https://selfdefinition.org/ramana/Talks-with-Sri-Ramana-Maharshi--complete.pdf
D.: How to control lust, anger, etc.?
M.: Whose are these passions? Find out.
If you remain as the Self, there will be found to be nothing apart from the Self.
Then there will be no need to control, etc.
D.: What is the Sun marga? What is the Moon marga? Which of them is easier?
M.: Ravi marga (Sun marga) is jnana. Moon marga is Yoga. They think that after purifying the 72,000 nadis in the body, sushumna is entered and the mind passes up to the sahasrara and there is nectar trickling. These are all mental concepts.
The man is already overwhelmed by world concepts. Other concepts are now added in the shape of this Yoga.
The object of all these is to rid the man of concepts and to make him inhere as the pure Self - i.e., absolute consciousness, bereft of thoughts!
Why not go straight to it? Why add new encumbrances to the already existing ones?
D.: Is this a True Path to the realisation of the, One Self? Is it not easier for some thus to practise seeing Bhagavan in whatever meets the mind than to seek the Super-Mental through the mental inquiry “Who am I?”
M.: Yes. When you see God in all, do you think of God or do you not?
You should certainly keep God in your mind for seeing God all round you.
Keeping God in your mind becomes dhyana. Dhyana is the stage before realisation.
Realisation is in the Self only. Dhyana must precede it.
Whether you make dhyana of God or of Self, it is immaterial. The goal is the same.
But you cannot escape the Self.
You want to see God in all, but not in yourself? If all are God, are you not included in that all? Yourself being God, is it a wonder that all are God? There must be a seer and thinker for even the practice. Who is he?
232 Important stages of spiritual progress:
Talk 256.
A question was asked regarding the position of one whose jnana is weak in the scheme of things. The doubt was if that manda Jnani had stopped short of kevala nirvikalpa.
M.: Kevala nirvikalpa happens even in the tanumanasi stage (of attenuated mind).
D.: The middling and superior jnanis are said to be jivanmuktas. Kevala nirvikalpa is in tanumanasa. Where does one whose jnana is weak fit in?
M.: He comes in sattvapatti (realisation) -
whereas the middling and the superior ones come in asamsakti and padarthabhavini respectively.
This division as dull, middling, and superior is according to the momentum of prarabdha.
If it is strong he is weak; if it is middling he is middling too; if prarabdha is weak he is superior; if it is very weak he is in turyaga.
There is no difference in the samadhi state or the jnana of the jnanis. The classification is only from the standpoint of the observer.
D.: Is tanumanasi the same as mumukshutva?
M.: No. The six qualities, discrimination, dispassion and mumukshutva, etc., precede subhechcha. The first stage follows mumukshutva, then comes vicharana (search), then the tenuous mind. Direct perception is in sattvapatti (realisation).
There is no need to discuss similar points. Jivanmukti and Videhamukti are differently described by different authorities; Videhamukti is sometimes said to occur even when the man is seen with a body. The fact is that mukti is another name for Aham (‘I’). The Seven Jnana bhumikas (stages of knowledge) are:
(1) Subhechcha (desire for enlightenment);
(2) Vicharana (hearing and reflection);
(3) Tanumanasi (tenuous mind);
(4) Sattvapatti (Self-Realisation);
(5) Asamsakti (non-attachment);
(6) Padarthabhavani (absolute non-perception of objects);
(7) Turyaga (beyond words).
Those who have attained the last four Bhumikas are respectively called Brahmavit, Brahmavidvara, Brahmavidvarya and Brahmavidvarishtha.
D.: People labour for gaining the summum bonum of life. I think that they are not on the right track. Sri Bhagavan has made considerable tapas and achieved the goal. Sri Bhagavan is also desirous that all should reach the goal and willing to help them to that end. His vicarious tapas must enable others to reach the goal rather easily. They need not undergo all the hardships which Sri Bhagavan has already undergone. Their way has been made easy for them by Sri Bhagavan. Am I not right?
Maharshi smiled and said: If that were so everyone would easily reach the goal, but each one must work for himself.
