Ramana Maharshi: quotes and teachings

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Excerpts:

' A STILL MIND '

Only that mind which by practice of yoga,
having lost all its latencies,
has become pure and still like a lamp in a dome
well protected from breeze, is said to be 'dead'.

This 'death of mind' is the highest fulfillment.


The final conclusion of all the Vedas is that Liberation is nothing but mind stilled.

For Liberation nothing can avail, not wealth, relatives,
friends, karma consisting of movements of the limbs, pilgrimage
to sacred places, baths in sacred waters, life in celestial regions,
austerities however severe, or

anything but a still mind.


In similar strain many sacred books teach that Liberation consists in doing away with the mind. In several passages in the Yoga Vasishta, the same idea is repeated, that the Bliss of Liberation can be reached only by wiping out the mind, which is the root cause of samsara, and thus of all misery!

Source: Advaita Bodha Deepika (3rd chapter)

The ego submits only when it recognizes the higher power.
Such recognition is surrender; and is the same as self-control

Your thinking that you have to make an effort to get rid of this dream of the waking state and your making efforts to attain jnana or real awakening are all parts of the dream. When you attain jnana you will see there was neither the dream during sleep, nor the waking state, but only yourself and your real state.

The Heart is the only Reality. The mind is only a transient phase. To remain as one's Self is to enter the Heart.

......................    ......................

~~~ From: Conscious Immortality, Ch.6.

Q.: Why is it sometimes I find concentration on the Self so easy,
and at other times hopelessly difficult?

M.: Because of vasanas.
But really it is easy, since we are the Self.
All we have to do is to remember that.
We keep on forgetting it,
and thus think we are this body, or this ego.
If the will and desire to remember Self are strong enough,
they will eventually overcome vasanas.
There must be a great battle going on inwardly all the time
until Self is realised.
This battle is symbolically spoken of in scriptural writings
as the fight between God and Satan.
In our sruti [revealed scripture] it is a Mahabharata war,
where the asuras represent our bad thoughts
and the devas our elevating ones.

 Q.: How can one quicken this coming of realisation?

 M.: As one strives to know the true ‘I’ the attachment to objects,
the bad and degrading thoughts gradually drop off.
The more one does not forget the Self,
the more do elevating qualities become ours.
Realisation will come eventually.

Q.: Why does an Upanishad say,
“He whom the Atman chooses,
to him alone does It reveal Itself, not to others”.
Does not this seem arbitrary?

M.: No. It is correct.

It chooses those only who devote themselves to It,
who become Its devotees.
Such It draws them inwards to Itself.
One must turn inward to find the Atman.
He who thinks of It, It will draw to Itself.

 All such thoughts as ‘Attainment is hard’
or ‘Self realisation is far from me’,
or ‘I have got many difficulties to overcome to know the Reality’,
should be given up, as they are obstacles;

they are created by this false self, ego.
They are untrue.
Do not doubt that you are the Reality;
live in that understanding.
Never question it by referring your realisation of it to some future time.
It is because people are victimized and hypnotised
by such false thoughts that the Gita says
that few out of millions realise the Self.
The order of asramas [four stages of life]
was established as a general principle,
i.e. to regulate the gradual development of the ordinary run of humanity.
But in the case of one highly mature and fully ripe for Atma vichara
there is no graduated development.
In this case jnana vichara,
i.e. the Self enquiry and the blooming of jnana,
are immediate and quick.

Q.: How can I get peace?

I do not seem to obtain it through vichara (self-enquiry).


M.: Peace is your natural state.
It is the mind that obstructs the natural state.
If you do not experience peace it means that your vichara
has been made only in the mind.
Investigate what the mind is, and it will disappear.
There is no such thing as mind apart from thought.
Nevertheless, because of the emergence of thought,
you surmise something from which it starts and term that the mind.
When you probe to see what it is,
you find there is really no such thing as mind.
When the mind has thus vanished,
you realize eternal peace.

Don't believe your thoughts.



I am the body is a thought.
I am the mind is a thought.
I am the doer is a thought.
Worry is only a thought.
Fear is only a thought.
Death is only a thought.

The ego is the root of all diseases. Give it up.

By a steady and continuous investigation into the nature of the mind, the mind is transformed into That to which the ‘I’ refers; and that is in fact the Self.

Though you may not believe all that is said of God, believe at least " there is God ". This seed is very potent in its growth. It has such great might that in due course you will not see anything but God - you will not see even yourself.
Truly, God is all

"Sri Bhagavan now 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 Asvatthama. Krishna said, 'If the child be touched by one eternally celibate (nityabrahmachari) 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 (nityabrahmachari) 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.

"If however a man consciously attempts to display siddhis he will receive only kicks."

(Bhagavan in 'Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi' 449)

- Since thoughts obscure our natural clarity of thought-free self-conscious being, just as dark clouds obscure the clear light of the sun, and since thoughts can exist only when we attend to them, the only means by which we can free ourself from the illusory clouding effect of our thoughts and thereby experience our real self as it truly is — that is, devoid of all thoughts— is to turn our attention away from all thoughts towards our own essential self-conscious being, which we always experience as 'I am'.

- Such self-attention or self-attentiveness is not an action, but only a state of just being as we always really are.

- Attending to anything other than ourself is an action, because it involves a seeming movement of our attention away from ourself towards that other thing.

- Attending to our own essential self-conscious being, on the other hand, is not an action, because it is a state in which our attention rests in itself without moving anywhere or doing anything.

- Therefore Sri Bhagavan often described this state of self-attention as the state of 'just being' or 'being as we are'.

Michael James: 065. Sri Ramanopadesa Nunmalai — English translation by Sri Sadhu Om and Michael James.

Language is only a medium for communicating one’s thoughts to another. It is called in only after thoughts arise; other thoughts arise after the ‘I-thought’ rises; the ‘I-thought’ is the root of all conversation. When one remains without thinking one understands another by means of the universal language of silence.

