Sri Bhagavan told him to find out who is the ‘I’ in his question. After a few more questions in this strain the devotee asked, “Instead of enquiring ‘Who am I?’, can I put the question to myself ‘Who are you?’ since then, my mind may be fixed on you whom I consider to be God in the form of Guru.”
Sri Bhagavan replied, “Whatever form your enquiry may take, you must finally come to the one ‘I’, the Self. All these distinctions made between ‘I’ and ‘you’, master and disciple, are merely a sign of one’s ignorance. That ‘I’ Supreme alone is. To think otherwise is to delude oneself.”
Thereupon Sri Bhagavan told the following story.
Ramana Maharshi - A Puranic Story of Sage Ribhu and his disciple Nidagha, is particularly instructive. Although Ribhu taught his disciple the Supreme Truth of the One Brahman without a second, Nidagha, in spite of his erudition and understanding, did not get sufficient conviction to adopt and follow the path of jnana, but settled down in his native town to lead a life devoted to the observance of ceremonial religion.
But the sage loved his disciple as deeply as the latter venerated his Master. In spite of his age, Ribhu would himself go to his disciple in the town, just to see how far the latter had outgrown his ritualism. At times the sage went in disguise, so that he might observe how Nidagha would act when he did not know that he was being observed by his master.
On one such occasion Ribhu, who had put on the disguise of a rustic, found Nidagha intently watching a royal procession. Unrecognised by the town-dweller Nidagha, the village rustic enquired what the bustle was all about, and was told that the king was going in procession.
“Oh! It is the king. He goes in procession! But where is he?” asked the rustic. “There, on the elephant,” said Nidagha. “You say the king is on the elephant. Yes, I see the two,”
said the rustic, “But which is the king and which is the elephant?”
“What!” exclaimed Nidagha. “You see the two, but do not know that the man above is the king and the animal below is the elephant? What is the use of talking to a man like you?” “Pray, be not impatient with an ignorant man like me,” begged the rustic. “But you said ‘above’ and ‘below’ – what do they mean?”
Nidagha could stand it no more. “You see the king and the elephant, the one above and the other below. Yet you want to know what is meant by ‘above’ and ‘below’?” burst out Nidagha. “If things seen and words spoken can convey so little to you, action alone can teach you. Bend forward, and you will know it all too well”.
The rustic did as he was told. Nidagha got on his shoulders and said, “Know it now. I am above as the king, you are below as the elephant. Is that clear enough?”
“No, not yet,” was the rustic’s quiet reply. “You say you are above like the king, and I am below like the elephant. The ‘king’, the ‘elephant’, ‘above’ and ‘below’ – so far it is clear. But pray, tell me what you mean by ‘I’ and ‘you’?”
When Nidagha was thus confronted all of a sudden with the mighty problem of defining the ‘you’ apart from the ‘I’, light dawned on his mind. At once he jumped down and fell at his Master’s feet saying, “Who else but my venerable Master, Ribhu, could have thus drawn my mind from the superficialities of physical existence to the true Being of the Self? Oh! Benign Master, I crave thy blessings.”
Sri Bhagavan replied, “Whatever form your enquiry may take, you must finally come to the one ‘I’, the Self. All these distinctions made between ‘I’ and ‘you’, master and disciple, are merely a sign of one’s ignorance. That ‘I’ Supreme alone is. To think otherwise is to delude oneself.”
Thereupon Sri Bhagavan told the following story.
Ramana Maharshi - A Puranic Story of Sage Ribhu and his disciple Nidagha, is particularly instructive. Although Ribhu taught his disciple the Supreme Truth of the One Brahman without a second, Nidagha, in spite of his erudition and understanding, did not get sufficient conviction to adopt and follow the path of jnana, but settled down in his native town to lead a life devoted to the observance of ceremonial religion.
But the sage loved his disciple as deeply as the latter venerated his Master. In spite of his age, Ribhu would himself go to his disciple in the town, just to see how far the latter had outgrown his ritualism. At times the sage went in disguise, so that he might observe how Nidagha would act when he did not know that he was being observed by his master.
On one such occasion Ribhu, who had put on the disguise of a rustic, found Nidagha intently watching a royal procession. Unrecognised by the town-dweller Nidagha, the village rustic enquired what the bustle was all about, and was told that the king was going in procession.
