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.

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.

Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi on Reading books on Vedanta

Question : Should I give up my business and take to reading books on Vedanta?
Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi : If the objects have an independent existence, i.e., if they exist anywhere apart from you, then it may be possible for you to go away from them. But they don’t exist apart from you; they owe their existence to you, your thought.

So, where can you go, to escape them? As for reading books on Vedanta, you may go on reading any number of them. They can only tell you, ‘Realise the Self within you’. The Self cannot be found in books. You have to find it out for yourself, in yourself.

Ramana Maharshi teachings for family people, Householders

Question - I am a man with a family. Is it possible for those in a family to get release, and if so how?
Ramana Maharshi : Now what is family? Whose family is it? If the answers to these questions are found the other questions solve themselves. Tell me: Are you in the family, or is the family in you? The visitor did not answer. Then Sri Bhagavan’s answer was continued: Who are you? You include three aspects of life, namely, the waking, the dream and the sleep states.

You were not aware of the family and their ties in your sleep and so these questions did not arise then. But now you are aware of the family and their ties and therefore you seek release. But you are the same person throughout.

Question : Because I now feel that I am in the family it is right that I should seek release.
Ramana Maharshi : You are right. But consider and say: Are you in the family or is the family in you?

Question : What is family?
Ramana Maharshi : That’s it. It must be known.

Question : There is my wife and there are also my children. They are dependent on me. That is the family.
Ramana Maharshi : Do the members of the family bind your mind? Or do you bind yourself to them? Do they come and say to you “We form your family. Be with us”? Or do you consider them as your family and that you are bound to them?

Question : I consider them as my family and feel bound to them.
Ramana Maharshi : Quite so. Because you think that so-and-so is your wife and soand- so are your children you also think that you are bound to them. These thoughts are yours. They owe their very existence to you. You can entertain these thoughts or relinquish them. The former is
bondage and the latter is release.

Question : It is not quite clear to me.
Ramana Maharshi : You must exist in order that you may think. You may think these thoughts or other thoughts. The thoughts change but not you. Let go the passing thoughts and hold on to the unchanging Self. The thoughts form your bondage. If they are given up, there is release.
The bondage is not external. So no external remedy need be sought for release. It is within your competence to think and thus to get bound or to cease thinking and thus be free.

Question : But it is not easy to remain without thinking.
Ramana Maharshi : You need not cease thinking. Only think of the root of the thoughts; seek it and find it. The Self shines by itself. When that is found the thoughts cease of their own accord. That is freedom from bondage.

Question : Yes. I understand it now. I have learnt it now. Is a Guru necessary?
Ramana Maharshi : So long as you consider yourself as an individual, a Guru is necessary to show to you that you are not bound by limitations and that your nature is to be free from limitations.

Ramana Maharshi on Householders and Western People

Ramana Maharshi on Householders and Western People

Question : How can cessation of activity [nivritti] and peace of mind be attained in the midst of household duties which are of the nature of constant activity?
Ramana Maharshi : As the activities of the wise man exist only in the eyes of others and not in his own, although he may be accomplishing immense tasks, he really does nothing. Therefore his activities do not stand in the way of inaction and peace of mind. For he knows the truth that all activities take place in his mere presence and that he does nothing. Hence he will remain as the silent witness of all the activities taking place.

Question : Is it harder for westerners to withdraw inwards?
Ramana Maharshi : Yes, they are rajasic [mentally overactive] and their energy goes outwards. We must be inwardly quiet, not forgetting the Self, and then externally we can go on with activity. Does a man who is acting on the stage in a female part forget that he is a man? Similarly, we too must play our parts on the stage of life, but we must not identify ourselves with those parts.

Question : How does one remove the spiritual sloth of others?
Ramana Maharshi : Have you removed your own? Turn your enquiries towards the Self. The force set up within you will operate on others also.

Question : But how can I help another with his problem, his troubles?
Ramana Maharshi : What is this talk of another - there is only the one. Try to realize that there is no I, no you, no he, only the one Self which is all. If you believe in the problem of another, you are believing in something outside the Self. You will best help him by realising the oneness of everything rather than by outward activity.

Ramana Maharshi on Spirituality and working in Office

Ramana Maharshi on Spirituality and working in Office

Question : I have a good mind to resign from service and remain constantly with Sri Bhagavan.
Ramana Maharshi : Bhagavan is always with you, in you, and you are yourself Bhagavan. To realize this it is neither necessary to resign your job nor run away from home. Renunciation does not imply apparent divesting of costumes, family ties, home, etc., but renunciation of desires, affection and attachment. There is no need to resign your job, only resign yourself to God, the bearer of the burden of all.

One who renounces desires actually merges in the world and expands his love to the whole universe. Expansion of love and affection would be a far better term for a true devotee of God than renunciation, for one who renounces the immediate ties actually extends the bonds of affection and love to a wider world beyond the borders of caste, creed and race.

A sannyasi who apparently casts away his clothes and leaves his home does not do so out of aversion to his immediate relations but because of the expansion of his love to others around him. When this expansion comes, one does not feel that one is running away from home, instead one drops from it like a ripe fruit from a tree. Till then it would be folly to leave one's home or job.

Question : How does a grihastha [householder] fare in the scheme of moksha [liberation]? Should he not necessarily become a mendicant in order to attain liberation?
Ramana Maharshi : Why do you think you are a grihastha? Similar thoughts that you are a sannyasi [wandering monk] will haunt you, even if you go out as a sannyasi. Whether you continue in the household or renounce it and go to the forest, your mind haunts you. The ego is the source of thought. It creates the body and the world and it makes you think of being the grihastha. If you renounce, it will only substitute the thought of sannyasa for that of grihastha and the environment of the forest for that of the household.

But the mental obstacles are always there for you. They even increase greatly in the new surroundings. It is no help to change the environment. The one obstacle is the mind and it must be overcome whether in the home or in the forest. If you can do it in the forest, why not in the home? Therefore, why change the environment? Your efforts can be made even now, whatever the environment.

Question : Is it possible to enjoy samadhi [awareness of reality] while busy in worldly work?
Ramana Maharshi : The feeling `I work' 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; it is your effort which is the bondage. What is destined to happen will happen. If you are destined not to work, work cannot be had even if you hunt for it. If you are destined to work, you will not be able to avoid it and you will be forced to engage yourself in it. So, leave it to the higher power; you cannot renounce or retain as you choose.

Question : Bhagavan said yesterday that while one is engaged in search of God 'within', `outer' work would go on automatically. In the life of Sri Chaitanya it is said that during his lectures to students he was really seeking Krishna within and he forgot all about his body and went on talking of Krishna only. This raises a doubt as to whether work can safely be left to itself. Should one keep part of one's attention on the physical work?
Ramana Maharshi : The Self is all. Are you apart from the Self ? Or can the work go on without the Self ? The Self is universal so all actions will go on whether you strain yourself to be engaged in them or not. The work will go on of itself. Thus Krishna told Arjuna that he need not trouble to kill the Kauravas because they were already slain by God. It was not for him to resolve to work and worry himself about it, but to allow his own nature to carry out the will of the higher power.