Silence is ever-speaking; it is a perennial flow of language; it is interrupted by speaking. These words obstruct that mute language. There is electricity flowing in a wire. With resistance to its passage, it glows as a lamp or revolves as a fan. In the wire it remains as electric energy. Similarly also, silence is the eternal flow of language, obstructed by words.

What one fails to know by conversation extending to several years can be known in a trice in Silence, or in front of Silence - e.g., Dakshinamurti, and his four disciples.

That is the highest and most effective language.

Talk 246

SAHAJA SAMADHI

Talk 465.
Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi
6th March, 1938

Sri Bhagavan explained to a retired Judge of the High Court some points in the Upadesa Saram as follows:

(1) Meditation should remain unbroken as a current. If unbroken it is called samadhi or Kundalini sakti.

(2) The mind may be latent and merge in the Self; it must necessarily rise up again; after it rises up one finds oneself only as ever before. For in this state the mental predispositions are present there in latent form to remanifest under favorable conditions.

(3) Again the mind activities can be completely destroyed. This differs from the former mind, for here the attachment is lost, never to reappear. Even though the man sees the world after he has been in the samadhi state, the world will be taken only at its worth, that is to say it is the phenomenon of the One Reality.

The True Being can be realised only in samadhi; what was then is also now. Otherwise it cannot be Reality or Ever-present Being. What was in samadhi is here and now too.

Hold it and it is your natural condition of Being. Samadhi practice must lead to it. Otherwise how can nirvikalpa samadhi be of any use in which a man remains as a log of wood? He must necessarily rise up from it sometime or other and face the world. But in sahaja samadhi he remains unaffected by the world. ...

Practice lies in one of the two courses: devotion or knowledge. Even these are not the goals. Samadhi must be gained; it must be continuously practiced until sahaja samadhi results. Then there remains nothing more to do.

MANO NASA
Unless the force that activates thought is driven deeply within and destroyed, it is impossible to enjoy one’s own experience of jnana.
Muruganar: In having no settled principles, nothing else matches the mind. Its perception and evidence are completely unreliable. Its nature is to prostitute itself. At an opportune moment for deceiving the sadhaka, it will jump outwards towards sense objects. So long as the mind survives, its nature will not change.

Hence, the mind should be destroyed at its roots by unceasing dhyana and vichara. Until the mind has been destroyed, no sensible aspirant should remain satisfied and think he has accomplished all that needs to be done.

 Padamalai, p 145, 146

Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi: Talk 616:

D.: Is the Jivanadi an entity or a figment of the imagination?

M.: The yogis say that there is a nadi called the jivanadi, atmanadi or
paranadi. The Upanishads speak of a centre from which thousands
of nadis branch off. Some locate such a centre in the brain and
others in other centres. The Garbhopanishad traces the formation
of the foetus and the growth of the child in the womb. The jiva is
considered to enter the child through the fontanelle in the seventh
month of its growth. In evidence thereof it is pointed out that the
fontanelle is tender in a baby and is also seen to pulsate. It takes
some months for it to ossify. Thus the jiva comes from above, enters
through the fontanelle and works through the thousands of the
nadis which are spread over the whole body. Therefore the seeker
of Truth must concentrate on the sahasrara, that is the brain, in
order to regain his source. Pranayama is said to help the yogi to
rouse the Kundalini Sakti which lies coiled in the solar plexus. The
sakti rises through a nerve called the Sushumna, which is imbedded
in the core of the spinal cord and extends to the brain.
If one concentrates on the Sahasrara there is no doubt that the ecstasy
of samadhi ensues. The vasanas, that is the latencies, are not however
destroyed. The yogi is therefore bound to wake up from the samadhi,
because release from bondage has not yet been accomplished. He
must still try to eradicate the vasanas in order that the latencies yet
inherent in him may not disturb the peace of his samadhi. So he
passes down from the sahasrara to the heart through what is called
the jivanadi, which is only a continuation of the Sushumna. The
Sushumna is thus a curve. It starts from the solar plexus, rises through
the spinal cord to the brain and from there bends down and ends in
the heart. When the yogi has reached the heart, the samadhi becomes
permanent. Thus we see that the heart is the final centre.
Some Upanishads also speak of 101 nadis which spread from the heart,
one of them being the vital nadi. If the jiva comes down from above and
gets reflected in the brain, as the yogis say, there must be a reflecting
surface in action. That must also be capable of limiting the Infinite
Consciousness to the limits of the body. In short the Universal Being
becomes limited as a jiva. Such reflecting medium is furnished by the
aggregate of the vasanas of the individual. It acts like the water in a
pot which reflects the image of an object. If the pot be drained of its
water there will be no reflection. The object will remain without being
reflected. The object here is the Universal Being-Consciousness which
is all-pervading and therefore immanent in all. It need not be cognised
by reflection alone; it is self-resplendent. Therefore the seeker’s aim
must be to drain away the vasanas from the heart and let no reflection
obstruct the Light of Eternal Consciousness. This is achieved by the
search for the origin of the ego and by diving into the heart. This is the
direct method for Self-Realisation. One who adopts it need not worry
about nadis, the brain, the Sushumna, the Paranadi, the Kundalini,
pranayama or the six centres.
The Self does not come from anywhere else and enter the body through
the crown of the head. It is as it is, ever sparkling, ever steady, unmoving
and unchanging. The changes which are noticed are not inherent in
the Self which abides in the Heart and is self-luminous like the Sun.
The changes are seen in Its Light. The relation between the Self and
the body or the mind may be compared to that of a clear crystal and
its background. If the crystal is placed against a red flower, it shines
red; if placed against a green leaf it shines green, and so on. The
individual confines himself to the limits of the changeful body or of
the mind which derives its existence from the unchanging Self. All
that is necessary is to give up this mistaken identity, and that done, the
ever-shining Self will be seen to be the single non-dual Reality.