“Oh! It is the king. He goes in procession! But where is he?” asked the rustic. “There, on the elephant,” said Nidagha. “You say the king is on the elephant. Yes, I see the two,”
said the rustic, “But which is the king and which is the elephant?”
“What!” exclaimed Nidagha. “You see the two, but do not know that the man above is the king and the animal below is the elephant? What is the use of talking to a man like you?” “Pray, be not impatient with an ignorant man like me,” begged the rustic. “But you said ‘above’ and ‘below’ – what do they mean?”
Nidagha could stand it no more. “You see the king and the elephant, the one above and the other below. Yet you want to know what is meant by ‘above’ and ‘below’?” burst out Nidagha. “If things seen and words spoken can convey so little to you, action alone can teach you. Bend forward, and you will know it all too well”.
The rustic did as he was told. Nidagha got on his shoulders and said, “Know it now. I am above as the king, you are below as the elephant. Is that clear enough?”
“No, not yet,” was the rustic’s quiet reply. “You say you are above like the king, and I am below like the elephant. The ‘king’, the ‘elephant’, ‘above’ and ‘below’ – so far it is clear. But pray, tell me what you mean by ‘I’ and ‘you’?”
When Nidagha was thus confronted all of a sudden with the mighty problem of defining the ‘you’ apart from the ‘I’, light dawned on his mind. At once he jumped down and fell at his Master’s feet saying, “Who else but my venerable Master, Ribhu, could have thus drawn my mind from the superficialities of physical existence to the true Being of the Self? Oh! Benign Master, I crave thy blessings.”
Ramana Maharshi : Bhakti is jnana mata or the mother of jnana
Question : Is the thought `I am God' or `I am the supreme being' helpful?
Ramana Maharshi : `I am that I am.' `I am' is God, not thinking `I am God.' Realize `I am' and do not think `I am.' `Know I am God,' it is said, and not `Think I am God.`
All talk of surrender is like pinching brown sugar from a brown sugar image of Lord Ganesa and offering it as naivedya [food offering] to the same Lord Ganesa. You say you offer your body, soul and all possessions to God. Were they yours that you could offer them?
At best, you can only say, `I falsely imagined till now that all these which are yours were mine. Now I realize they are yours. I shall no more act as if they are mine.' This knowledge that there is nothing but God or Self, that I and mine don't exist and that only the Self exists, is jnana. Thus there is no difference between bhakti and jnana. Bhakti is jnana mata or the mother of jnana.
Ramana Maharshi : `I am that I am.' `I am' is God, not thinking `I am God.' Realize `I am' and do not think `I am.' `Know I am God,' it is said, and not `Think I am God.`
All talk of surrender is like pinching brown sugar from a brown sugar image of Lord Ganesa and offering it as naivedya [food offering] to the same Lord Ganesa. You say you offer your body, soul and all possessions to God. Were they yours that you could offer them?
At best, you can only say, `I falsely imagined till now that all these which are yours were mine. Now I realize they are yours. I shall no more act as if they are mine.' This knowledge that there is nothing but God or Self, that I and mine don't exist and that only the Self exists, is jnana. Thus there is no difference between bhakti and jnana. Bhakti is jnana mata or the mother of jnana.
Ramana Maharshi : Agitation of mind is the cause of desire
Question : By constantly desiring to surrender I hope that increasing grace is experienced.
Ramana Maharshi : Surrender once for all and be done with the desire. So long as the sense of doership is retained there is the desire. That is also personality. If this goes the Self is found to shine forth pure. The sense of doership is the bondage and not the actions themselves.
`Be still and know that I am God.' Here stillness is total surrender without a vestige of individuality. Stillness will prevail and there will be no agitation of mind. Agitation of mind is the cause of desire, the sense of doership and personality. If that is stopped there is quiet. There `knowing' means `being'. It is not the relative knowledge involving the triads, knowledge, knowing and known.
Ramana Maharshi : Surrender once for all and be done with the desire. So long as the sense of doership is retained there is the desire. That is also personality. If this goes the Self is found to shine forth pure. The sense of doership is the bondage and not the actions themselves.
