Ramana Maharshi - What is pure mind and what is impure mind

Question - What is pure mind and what is impure mind?
Ramana Maharshi - When the indefinable power of Brahman separates itself from Brahman
reflection of consciousness (chidabhasa) assumes various forms, it is When it becomes free from the reflection of consciousness (abhasa), through called the pure mind. Its state of union with the Brahman is its apprehension energy which is accompanied by the reflection of consciousness is called state of separation from Brahman is its non-apprehension of Brahman.

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 - 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 : 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 - Everybody seeks only what brings him happiness

Ramana Maharshi - Everybody seeks only what brings him happiness. Your mind wanders out after some object or other because you think that happiness comes from it, but find out where all happiness comes from, including that which you regard as coming from sense objects. You will find that it all comes from the Self alone, and then you will be able to abide in the Self

Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi on Mind and Meditation

Question. How can I control the mind?
Ramana Maharshi - There is no mind to control if the Self is realized. The Self shines forth when the mind vanishes. In the realized man the mind may be active or inactive, the Self alone exists. For, the mind, body and world are not separate from the Self; and they cannot remain apart from the Self. Can they be other than the Self? When aware of the Self why should one worry about these shadows? How do they affect the Self?

Question. If the mind is merely a shadow how then is one to know the Self?
Ramana Maharshi - The Self is the Heart, self-luminous. Illumination arises from the Heart and reaches the brain, which is the seat of the mind. The world is seen with the mind; so you see the world by the reflected light of the Self; The world is perceived by an act of the mind. When the mind is illumined it is aware of the world; when it is not so illumined, it is not aware of the world.

If the mind is turned in, towards the Source of illumination, objective knowledge ceases, and the Self alone shines as the Heart. The moon shines by reflecting the light of the sun. When the sun has set, the moon is useful for displaying objects. When the sun has risen no one needs the moon, though its disc is visible in the sky. So it is with the mind and the Heart. The mind is made useful by its reflected light. It is used for seeing objects.

When turned inwards, it merges into the Source of illumination which shines by Itself and the mind is then like the moon in the day-time. When it is dark, a lamp is necessary to give light. But when the sun has arisen, there is no need for the lamp; the objects are visible. And to see the sun no lamp is necessary, it is enough if you turn your eyes towards the -self-luminous sun. Similarly with the mind, to see the objects the light reflected from the mind is necessary. To see the Heart it is enough that the mind is turned towards it. Then the mind does not count and the Heart is self-effulgent.

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 gain by keeping away other thoughts. Such keeping away of other thoughts is now called meditation. But when the practice becomes firm, the real nature shows itself as true meditation.

Ramana Maharshi - Destruction of Mind alone is release

Ramana Maharshi - Destruction of Mind alone is release

Question : While there are different modifications of the internal organ, viz., manas (reflection), buddhi (intellect), chitta (memory) and ahankara (egoity), how can it be said that the destruction of the mind alone is release?

Ramana Maharshi - In the books explaining the nature of the mind, it is thus stated: “The mind is formed by the concretion of the subtle portion of the food we eat; it grows with the passions such as attachment and aversion, desire and anger; being the aggregate of mind, intellect, memory and egoity, it receives the collective singular name ‘mind’; the characteristics that it bears are thinking, determining, etc.;

since it is an object of consciousness (the self), it is what is seen, inert; even though inert, it appears as if conscious because of association with consciousness (like a red-hot iron ball); it is limited, noneternal, partite, and changing like lac, gold, wax, etc.; it is of the nature of all elements (of phenomenal existence); its locus is the Heart-lotus, even as the loci of the sense of sight, etc., are the eyes, etc.; it is the adjunct of the individual soul; thinking of an object, it transforms itself into a mode, and along with the knowledge that is in the brain, it flows through the five sense-channels, gets joined to objects by the brain (that is associated with knowledge), and thus knows and experiences objects and gains satisfaction. That substance is
the mind.”

Even as one and the same person is called by different names according to the different functions he performs, so also one and the same mind is called by the different names: mind, intellect, memory, and egoity, on account of the difference in the modes — and not because of any real difference. The mind itself is of the form of all, i.e., of soul, God and world; when it becomes of the form of the Self through knowledge there is release, which is of the nature of Brahman: this is the teaching.

Ramana Maharshi on Keeping the Mind Steady

Ramana Maharshi on Keeping the Mind Steady

Question : A group of people came on a visit to Sri Bhagavan. One of them asked: “How can I keep my mind aright?”
Ramana Maharshi : A refractory bull is lured to the stall by means of grass. Similarly the mind must be lured by good thoughts.

Question : But it does not remain steady.
Ramana Maharshi : The bull accustomed to stray takes delight in going astray. However he must be lured with luscious grass to the stall. Even so he will continue to trespass into the neighbour’s fields. He must gradually be made to realise that the same kind of good grass can
be had in his own place.

After a time he will remain in the stall without straying. Later a time will come when, even if driven out of the stall, he will return to the stall without going into the neighbouring fields. So also the mind must be trained to take to right ways. It will gradually grow accustomed to good ways and will not return to wrong ways.

Question : What are the good ways to be shown to the mind?
Ramana Maharshi : Thought of God.

Ramana Maharshi on Nature of Mind, I thought

Ramana Maharshi on Nature of Mind, I thought

Question : What is the nature of the mind?
Ramana Maharshi : The mind is nothing other than the `I'-thought. The mind and the ego are one and the same. The other mental faculties such as the intellect and the memory are only this. Mind [manas], intellect [buddhi], the storehouse of mental tendencies [chittam], and ego [ahamkara]; all these are only the one mind itself. This is like different names being given to a man according to his different functions. The individual soul [jiva] is nothing but this soul or ego.

Question : How shall we discover the nature of the mind, that is, its ultimate cause, or the noumenon of which it is a manifestation?
Ramana Maharshi : Arranging thoughts in the order of value, the `I'-thought is the all-important thought. Personality-idea or thought is also the root or the stem of all other thoughts, since each idea or thought arises only as someone's thought and is not known to exist independently of the ego. The ego therefore exhibits thought activity. The second and the third persons [he, you, that, etc.] do not appear except to the first person [I]. Therefore they arise only after the first person appears, so all the three persons seem to rise and sink together. Trace, then, the ultimate cause of `I' or personality.

From where does this `I' arise? Seek for it within; it then vanishes. This is the pursuit of wisdom. When the mind unceasingly investigates its own nature, it transpires that there is no such thing as mind. This is the direct path for all. The mind is merely thoughts. Of all thoughts the thought `I' is the root. Therefore the mind is only the thought `I'.

The birth of the `I'-thought is one's own birth, its death is the person's death. After the `I'-thought has arisen, the wrong identity with the body arises. Get rid of the `I'-thought. So long as `I' is alive there is grief. When `I' ceases to exist there is no grief.

Question : Yes, but when I take to the `I'-thought, other thoughts arise and disturb me.
Ramana Maharshi : See whose thoughts they are. They will vanish. They have their root in the single `I'-thought. Hold it and they will disappear.

Question : How can any enquiry initiated by the ego reveal its own unreality?
Ramana Maharshi : The ego's phenomenal existence is transcended when you dive into the source from where the `I'-thought rises.