The reflection of Consciousness is said to be in the subtle body
(sukshma sarira), which appears to be composed of the brain and
the nerves radiating from it to all parts of the trunk, chiefly through
the spinal column and the solar plexus.
When I was on the Hill, Nayana (Kavyakantha Ganapathi Muni)
once argued that the brain was the seat of the vasanas, because it
consisted of innumerable cells in which the vasanas were contained
and illuminated by the light of the Self which projected from the
heart. Only this set a person working or thinking.
But I said, “How can it be so? The vasanas must be with one’s Self
and can never remain away from the Self. If, as you say, the vasanas
be contained in the brain and the Heart is the seat of the Self, a person
who is decapitated must be rid of his vasanas and should not be
reborn. You agree that it is absurd. Now can you say that the Self is
in the brain with the vasanas? If so, why should the head bend down
when one falls asleep? Moreover a person does not touch his head
and say ‘I’. Therefore it follows that the Self is in the Heart and the
vasanas are also there in an exceedingly subtle form.
“When the vasanas are projected from the Heart they are associated
with the Light of the Self and the person is said to think. The
vasanas which lie imbedded in an atomic condition grow in size
in their passage from the heart to the brain. The brain is the screen
on which the images of the vasanas are thrown and it is also the
place of their functional distribution. The brain is the seat of the
mind, and the mind works through it.”
So then this is what happens. When a vasana is released and it comes
into play, it is associated with the light of the Self. It passes from the
heart to the brain and on its way it grows more and more until it holds
the field all alone and all the vasanas are thus kept in abeyance for the
time being. When the thought is reflected in the brain it appears as an
image on a screen. The person is then said to have a clear perception
of things. He is a great thinker or discoverer. Neither the thought that
is extolled as being original, nor the thing, nor the country which
is claimed to be a new discovery, is really original or new. It could
not manifest unless it was already in the mind. It was of course very
subtle and remained imperceptible, because it lay repressed by the
more urgent or insistent thoughts or vasanas. When they have spent
themselves this thought arises and by concentration the Light of
the Self makes it clear, so that it appears magnificent, original and
revolutionary. In fact it was only within all along.
This concentration is called samyamana in the Yoga Sastras. One’s
desires can be fulfilled by this process and it is said to be a siddhi. It
is how the so-called new discoveries are made. Even worlds can be
created in this manner. Samyamana leads to all siddhis. But they do
not manifest so long as the ego lasts. Concentration according to yoga
ends in the destruction of the experiencer (ego), experience and the
world, and then the quondam desires get fulfilled in due course. This
concentration bestows on individuals even the powers of creating
new worlds. It is illustrated in the Aindava Upakhyana in the Yoga
Vasishta and in the Ganda Saila Loka in the Tripura Rahasya.
Although the powers appear to be wonderful to those who do not
possess them, yet they are only transient. It is useless to aspire for
that which is transient. All these wonders are contained in the one
changeless Self. The world is thus within and not without. This
meaning is contained in verses 11 and 12 - Chapter V of Sri Ramana
Gita “The entire Universe is condensed in the body, and the entire
body in the Heart. Thus the Heart is the nucleus of the whole Universe.”
Therefore Samyamana relates to concentration on different parts of
the body for the different siddhis. Also the Visva or the Virat is said to
contain the cosmos within the limits of the body. Again, “The world
is not other than the mind, the mind is not other than the Heart; that
is the whole truth.” So the Heart comprises all. This is what is taught
to Svetaketu by the illustration of the seed of a fig tree. The source is
a point without any dimensions. It expands as the cosmos on the one
hand and as Infinite Bliss on the other. That point is the pivot. From
it a single vasana starts, multiplies as the experiencer ‘I’, experience,
and the world. The experiencer and the source are referred to in the
mantra. Two birds, exactly alike, arise simultaneously.
When I was staying in the Skandasramam I sometimes used to go out
and sit on a rock. On one such occasion there were two or three others
with me including Rangaswami Iyengar. Suddenly we noticed some
small moth-like insect shooting up like a rocket into the air from a
crevice in the rock. Within the twinkling of an eye it had multiplied
itself into millions of moths which formed a cloud and hid the sky
from view. We wondered at it and examined the place from which it
shot up. We found that it was only a pinhole and knew that so many
insects could not have issued from it in such a short time.
That is how ahankara (ego) shoots up like a rocket and
instantaneously spreads out as the Universe.
The Heart is therefore the centre. A person can never be away from
it. If he is he is already dead. Although the Upanishads say that
the jiva functions through other centres on different occasions, yet
he does not relinquish the Heart. The centres are simply places of
business (vide Vedanta Chudamani). The Self is bound to the Heart,
like a cow tethered to a peg. The movements are controlled by the
length of the rope. All its wanderings centre around the peg.
A caterpillar crawls on a blade of grass and when it has come to the
end, it seeks another support. While doing so it holds on with its
hind-legs to the blade of grass, lifts the body and sways to and fro
before it can hold another. Similarly it is with the Self. It stays in
the Heart and holds other centres also according to circumstances.
But its activities always centre round the Heart.

The Consciousness within, purged of the mind, is felt as God.

D.: How is one to overcome regrets?

M.: By realising the Divinity in him.

D.: How?

M.: By practice.

D.: What kind of practice?

M.: Meditation.

D.: Mind is not steady while meditating.

M.: It will be all right by practice.

D.: How is the mind to be steadied?

M.: By strengthening it.

D.: How to strengthen it?

M.: It grows strong by satsanga (the company of the wise).
D.: Shall we add prayers, etc.?

M.: Yes.

D.: What of the one who has no regrets?

M.: He is an accomplished Yogi. There is no question about him.

D.: People cite disasters, e.g., earthquakes, famines, etc., to disprove God. How shall we meet their contention?

M.: Wherefrom have they come - those who argue?

D.: They say, “Nature”.

M.: Some call it “Nature” - others “God”.

D.: Are we to keep anything against a rainy day; or to live a precarious life for spiritual attainments?