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Talk 259.
Nada, Bindu and Kala correspond to prana, mind and intellect. Isvara is beyond nada (sound). Nada, jyoti (light), etc., are mentioned in Yoga literature. But God is beyond these. The circulation of blood, respiration of air, and other functions of the body are bound to produce sound. That sound is involuntary and continuous. That is nada.
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M.: The whole cosmos is contained in one pinhole in the Heart. These passions are part of the cosmos. They are avidya (ignorance).
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D.: Are all in liberation?
M.: Where is all? There is no liberation either. It could be only if there was bondage. There was really no bondage and so, it follows, there is no liberation.
D.: But to evolve through births, there must be practice, years of abhyasa.
M.: Abhyasa is only to prevent any disturbance to the inherent peace. There is no question of years. Prevent this thought at this moment. You are only in your natural state whether you make abhyasa or not.
Another man asked: Why do not all realise the Self in that case?
M.: It is the same question in another guise. Why do you raise this question?
In as much as you raise this question of abhyasa it shows you require abhyasa. Make it. But to remain without questions or doubts is the natural state.
God created man; and man created God. They both are the originators of forms and names only. In fact, neither God nor man was created.
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M.: If the longing is there, Realisation will be forced on you even if you do not want it. Subhechcha is the doorway for realisation.
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240
M.: An aspirant must be equipped with three requisites: (1) Ichcha; (2) Bhakti; and (3) Sraddha. Ichcha means satisfaction of bodily wants without attachment to the body (such as hunger and thirst and evacuation). Unless it is done meditation cannot progress. Bhakti and Sraddha are already known.
D.: Do not Hindu sastras speak of mukti?
M.: Mukti is synonymous with the Self. Jivan mukti (liberation while alive) and videha mukti (liberation after the body falls) are all for the ignorant. The Jnani is not conscious of mukti or bandha (bondage). Bondage, liberation and orders of mukti are all said for an ajnani in order that ignorance might be shaken off. There is only mukti and nothing else.
M.: The difference ‘He’ and ‘I’ are the obstacles to jnana.
D.: But it cannot be denied that Bhagavan is of a high order whereas we are limited. Will Bhagavan make me one with Him?
M.: Were you aware of limitations in your sleep?
D.: I cannot bring down the state of my sleep in the present state and speak of it.
M.: You need not. These three states alternate before the unchanging Self. You can remember your state of sleep. That is your real state. There were no limitations then. After the rise of the ‘I-thought’ the limitations arose.
D.: How to attain the Self?
M.: Self is not to be attained because you are the Self
D.: Yes. There is an unchanging Self and a changing one in me. There are two selves.
M.: The changefulness is mere thought. All thoughts arise after the arising of the ‘I-thought’. See to whom the thoughts arise. Then you transcend them and they subside. This is to say, tracing the source of the ‘I-thought’, you realise the perfect ‘I-I’. ‘I’ is the name of the Self.
D.: Shall I meditate on “I am Brahman” (Aham Brahmasmi)?
M.: The text is not meant for thinking “I am Brahman”. Aham (‘I’) is known to everyone. Brahman abides as Aham in everyone. Find out the ‘I’. The ‘I’ is already Brahman. You need not think so. Simply find out the ‘I’.
D.: Is not discarding of the sheaths mentioned in the sastras?
M.: 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 shift the pure ‘I’ from the contaminated ‘I’ this discarding is mentioned.
But it does not mean exactly discarding of the non-self, but it means the finding of the real Self. The real Self is the Infinite ‘I-I’, i.e. ‘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 are the changing thoughts. They will be found to arise after the ‘I-thought’. Hold the ‘I-thought’. They subside. Trace back the source of the ‘I-thought’. The Self alone will remain.
D.: It is difficult to follow. I understand the theory. But what is the practice?
M.: The other methods are meant for those who cannot take to the investigation of the Self. Even to repeat Aham Brahmasmi or think of it, a doer is necessary. Who is it? It is ‘I’. Be that ‘I’.
It is the direct method.