`Be still and know that I am God.' Here stillness is total surrender without a vestige of individuality. Stillness will prevail and there will be no agitation of mind. Agitation of mind is the cause of desire, the sense of doership and personality. If that is stopped there is quiet. There `knowing' means `being'. It is not the relative knowledge involving the triads, knowledge, knowing and known.
Ramana Maharshi : best way of killing the Ego
Question : What is the best way of killing the ego?
Ramana Maharshi : To each person that way is the best which appears easiest or appeals most. All the ways are equally good, as they lead to the same goal, which is the merging of the ego in the Self. What the bhakta [devotee] calls surrender, the man who does vichara calls jnana. Both are trying only to take the ego back to the source from which it sprang and make it merge there.
Ramana Maharshi : To each person that way is the best which appears easiest or appeals most. All the ways are equally good, as they lead to the same goal, which is the merging of the ego in the Self. What the bhakta [devotee] calls surrender, the man who does vichara calls jnana. Both are trying only to take the ego back to the source from which it sprang and make it merge there.
Ramana Maharshi on path of Surrender, Surrender appears easy
Question : I find surrender is easier. I want to adopt that path.
Ramana Maharshi : By whatever path you go, you will have to lose yourself in the one. Surrender is complete only when you reach the stage `Thou art all' and `Thy will be done'.
The state is not different from jnana. In soham [the affirmation of `I am he'] there is dvaita [dualism]. In surrender there is advaita [non-dualism]. In the reality there is neither dvaita nor advaita, but that which is.
Surrender appears easy because people imagine that, once they say with their lips `I surrender' and put their burdens on their Lord, they can be free and do what they like. But the fact is that you can have no likes or dislikes after your surrender; your will should become completely non-existent, the Lord's will taking its place. The death of the ego in this way brings about a state which is not different from jnana. So by whatever path you may go, you must come to jnana or oneness.
Ramana Maharshi : By whatever path you go, you will have to lose yourself in the one. Surrender is complete only when you reach the stage `Thou art all' and `Thy will be done'.
The state is not different from jnana. In soham [the affirmation of `I am he'] there is dvaita [dualism]. In surrender there is advaita [non-dualism]. In the reality there is neither dvaita nor advaita, but that which is.
Surrender appears easy because people imagine that, once they say with their lips `I surrender' and put their burdens on their Lord, they can be free and do what they like. But the fact is that you can have no likes or dislikes after your surrender; your will should become completely non-existent, the Lord's will taking its place. The death of the ego in this way brings about a state which is not different from jnana. So by whatever path you may go, you must come to jnana or oneness.
Ramana Maharshi : Meditation should be on Self
Question : Should I meditate on the right chest in order to meditate on the Heart?
Ramana Maharshi : The Heart is not physical. Meditation should not be on the right or the left. Meditation should be on the Self. Everyone knows `I am'. Who is the `I'? It will be neither within nor without, neither on the right nor on the left. `I am' - that is all. Leave alone the idea of right and left. They pertain to the body. The Heart is the Self. Realize it and then you will see for yourself. There is no need to know where and what the Heart is. It will do its work if you engage in the quest for the Self.
Ramana Maharshi : The Heart is not physical. Meditation should not be on the right or the left. Meditation should be on the Self. Everyone knows `I am'. Who is the `I'? It will be neither within nor without, neither on the right nor on the left. `I am' - that is all. Leave alone the idea of right and left. They pertain to the body. The Heart is the Self. Realize it and then you will see for yourself. There is no need to know where and what the Heart is. It will do its work if you engage in the quest for the Self.
Ramana Maharshi - Real Self is the infinite `I'. That `I' is perfection
Question : Is not discarding of the sheaths (neti-neti) mentioned in the sastras?
Ramana Maharshi : After the rise of the `I'-thought there is the false identification of the `I' with the body, the senses, the mind, etc. `I' is wrongly associated with them and the true `I' is lost sight of. In order to sift the pure `I' from the contaminated `I', this discarding is mentioned. But it does not mean exactly discarding of the non - Self, it means the finding of the real Self.