M.: God looks after everything.

Talk 377

Like a deer caught in the jaws of a tiger, those
who are trapped by the Sadguru's knowledge-
bestowing glance of grace will never be
abandoned. Rather, they are destined to lose
their individuality, their restricted nature, and
attain liberation.

Your thinking that you have to make an effort to get rid of this dream of the waking state and your making efforts to attain jnana or real awakening are all parts of the dream.
When you attain jnana you will see there was neither the dream during
sleep, nor the waking state, but only yourself and your real state.

26. What is the relation between
desirelessness and wisdom?

Desirelessness is wisdom.
The two are not different; they are the same.
Desirelessness is
refraining from turning the mind towards any object.
Wisdom means the appearance of no object.
In other words, not
seeking what is other than the Self is detachment or
desirelessness; not leaving the Self
is wisdom.

Do not suffer through chasing after the world and its ways, but attain peace by running along the straight path to the Heart.

........................    .....................................

"BHAGAVAN, IS THIS IT?"

Once, I asked Chadwick, “Are you realized?” I have put this question to all of the old devotees like Muruganar, Cohen, Osborne, Sadhu Natanananda, Devaraja Mudaliar and others. None of them either said yes or no - all smiled. When I asked him whether he was realized, he did not say yes or no. Instead, he told me, “I will tell you what happened. After many years of my stay with Bhagavan - four or five years, I committed the mistake of trying to evaluate how much I have progressed spiritually. This is a thing any seeker should not do. I felt that I have not progressed. Many who saw me in Ramanasramam, looked at me like I was a sage or a saint saying, „Oh! He is so fortunate. He is so close to Bhagavan. He meditates so much. He is already in that state.‟ This created a contradiction in me as I personally felt that I was not progressing spiritually. However, having left the material life I could not go back to a worldly life either. I felt caught between the devil and the deep sea. I was sorrow stricken. I ran to Bhagavan‟s hall. He was alone. I told him, „Bhagavan, this is my plight. I am neither here nor there and this causes much sorrow in me.‟

Bhagavan looked at me compassionately and said, „Chadwick, who says all this?‟ Immediately, there was a current like shock in my body and I literally ran to my room, shut the doors and went into a neutral state. I was not bothered whether I was spiritually maturing or whether I would be able to stay in the world. I was in a neutral state of silence. A few days passed like that wherein I was neither happy nor worried.” The only luxury that Chadwick allowed himself was taking his bath in a bath tub which he had in the verandah of his cottage. One day, shortly after the above incident, something happened unexpectedly. As Chadwick told me later, “I was taking my bath and very honestly Ganesan, I was not in a spiritual state or in a prayerful mood when it suddenly dawned - the „I AM‟!”

He experienced it - not just as words. He was so ecstatic that he did not even dry himself. He just wrapped a towel around his waist and ran to the Old Hall from where a few days back he had run away. Fortunately, this time too, Bhagavan was alone. In this spiritual ecstasy of experiencing the „I AM‟, where there was no Chadwick, just the „I AM‟, he asked Bhagavan, “Bhagavan, is THIS it?” Chadwick recounted,

“Bhagavan gave me the most glorious smile, and then confirmed, „Yes, Chadwick, THIS is THAT!‟ I then asked him, „Bhagavan, is it so simple?‟ Bhagavan replied, „Yes it is that simple.‟ Since then, I‟ve never had any doubt.”

V. Ganesan in 'Ramana Periya Puranam'

Realize your pure Being. Let there be no confusion with the body. The body is the result of thoughts. The thoughts will play as usual, but you will not be affected.

GURU VACHAKA KOVAI

FOCUSSING INTENTLY ON THE SOURCE

782 To investigate what is our birth place and to merge in that birth place is of all methods the best for rooting out the suffering that exists only in the place we have entered.

Muruganar: The miseries of birth appear only in the place that one has entered, that is, the mind that manifests as the body and the world. They do not arise in the place of one's birth, the Heart. Therefore, by enquiring through Self-ward attention, 'What is the place of my birth?', a person should reach and abide in his source, the Heart. Out of all the techniques that are suitable for destroying the miseries of birth, this is the best.

Just as a woman, suffering intolerably in her father-in-law's house, obtains peace in her mother's house, so the mind, harried by samsaric suffering, wins peace by returning to its source.

Keep your mind still. The aim of all practices is to give up all practices.

Sri Bhagavan also quoted in this connection the following from Saint Thayumanavar :



" சித்த மௌனஞ் செயல்வாக் கெலாமௌனஞ்

சுத்த மௌனமென்பால் தோன்றிற் பராபரமே. "



[ If I get pure Mouna (quiescence), I shall have Mouna of chitta, mind, word and deed. ]

 Sri Bhagavan added : "Such Mouna is not 'inertness', but great 'activity'. It is the most powerful speech."




--- from " Day by Day with Bhagavan " , p. 215, 168

When a person has realized,
a universal life-current takes possession of him
and he becomes an instrument in its hands.
His own separate will is gone.
This is the real Self-surrender.
This is the highest kundalini (the divine cosmic energy),
this is real bhakti (devotion),
this is jnana (knowledge of the Self).

God, on being worshipped, bestows steadiness in devotion which leads to surrender. On the devotee surrendering, God shows His mercy by manifesting as the Guru. The Guru, otherwise God, guides the devotee, saying that God is in you and He is the Self. This leads to introversion of the mind and finally to realization.

BHAGAVAN'S DIALOGUE WITH AN AMERICAN LADY

The following questions were asked by an aristocratic-looking American lady. Bhagavan's answers are a succinct summary of his practical teachings.

Question: What is the truth that I have to attain? Please explain it and show it to me.

Bhagavan: What we have to attain and what is desired by everyone is endless happiness. Although we seek to attain it in various ways, it is not something to be sought or attained as a new experience.

