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 - 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

Ramana Maharshi on Prarabdha karma, Virtuous acts

Ramana Maharshi on Prarabdha karma, Virtuous acts

Question : Does not punya [merit accumulated from virtuous acts] extinguish papa [demerit accumulated from sinful acts]?
Ramana Maharshi : So long as the feeling `I am doing' is there, one must experience the result of one's acts, whether they are good or bad. How is it possible to wipe out one act with another ? When the feeling that `I am doing' is lost, nothing affects a man. Unless one realizes the Self, the feeling `I am doing' will never vanish. For one who realizes the Self where is the need for japa? Where is the need for tapas? Owing to the force of prarabdha life goes on, but he who has realized the Self does not wish for anything.

Prarabdha karma is of three categories, ichha, anichha and parechha [personally desired, without desire and due to others' desire]. For the one who has realized the Self, there is no ichha-prarabdha but the two others, anichha and parechha, remain.

Whatever a jnani does is for others only. If there are things to be done by him for others, he does them but the results do not affect him. Whatever be the actions that such people do, there is no punya and no papa attached to them. But they do only what is proper according to the accepted standard of the world - nothing else.

Those who know that what is to be experienced by them in this life is only what is already destined in their prarabdha will never feel perturbed about what is to be experienced. Know that all one's experiences will be thrust upon one whether one wills them or not.

Ramana Maharshi on Gita Karma Yoga Non Doership

Ramana Maharshi on Gita Karma Yoga, Non Doership

Question : The Gita seems to emphasise karma yoga, for Arjuna is persuaded to fight. Sri Krishna himself set the example by an active life of great exploits.
Ramana Maharshi : The Gita starts by saying that you are not the body and that you are not therefore the karta [the doer].

Question : What is the significance?
Ramana Maharshi : It means that one should act without thinking that oneself is the actor. Actions will go on even in the egoless state. Each person has come into manifestation for a certain purpose and that purpose will be accomplished whether he considers himself to be the actor or not.

Question : What is karma yoga? Is it non-attachment to karma [action] or its fruit?
Ramana Maharshi : Karma yoga is that yoga in which the person does not arrogate to himself the function of being the actor. All actions go on automatically.

Question : Is it non-attachment to the fruits of actions?
Ramana Maharshi : The question arises only if there is the actor. It is said in all the scriptures that you should not consider yourself to be the actor.

Question : So karma yoga is `kartritva buddhi rahita karma' - action without the sense of doership.
Ramana Maharshi : Yes. Quite so.

Question : The Gita teaches that one should have an active life from beginning to end.
Ramana Maharshi :Yes, the actorless action.

Question : If one remains quiet how is action to go on? Where is the place for karma yoga?
Ramana Maharshi : Let us first understand what karma is, whose karma it is and who is the doer. Analysing them and enquiring into their truth, one is obliged to remain as the Self in peace. Nevertheless even in that state the actions will go on.

Question : How will the actions go on if I do not act?
Ramana Maharshi : Who asks this question? Is it the Self or another? Is the Self concerned with actions?

Question : No, not the Self. It is another, different from the Self.
Ramana Maharshi : So it is plain that the Self is not concerned with actions and so the question does not arise.

Question : I want to do karma yoga. How can I help others?
Ramana Maharshi : Who is there for you to help? Who is the `I' that is going to help others? First clear up that point and then everything will settle itself.

Question : That means `realize the Self.' Does my realization help others?
Ramana Maharshi : Yes, and it is the best help that you can possibly render to others. But really there are no others to be helped. For the realized being sees only the Self, just as the goldsmith sees only the gold while valuing it in various jewels made of gold. When you identify yourself with the body, name and form are there. But when you transcend the body-consciousness, the others also disappear. The realized one does not see the world as different from himself.

Ramana Maharshi on Free will - Destiny, Overcoming Fate

Ramana Maharshi on Free will - Destiny, Overcoming Fate

Question : Mr. B. C. Das, the Physics Lecturer, asked about free-will and destiny.

Ramana Maharshi : Whose will is it? ‘It is mine’, you may say. You are beyond will and fate. Abide as that and you transcend them both. That is the meaning of conquering destiny by will. Fate can be conquered. Fate is the result of past actions.

By association with the wise the bad tendencies are conquered. One’s experiences are then viewed to their proper perspective. I exist now. I am the enjoyer. I enjoy fruits of action. I was in the past and shall be in the future.

Who is this ‘I’? Finding this ‘I’ to be pure Consciousness beyond action and enjoyment, freedom and happiness are gained. There is then no effort, for the Self is perfect and there remains nothing more to gain.

So long as there is individuality, one is the enjoyer and doer. But if it is lost, the divine Will prevails and guides the course of events. The individual is perceptible to others who cannot perceive divine force. Restrictions and discipline are for other individuals and not for the liberated.Free-will is implied in the scriptural injunctions to be good.

It implies overcoming fate. It is done by wisdom. The fire of wisdom consumes all actions. Wisdom is acquired by association with the wise, or rather, its mental atmosphere.