The real Self is the infinite `I'. That `I' is perfection. It is eternal. It has no origin and no end. The other `I' is born and also dies. It is impermanent. See to whom the changing thoughts belong. They will be found to arise after the `I'-thought. Hold the `I'-thought and they subside. Trace back the source of the `I'-thought. The Self alone will remain.
Ramana Maharshi : After the rise of the `I'-thought there is the false identification of the `I' with the body, the senses, the mind, etc. `I' is wrongly associated with them and the true `I' is lost sight of. In order to sift the pure `I' from the contaminated `I', this discarding is mentioned. But it does not mean exactly discarding of the non - Self, it means the finding of the real Self.
The real Self is the infinite `I'. That `I' is perfection. It is eternal. It has no origin and no end. The other `I' is born and also dies. It is impermanent. See to whom the changing thoughts belong. They will be found to arise after the `I'-thought. Hold the `I'-thought and they subside. Trace back the source of the `I'-thought. The Self alone will remain.
Ramana Maharshi Stories - Story of the Garlic Plant
While Bhagavan was perusing the monthly journal Grihalakshmi he began to laugh and handed the journal to Suri Nagamma as she was leaving the hall, saying, “The greatness of garlic is described in it. Please read it.”
The article contained recipes for making chutneys and pickles and in conclusion it stated that there is nothing equal to it in its greatness and its benefit to the body. When Suri Nagamma returned to the hall in the afternoon, Sri Bhagavan inquired if she had read the article and said, “People say it is very good for health. Really it is so. It cures rheumatism and gives strength to the body. For children it acts like amrit (nectar). Garlic is also known as amrit.”
A devotee asked how it got that name. Sri Bhagavan replied, “There is a curious story about it,” and began telling the following story.
As is Well known, when gods (devas) and demons (rakshasas) churned the ocean, amrit came out of it. When the rakshasas were running away with the vessel containing amrit, the devas appealed to Vishnu. Vishnu came on to the scene in the shape of Mohini (enchantress), and offered to resolve their quarrel by serving amrit to them all. They agreed.
While serving it to the gods first, it appeared that there might not be enough to go round for the demons. One of the latter got into the line of the gods, unobserved by Mohini, and was swallowing the amrit, when the Sun and Moon noticed it and gave her the hint.
She threw the ladle, with which the amrit was being served, at the demon in such a way as to cut off his head. The ladle became the Chakra (an invincible lethal weapon of Vishnu) and cut off his head. But as the amrit had already gone down his throat, the head became a graha (planet) and has since been taking vengeance on the Sun and Moon at the time of an eclipse. That is the story.
Now, when the head of the demon was severed, the trunk fell down, and in the process, a few drops of amrit fell on the ground. It is said that those drops became the garlic plant. That is why it is said that garlic has some of the properties of amrit. It is very good for the body. But since it also has the touch of the demon, it has tamasic qualities too, which when eaten affect the mind. Hence, it is forbidden for sadhakas.
The article contained recipes for making chutneys and pickles and in conclusion it stated that there is nothing equal to it in its greatness and its benefit to the body. When Suri Nagamma returned to the hall in the afternoon, Sri Bhagavan inquired if she had read the article and said, “People say it is very good for health. Really it is so. It cures rheumatism and gives strength to the body. For children it acts like amrit (nectar). Garlic is also known as amrit.”
A devotee asked how it got that name. Sri Bhagavan replied, “There is a curious story about it,” and began telling the following story.
As is Well known, when gods (devas) and demons (rakshasas) churned the ocean, amrit came out of it. When the rakshasas were running away with the vessel containing amrit, the devas appealed to Vishnu. Vishnu came on to the scene in the shape of Mohini (enchantress), and offered to resolve their quarrel by serving amrit to them all. They agreed.
While serving it to the gods first, it appeared that there might not be enough to go round for the demons. One of the latter got into the line of the gods, unobserved by Mohini, and was swallowing the amrit, when the Sun and Moon noticed it and gave her the hint.
She threw the ladle, with which the amrit was being served, at the demon in such a way as to cut off his head. The ladle became the Chakra (an invincible lethal weapon of Vishnu) and cut off his head. But as the amrit had already gone down his throat, the head became a graha (planet) and has since been taking vengeance on the Sun and Moon at the time of an eclipse. That is the story.