Our real nature is the 'I' feeling which is experienced by everyone. It is within us and nowhere else.

Although we are always experiencing it, our minds are wandering, always seeking it, thinking in ignorance that it is something apart from us. This is like a person saying with his own tongue that he has no tongue.

Question: If this is so, why did so many sadhanas [spiritual
practices] come to be created?

Bhagavan: The sadhanas came to be formed only to get rid of the thought that it [the Self] is something to be newly attained.

The root of the illusion is the thought which ignores the Self and which thinks instead, 'I am this body'.
After this thought rises it expands in a moment into several thousand thoughts and conceals the Self. The reality of the Self will only shine if all these thoughts are removed. Afterwards, what remains is only Brahmananda [the
bliss of Brahman].

Question: I am now sitting peacefully without the thought 'I am this body'. Is this the state of reality?

Bhagavan: This state must remain as it is without any change.
If it changes after a while you will know that other thoughts have not gone.

LIVING BY THE WORDS OF BHAGAVAN, p. 214, 215

Upadesa Saram
(The Essence of Instruction)

By Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi

ALL 30 VERSES



1. Action yields fruit,
For so the Lord ordains it.
How can action be the Lord?
It is insentient.

2. The fruit of action passes.
But action leaves behind
Seed of further action
Leading to an endless ocean of action;
Not at all to moksha.

3. Disinterested action
Surrendered to the Lord
Purifies the mind and points
The way to moksha.

4. This is certain:
Worship, praise and meditation,
Being work of body, speech and mind,
Are steps for orderly ascent.

5. Ether, fire, air, water, earth,
Sun, moon, and living beings --
Worship of these,
Regarded all as forms of His,
Is perfect worship of the Lord.

6. Better than hymns of praise
Is repetition of the Name;
Better low-voiced than loud,
But best of all
Is meditation in the mind.

7. Better than spells of meditation
Is one continuous current,
Steady as a stream,
Or downward flow of oil.

8. Better than viewing Him as Other,
Indeed the noblest attitude of all,
Is to hold Him as the `I' within,
The very `I'.

9. Abidance in pure being
Transcending thought through love intense
Is the very essence
Of supreme devotion.

10. Absorption in the Heart of being,
Whence we sprang,
Is the path of action, of devotion,
Of union and of knowledge.

11. Holding the breath controls the mind,
Like a bird caught in a net.
Breath-regulation helps
Absorption in the Heart.

12. Mind and breath (as thought and action)
Fork out like two branches.
But both spring
From a single root.

13. Absorption is of two sorts:
Submergence and destruction.
Mind submerged rises again;
Dead, it revives no more.

14. Breath controlled and thought restrained,
The mind turned one-way inward
Fades and dies.

15. Mind extinct, the mighty seer
Returns to his own natural being
And has no action to perform.

16. It is true wisdom
For the mind to turn away
From outer objects and behold
Its own effulgent form.

17. When unceasingly the mind
Scans its own form,
There is nothing of the kind.
For everyone
This path direct is open.

18. Thoughts alone make up the mind;
And of all thoughts the `I' thought is the root.
What is called mind is but the notion `I'.

19. When one turns within and searches
Whence this `I' thought arises,
The shamed `I' vanishes
And wisdom's quest begins.

20. Where this `I' notion fades,
Now there as I, as I, arises
The One, the very Self, The Infinite.

21. Of the term, `I' the permanent import
Is `That'. For even in deep sleep
Where we have no sense of `I'
We do not cease to be.

22. Body, senses, mind, breath, sleep --
All insentient and unreal --
Cannot be `I',
`I' who am the Real.

23. For knowing That which Is
There is no other knower.
Hence Being is Awareness
And we are all Awareness.

24. In the nature of their being, creature and creator
Are in substance one.
They differ only
In adjuncts and awareness.

25. Seeing oneself free of all attributes
Is to see the Lord,
For He shines ever as the pure Self.

26. To know the Self is but to be the Self,
For It is non-dual.
In such knowledge
One abides as That.

27. That is true knowledge which transcends
Both knowledge and ignorance,
For in pure knowledge
There is no object to be known.

28. Having known one's nature one abides
As being with no beginning and no end
In unbroken consciousness and bliss.

29. Abiding in this state of bliss
Beyond bondage and release,
Is steadfastness
In service of the Lord.

30. All ego gone,
Living as That alone
Is penance good for growth,
Sings Ramana, the Self.

(Translated by Prof. K. Swaminathan

Forgetting everything that has to be obtained either in this world or in the next, enduring perfectly and with patience all the obstacles that come, and not being disheartened by any amount of poverty that comes, live in the way in which God’s Grace leads you.

(GURU VACHAKA KOVAI: 664)

As in the night when the sun is not present, one sees the light in the moon, the man who is not present in the heart, sees merely the mind.

If the seer [drik, the ego] and the seen [drisya, the world] were different in their reality [sat], the act of seeing would never be possible. But since seeing is possible, know that they [the seer and the seen] have one and the same reality.

(GURU VACHAKA KOVAI: 639)

.................   ................................

PADAMALAI

The unreality of the ego
30 Neither in this world nor anywhere else
does there exist for you a malevolent enemy like the ego.

31 Enquire within and know the source of the ego so that the ego departs and the experience of Atma-swarupa surges.

32 If you enquire within yourself and know the nature of the powerful ego-ghost, then, like the [presumed] best man, it will run away and disappear.

Bhagavan: In a Hindu marriage function, the feasts continue five or six days. A stranger was mistaken for the best man by the bride's party and they therefore treated him with special regard. Seeing him treated with special regard by the bride's party, the bridegroom's party considered him to be some man of importance related to the bride's party and therefore they too showed him special respect. The stranger had altogether a happy time of it.

He was also all along aware of the real situation. On one occasion the groom's party wanted to refer to him on some
point. They asked for him. He scented trouble and made
himself scarce.