The other methods also will ultimately lead everyone to this method of the investigation of the Self.
D.: I am aware of the ‘I’. Yet my troubles are not ended.
M.: This ‘I-thought’ is not pure. It is contaminated with the association of the body and senses. See to whom the trouble is. It is to the ‘I thought’. Hold it. Then the other thoughts vanish.
D.: Yes. How to do it? That is the whole trouble.
M.: Think ‘I’ ‘I’ ‘I’ and hold to that one thought to the exclusion of all others.
D.: The booklet Who am I? speaks of swarupa drishti (seeing the essence). Then there must be a seer and the seen. How can this be reconciled with the Ultimate Unity?
M.: Why do you ask for salvation, release from sorrow, etc.? He who asks for them sees them also. The fact is this. Drishti (sight) is consciousness. It forms the subject and object. Can there be drishti apart from the Self? The Self is all - drishti, etc.
D.: How to discern the ego from the Perfect ‘I-I’?
M.: That which rises and falls is the transient ‘I’. That which has neither origin nor end is the permanent ‘I-I’ consciousness.
D.: Will continuous thought on the Self make the mind more and more refined so that it will not think of anything but the highest?
M.: There is the peaceful mind which is the supreme. When the same becomes restless, it is afflicted by thoughts. Mind is only the dynamic power (sakti) of the Self.
D.: Are the sheaths material and different from the Self?
M.: There is no difference between matter and spirit. Modern science admits that all matter is energy. Energy is power or force (sakti). Therefore all are resolved in Siva and Sakti i.e. the Self and the Mind. The kosas are mere appearances. There is no reality in them as such.
D.: How many hours a day should one devote to meditation?
M.: Your very nature is meditation.
D.: It will be so when ripe, but not now.
M.: You become conscious of it later. That does not mean that your nature is now different from meditation.
D.: What about practice?
M.: Meditation must always be practised.
D.: A Persian mystic says: “There is nothing but God.” The Quran says: “God is immanent in all.”
M.: There is no ‘all’, apart from God, for Him to pervade. He alone is.
Talk 271.
Dr. Syed: How is Grace to be obtained?
M.: Similar to obtaining the Self.
D.: Practically, how is it to be for us?
M.: By self-surrender.
D.: Grace was said to be the Self. Should I then surrender to my own Self?
M.: Yes. To the one from whom Grace is sought. God, Guru and Self are only different forms of the same.
D.: Please explain, so that I may understand.
M.: So long as you think you are the individual you believe in God.
On worshipping God, God appears to you as Guru.
On serving Guru He manifests as the Self.
This is the rationale.
D.: God is perfect. Why did He create the world imperfect? The work shares the nature of the author. But here it is not so.
M.: Who is it that raises the question?
D.: I - the individual.
M.: Are you apart from God that you ask this question?
So long as you consider yourself the body you see the world as external. The imperfections appear to you.
God is perfection. His work also is perfection. But you see it as imperfection because of your wrong identification.
248
M.: How was I attracted here? By Arunachala. The Power cannot be denied. Again Arunachala is within and not without. The Self is Arunachala.
D.: Several terms are used in the holy books - Atman, Paramatman, Para, etc. What is the gradation in them?
M.: They mean the same to the user of the words. But they are understood differently by persons according to their development.
D.: But why do they use so many words to mean the same thing?
M.: It is according to circumstances. They all mean the Self. Para means ‘not relative’ or ‘beyond the relative’, that is to say, the Absolute.
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249
D.: Should I meditate on the right chest in order to meditate on the Heart?
M.: 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. The Heart is the centre from which everything springs. Because you see the world, the body and so on, it is said that there is a centre for these, which is called the Heart. When you are in the Heart, the Heart is known to be neither the centre nor the circumference. There is nothing else. Whose centre could it be?
D.: May I take it that the Self and the non-Self are like substance and its shadow?
M.: Substance and shadow are for the one who sees only the shadow and mistakes it for the substance and sees its shadow also. But there is neither substance nor shadow for the one who is aware only of the Reality.
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