Now, when the head of the demon was severed, the trunk fell down, and in the process, a few drops of amrit fell on the ground. It is said that those drops became the garlic plant. That is why it is said that garlic has some of the properties of amrit. It is very good for the body. But since it also has the touch of the demon, it has tamasic qualities too, which when eaten affect the mind. Hence, it is forbidden for sadhakas.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi - You are already that
Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi - You are already that. Time and space cannot affect the Self. They are in you. So also all that you see around you is in you. There is a story to illustrate this point. A lady had a precious necklace round her neck. Once in her excitement she forgot it and thought that the necklace was lost. She became anxious and looked for it in her home but could not find it.
She asked her friends and neighbors if they knew anything about the necklace. They did not. At last a kind friend of hers told her to feel the necklace round her neck. She found that it had all along been round her neck and she was happy. When others asked her later if she had found the necklace which was lost, she said, `Yes, I have found it.' She still felt that she had recovered a lost jewel.
Now did she lose it at all ? It was all along round her neck. But judge her feelings. She was as happy as if she had recovered a lost jewel. Similarly with us, we imagine that we will realize that Self some time, whereas we are never anything but the Self.
She asked her friends and neighbors if they knew anything about the necklace. They did not. At last a kind friend of hers told her to feel the necklace round her neck. She found that it had all along been round her neck and she was happy. When others asked her later if she had found the necklace which was lost, she said, `Yes, I have found it.' She still felt that she had recovered a lost jewel.
Now did she lose it at all ? It was all along round her neck. But judge her feelings. She was as happy as if she had recovered a lost jewel. Similarly with us, we imagine that we will realize that Self some time, whereas we are never anything but the Self.
Ramana Maharshi :Be the Self and that is bliss. You are always that.
Question : Why then do I feel unhappy when I am in Vellore and feel peace in your presence?
Ramana Maharshi : Can the feeling in this place be bliss? When you leave this place you say you are unhappy. Therefore this peace is not permanent, it is mixed with unhappiness which is felt in another place. Therefore you cannot find bliss in places and in periods of time. It must be permanent in order that it may be useful. It is your own being which is permanent. Be the Self and that is bliss. You are always that.
The Self is always realized. It is not necessary to seek to realize what is already and always realized. For you cannot deny your own existence. That existence is consciousness, the Self.
Unless you exist you cannot ask questions. So you must admit your own existence. That existence is the Self. It is already realized. Therefore the effort to realize results only in your realizing your present mistake - that you have not realized your Self. There is no fresh realization. The Self becomes revealed.
Ramana Maharshi : Can the feeling in this place be bliss? When you leave this place you say you are unhappy. Therefore this peace is not permanent, it is mixed with unhappiness which is felt in another place. Therefore you cannot find bliss in places and in periods of time. It must be permanent in order that it may be useful. It is your own being which is permanent. Be the Self and that is bliss. You are always that.
The Self is always realized. It is not necessary to seek to realize what is already and always realized. For you cannot deny your own existence. That existence is consciousness, the Self.
Unless you exist you cannot ask questions. So you must admit your own existence. That existence is the Self. It is already realized. Therefore the effort to realize results only in your realizing your present mistake - that you have not realized your Self. There is no fresh realization. The Self becomes revealed.
Ramana Maharshi : Is Mukti the same as Realization
Question : Is mukti the same as realization?
Ramana Maharshi : Mukti or liberation is our nature. It is another name for us. Our wanting mukti is a very funny thing. It is like a man who is in the shade, voluntarily leaving the shade, going into the sun, feeling the severity of the heat there, making great efforts to get back into the shade and then rejoicing, `How sweet is the shade! I have reached the shade at last!' We are all doing exactly the same. We are not different from the reality. We imagine we are different, that is we create the bheda bhava [the feeling of difference] and then undergo great sadhana [spiritual practices] to get rid of the bheda bhava and realize the oneness. Why imagine or create bheda bhava and then destroy it?