So it is with the ego. If looked for, it disappears. If not, it continues to give trouble.

Reality is simply the loss of the ego. Destroy the ego by seeking its identity. Because the ego is no entity
it will automatically vanish and reality will shine forth by
itself. This is the direct method. Whereas all other methods are done, only retaining the ego.

Knowing THAT which survives the annihilation of ‘I’ is alone the true Tapas!

261. Though the Heart is said to be both inside and outside, it truly exists neither inside nor outside, because the appearance of the body, which is the base of the difference ‘inside’ and ‘outside’, is itself a mental conception.

262. While the body is [in fact] in Self, one who thinks that Self [or Heart] is within the insentient body is like one who thinks that the screen – which is the substratum of that cinema picture – is contained within the picture.

~ GURU VACHAKA KOVAI

When the mind [i.e., the ego’s attention] which wanders outside, knowing only other objects [2nd and 3rd persons] – begins to attend to its own nature, all other objects will disappear, and then, by experiencing its own true nature [i.e. Self], the pseudo-‘I’ will also die.

-GURU VACHAKA KOVAI, Verse 193.

Ramana Maharshi: You can never find the mind through mind. Pass beyond it in order to find it non-existent.

Questioner: Then one must directly go to seek the ego. Is it so?

Ramana Maharshi: That's it. Mind, ego, intellect are all different names for one single inner organ (antahkarana). The mind is only the aggregate of thoughts. Thoughts cannot exist but for the ego. So all thoughts are pervaded by ego (aham). Seek wherefrom the `I' rises and the other thoughts will disappear.

~ from 'Talk 473'; 15th March, 1938

Take refuge in silence. You can be here or there or anywhere. Fixed in silence, established in the inner ‘I’, you can be as you are. The world will never perturb you if you are well founded upon the tranquility within. Gather your thoughts within. Find out the thought centre and discover your Self-equipoise. In storm and turmoil be calm and silent. Watch the events around as a witness. The world is a drama. Be a witness, inturned and introspective.

The state of a jnani is neither sleep nor waking but intermediate between the two.
There is the awareness of the waking state and the stillness of sleep.

It is the state of perfect awareness and of perfect stillness combined.
It lies between sleep and waking; it is also the interval between two successive thoughts.
It is not dullness but it is bliss.
It is not transitory but it is eternal.

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.

The Truth is that Self is constant and un-intermittent Awareness. The object of enquiry is to find the true nature of the Self as Awareness. Let one practice enquiry so long as separateness is perceived. Once realization arises, there is no further need for enquiry. The question will also not arise. Can awareness ever think of questioning who is aware? Awareness remains pure and simple.

When the mind becomes extinguished, the supreme state, in which this world once and for all ceases to appear [as real], is won.

4th February, 1935
24.

Devotee : Are there any aids to : (1) 'concentration' and (2) casting off distractions ?

Sri Bhagavan : Physically, the digestive and other organs are kept free from irritation. Therefore, food is reguloted, both in quantity and quality. Non-irritatants are eaten, avoiding chillies, excess of salt, onions, wine, opium, etc. Avoid constipation, drowsiness and excitement, and all foods which induce them. Mentally, take interest in one thing and fix the mind on it. Let such interest be all-absorbing to the exclusion of everything else. This is dispassion ('vairagya' ) and concentration. God or mantra may be chosen. The mind gains strength to grasp the subtle and merge into it.

D.: Distrations result from inherited tendencies. Can they be cast off too ?

Sri Bhagavan : Yes. Many have done so. Believe it ! They did so because they believed they could. Vasanas (predispositions) can be obliterated. It is done by concentration on that which is free from vasanas and yet is their core.

D.: How long is the practice to continue ?

Sri Bhagavan : Till success is achieved and until Yoga-liberation becomes permanent. Success begets success. If one distraction is conquered, the next is conquered and so on, until all are finally conquered. The process is like reducing an enemy's fort by slaying its man-power -- one by one, as each issues out.

D.: What is the goal of this process ?

Sri Bhagavan : Realising the Real.

D.: What is the nature of the Reality ?
Sri Bhagavan : (a) Existence without beginning or end -- eternal.
(b) Existence everywhere, endless, infinite.
(c) Existence underlying all forms, all changes, all forces, all matter and all spirit. The 'many' change and pass away (penomenona),whereas the 'ONE' always endures (noumenon).
(d) The One displacing the triads, i.e.,the knower, the knowledge and the known. The triads are only appearances in time and space, whereas the Reality lies beyond and behind them. They are like a mirage over the Reality. They are the result of delusion.

D.: If 'I' also be an illusion, who then casts off the illusion ?

Sri Bhagavan : The "I" casts off the illusion of 'I' and yet remains as "I". Such is the paradox of Self-Realisation. The realised do not see any contradiction in it. Take the case of bhakti. I approach Ishvara and pray to be absorbed in Him. I then surrender myself in faith and by concentration. What remains afterwards ? In place of the original 'I', perfect self-surrender leaves a residuum of God, in which the 'I' is lost. This is the highest form of devotion ( Parabhakti ), prapatti, surrender or the height of vairagya.

You give up this and that of 'my' possessions. If you give up 'I' and 'Mine' instead, all are given up at a stroke. The very seed of possession is lost. Thus, the evil is ripped in the bud or crashed in the germ itself. Dispassion ( vairagya ) must be very strong to do this. Eagerness to do it, must be equal to that of a man kept under water trying to rise up to the surface for his life.

D.: Cannot this trouble and difficulty be lessened with the aid of a Master or an Ishta Devata (God chosen for worship) ? Cannot they give the power to see our SELF as it is -- to change us into themselves -- to take us into Self-Realisation ?

Sri Bhagavan : Ishta Devata and Guru are aids -- very powerful aids, on this path. But, an aid to be effective, requires your effort also. Your effort is a sine qua non. It is 'you' who should see the Sun. Can your spectacles and the Sun see for you ? You yourself have to see your true nature. Not much aid is required for doing it !