Ramana Maharshi : Mukti or liberation is our nature. It is another name for us. Our wanting mukti is a very funny thing. It is like a man who is in the shade, voluntarily leaving the shade, going into the sun, feeling the severity of the heat there, making great efforts to get back into the shade and then rejoicing, `How sweet is the shade! I have reached the shade at last!' We are all doing exactly the same. We are not different from the reality. We imagine we are different, that is we create the bheda bhava [the feeling of difference] and then undergo great sadhana [spiritual practices] to get rid of the bheda bhava and realize the oneness. Why imagine or create bheda bhava and then destroy it?
Ramana Maharshi : Why do I never remember that I am the Self
Question : Why do I never remember that I am the Self ?
Ramana Maharshi : People speak of memory and oblivion of the fullness of the Self. Oblivion and memory are only thought-forms. They will alternate so long as there are thoughts. But reality lies beyond these. Memory or oblivion must be dependent on something.
That something must be foreign to the Self as well, otherwise there would not be oblivion. That upon which memory and oblivion depend is the idea of the individual self. When one looks for it, this individual `I' is not found because it is not real. Hence this `I' is synonymous with illusion or ignorance (maya, avidya or ajnana]. To know that there never was ignorance is the goal of all the spiritual teachings. Ignorance must be of one who is aware. Awareness is jnana. Jnana is eternal and natural, ajnana is unnatural and unreal.
Ramana Maharshi : People speak of memory and oblivion of the fullness of the Self. Oblivion and memory are only thought-forms. They will alternate so long as there are thoughts. But reality lies beyond these. Memory or oblivion must be dependent on something.
That something must be foreign to the Self as well, otherwise there would not be oblivion. That upon which memory and oblivion depend is the idea of the individual self. When one looks for it, this individual `I' is not found because it is not real. Hence this `I' is synonymous with illusion or ignorance (maya, avidya or ajnana]. To know that there never was ignorance is the goal of all the spiritual teachings. Ignorance must be of one who is aware. Awareness is jnana. Jnana is eternal and natural, ajnana is unnatural and unreal.
Bhagwan Ramana Maharshi Sayings
Bhagwan Ramana Maharshi - There is no goal to be reached. There is nothing to be attained. You are the Self. You exist always. Nothing more can be predicated of the Self than that it exists. Seeing God or the Self is only being the Self or yourself. Seeing is being. You, being the Self, want to know how to attain the Self. It is something like a man being at Ramanasramam asking how many ways there are to reach Ramanasramam and which is the best way for him. All that is required of you is to give up the thought that you are this body and to give up all thoughts of the external things or the not-Self.
Bhagwan Ramana Maharshi Quotes
Bhagwan Ramana Maharshi - Even the thought `I do not realize' is a hindrance. In fact, the Self alone is. Our real nature is mukti. But we are imagining we are bound and are making various, strenuous attempts to become free, while we are all the while free. This will be understood only when we reach that stage. We will be surprised that we were frantically trying to attain something which we have always been and are.
Ramana Maharshi : Why Knowledge of the Self so hard
Question : It is cruel of God's leela (play) to make the knowledge of the Self so hard.
Ramana Maharshi : Knowing the Self is being the Self, and being means existence, one's own existence. No one denies one's existence any more than one denies one's eyes, although one cannot see them. The trouble lies with your desire to objectify the Self, in the same way as you objectify your eyes when you place a mirror before them.
You have been so accustomed to objectivity that you have lost the knowledge of yourself, simply because the Self cannot be objectified. Who is to know the Self ? Can the insentient body know it? All the time you speak and think of your `I', yet when questioned you deny knowledge of it. You are the Self, yet you ask how to know the Self. Where then is God's leela and where is its cruelty ? Because of this denial of the Self by people the sastras speak of maya, leela, etc.
Ramana Maharshi : Knowing the Self is being the Self, and being means existence, one's own existence. No one denies one's existence any more than one denies one's eyes, although one cannot see them. The trouble lies with your desire to objectify the Self, in the same way as you objectify your eyes when you place a mirror before them.
You have been so accustomed to objectivity that you have lost the knowledge of yourself, simply because the Self cannot be objectified. Who is to know the Self ? Can the insentient body know it? All the time you speak and think of your `I', yet when questioned you deny knowledge of it. You are the Self, yet you ask how to know the Self. Where then is God's leela and where is its cruelty ? Because of this denial of the Self by people the sastras speak of maya, leela, etc.
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