- from TALKS WITH SRI RAMANA MAHARSHI, pp.28--30

“Give yourself up to deep meditation. Throw away all other considerations of life. The calculative life will not be crowned with spiritual success.”

~ 'Conscious Immortality'

“Effort is necessary so long as thoughts are promiscuous. Because you are with other thoughts, you call the continuity of a single thought, meditation or dhyana. If that dhyana becomes effortless it will be found to be your real nature.“

~Talk 328

“Dhyana is the chief practice."

A little later Sri Bhagavan continued:

"Dhyana means fight. As soon as you begin meditation other thoughts will crowd together, gather force and try to sink the single thought to which you try to hold. The good thought must gradually gain strength by repeated practice. After it has grown strong the other thoughts will be put to flight.

This is the battle royal always taking place in meditation.

One wants to rid oneself of misery. It requires peace of mind, which means absence of perturbation owing to all kinds of thoughts.

Peace of mind is brought about by dhyana alone.”

~Talk 371

Once the current of awareness of the self is set afoot, it becomes everlasting and continuous by intensification.

Know that the eradication of the identification with the body is charity, spiritual austerity and ritual sacrifice; it is virtue, divine union and devotion; it is heaven, wealth, peace and truth; it is grace; it is the state of divine silence; it is the deathless death; it is jnana, renunciation, final liberation and bliss.

That which should be adhered to is only the experience of Silence, because in that Supreme State nothing exists to be attained other than oneself. That which Is is Mouna (Silence). How can Mouna be explained in words? The highest form of Grace is Silence. The experience of Silence alone is the real and perfect knowledge.

PRACTICE The unique ray that shines within the jiva as 'I' exists as the clue. If the jiva unflaggingly traces the source of that ray to the Heart, it will discover the Supreme and its bondage will cease.

 Know that the wondrous jnana vichara is only for those who have attained purity of mind by softening and melting within.

Without this softening and melting away of the mind, brought about by thinking of the feet of the Lord, the attachment to the ‘I' that adheres to the body will not cease to be.



 Since it is through forgetfulness, which those who are strong in mind fear like death, that the illusion of birth ensnares us, what other means are there to abolish that birth other than the powerful enquiry into one's own true nature? If we perform sadhana to the limit of our abilities the Lord will accomplish for us that which is beyond our capabilities. If we fail to do even that which is within our capabilities, there is not the slightest fault in the grace of the Lord.
Verses from Sri Ramana Jnana Bodham, Padamalai p 186

“Bhagavan has said that self-enquiry is simple, direct and effective. Though
I try to follow the same I cannot say I have understood it. I put the question 'Who am I?' but there is no proper response from within. However, I am getting a sort of stillness. “

Bhagavan: "How can you get the answer in words? It is not a regular mental enquiry to elicit a concrete answer. It is only a tool to direct the mind back to its source."

Visitor: Yes, I follow. But the result is not clear to me. There is a short stillness which does not last.

Bhagavan: You should be steadfast in sadhana. By repeating the process you fix attention on the ego, the 'I'- thought. Whenever the doubt arises repeat the process and make the enquiry. Try to reach the source of the ego. Once you reach the source, by one-pointed effort, your peace will not be disturbed.''

Bhagavan Ramana has unravelled the mystery of the universal truth, the real behind the apparent. It is in this context his emphasis on self-enquiry assumes importance. The penetrating search within opens up awareness of pure consctousness.

Another time he said: "Effort is needed. If the mind becomes single-pointed it becomes a great force and can turn inward to the heart easily.''

"One's effort is essential. It is only the wise endowed with equanimity and renouncing the fruit of action who are freed from the shackles of birth and death. They concentrate exclusively on Self-knowledge."

Q: At times the meditation becomes easy, but that remains only for a short period- and it is again disturbed by unwanted thoughts.

Bhagavan: "Yes - may be - Resist the thoughts - you should have more will power to obtain steadfastness. Slight disturbances should be ignored, taking care to pursue further without break. Sustained effort wiil bring about results. Moreover, you may fix up a certain time for meditation as a daily routine which will go a long way for development!"

Bhagavan: Bhakti, Karma, Jnana and Yoga, all these paths are one. You cannot love God without knowing Him nor know Him without loving Him. Love manifests itself in everything you do and that is Karma. The development of mental perception (Yoga) is the necessary preliminary before you can know or love God in the proper way.

Question No 24: What is happiness?

Bhagawan: Happiness is the very nature of the Self; happiness and the Self are not different. There is no happiness in any object of the world. We imagine through our ignorance that we derive happiness from objects. When the mind goes out, it experiences misery. In truth, when its desires are fulfilled, it returns to its own place and enjoys the happiness that is the Self. Similarly, in the states of sleep, samadhi and fainting, and when the object desired is obtained or the object disliked is removed, the mind becomes inward-turned, and enjoys pure Self-Happiness. Thus the mind moves without rest alternately going out of the Self and returning to it. Under the tree the shade is pleasant; out in the open the heat is scorching. A person who has been going about in the sun feels cool when he reaches the shade. Someone who keeps on going from the shade into the sun and then back into the shade is a fool. A wise man stays permanently in the shade. Similarly, the mind of the one who knows the truth does not leave Brahman. The mind of the ignorant, on the contrary, revolves in the world, feeling miserable, and for a little time returns to Brahman to experience happiness. In fact, what is called the world is only thought. When the world disappears, i.e. when there is no thought, the mind experiences happiness; and when the world appears, it goes through misery.

The enquiry “Who am I?” is the principal means to the removal of all misery and the attainment of the supreme bliss. When in this manner the mind becomes quiescent in its own state, Self-experience arises of its own accord, without any hindrance. Thereafter sensory pleasures and pains will not affect the mind. All (phenomena) will appear then, without attachment, like a dream. Never forgetting one’s plenary Self-experience is real bhakti (devotion), yoga (mind-control), jnana (knowledge) and all other austerities. Thus say the sages.

-from 'Self-Enquiry' ('VICHARASANGRAHAM'), Q&A No. 12

If one meditates keenly on the state that prevails at the end of waking and just before sleep, one attains unending happiness.

Know well that the experience of Bliss exists only in Self and never in this life of delusion, and hence achieve Self-Knowledge, which is the Space of Grace and the final state of Supreme Silence.

"Who am I"

Question No 21: Is it necessary for one who longs for release to inquire into the nature of categories (tattvas)?

Bhagawan: Just as one who wants to throw away garbage has no need to analyse it and see what it is, so one who wants to know the Self has no need to count the number of categories or inquire into their characteristics; what he has to do is to reject altogether the categories that hide the Self. The world should be considered like a dream.

Bhagavan elaborated on this in an explanation he gave to Lakshmana Sarma:

If the eye that sees be the eye of flesh, then gross forms are seen; if the eye be assisted by lenses, then even invisible things are seen to have form; if the mind be that eye, then subtle forms are seen; thus the seeing eye and the objects seen are of the same nature; that is, if the eye be itself a form, it sees nothing but forms. But neither the physical eye nor the mind has any power of vision of it’s own. The real eye is the Self; as he is formless, being the pure and infinite consciousness, the reality, he does not see forms.
[MahaYoga p83]

The experience of Vedanta is 

possible only for those who have completely given up all desires.

 For the desirous it is far away, and they should therefore try to rid themselves of all other desires by the desire for God, who is free from desires.

Look. This little finger covers the eye and prevents the whole world from being seen. In the same way this small mind covers the whole universe and prevents Reality from being seen.

SELF-REMEMBRANCE

Remembering the Self, one’s real nature, without faltering even slightly,
is the eminent victory of true jnana.

With your consciousness hold fast to and never abandon the substratum, your real nature, the Supreme that can neither be held nor relinquished.

Is the Self something far away that you have to touch? The higher Self exists as one but it is only your thoughts that make you feel it is not.
You can neither think about it nor forget it.

Other than the thought of the Self, any other thought you ay associate with, is a mere mental construct, foreign to that Self.

Thinking of the Self is to abide as that tranquil consciousness. Padam, the true swarupa, can neither be remembered nor forgotten.

The Self is self-luminous without darkness and light, and is the reality which is self-manifest. Therefore, one should not think of it as this or that.
All such thoughts would only end in bondage. The purport of meditation on the Self is to make the mind take the ‘form’ of the Self. In the middle of the heart-cave is the pure Brahman directly manifest as the Self in the form of ‘I-I’. Can there be greater ignorance than to think of It in manifold ways, without knowing it as aforementioned?

-Padamalai p 76, 77

The wave said to the sea: "Could I be like you?"
The sea replied: "It's easy... just settle down."

The Self is like a powerful magnet within us. It draws us gradually to Itself, though we imagine we are going to It of our own accord: when we are near enough, It puts an end to our activities, makes us still, and then swallows up our personal current, thus killing our wrong personality. It overwhelms the intellect and overfloods the whole being. We think we are meditating upon It and developing towards It, whereas the truth is that we are iron filings and It is the Atman-magnet that is pulling us towards Itself. Thus the process of finding the Self is a form of Divine magnetism.

D.: But the mind slips away from our control.

M.: Be it so. Do not think of it. When you recollect yourself bring it back and turn it inward. That is enough.

No one succeeds without effort. Mind control is not one’s birthright. The successful few owe their success to their perseverance.

A passenger in a train keeps his load on the head by his own folly. Let him put it down: he will find the load reaches the destination all the same. Similarly, let us not pose as the doers, but resign ourselves to the guiding Power.

There is a state beyond our efforts or effortlessness. Until it is realised effort is necessary. After tasting such Bliss, even once, one will repeatedly try to regain it. It is as difficult for a jnani to engage in thoughts as it is for an ajnani to be free from thoughts.

Those who do not realise the Truth will be lost in the play of maya.

Unless one follows the principle, “That which is essential to be reformed is only my own mind”, one’s mind will become more and more impure by seeing the defects of others.

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 practice this method all rules and discipline are unnecessary.

Know that jnana (Self-realization) alone is non-attachment; jnana alone is purity; jnana is the attainment of God; jnana which is devoid of forgetfulness of Self alone is immortality; jnana alone is everything.

Though the ‘I’ is always experienced, yet one’s attention has to be drawn to it. Only then does knowledge dawn. Thus the need for the instruction of the Upanishads and of wise sages.

SNAKES around BHAGAVAN

Snakes were Bhagavan’s companions since the days on the hill. Bhagavan and snakes respected each other. They were the fellow lodgers in the caves on the hill. Bhagavan used to say, “We have come to their residence and we have no right to disturb or trouble them. They do not harm us.”
Bhagavan was completely at home with the snakes and other reptiles. They also had absolutely no fear of Bhagavan. It is said that Sadhus extend their protection to all beings. This applied to Bhagavan who protected even poisonous creatures. He was stung by deadly scorpions at least on three occasions but nothing happened to him.

IT IS COOL AND SOFT
Once, a devotee wanted to know from Bhagavan whether it was true that he was friendly with snakes while living on the mountain. Bhagavan replied, “Yes, it is true. One particular snake crawled over my body. It was very friendly snake. At its touch my body used to feel as though it was tickled. The snake used to come and go whenever it liked, on it’s own accord.”
Dr. Sreenivas Rao, the Ashram doctor asked Bhagavan whether a snake had crept over his body. Bhagavan replied. “Yes, snakes raise their hood and look into your eyes. They seem to understand that they need not be afraid of me and then pass over me. It did not strike me either that I should do anything to it.”
When another devotee asked, how Bhagavan felt when snakes crawled over his body, he replied laughingly, “Cool and soft.”