‘I’ is never new. It is eternally the same

Ramana Maharishi:  ‘I’ is never new. It is eternally the same.

Devotee:  Do you mean to say that there is no progress?

Ramana Maharishi:  Progress is perceived by the outgoing mind. Everything is still when the mind is introverted and the Self is sought.

Devotee:  The Sciences - what becomes of them?

Ramana Maharishi:  They all end in the Self. The Self is their finality.

Only those whose minds are less muddy, or are pure, can relish small and purposeful works.

Ramana Maharishi:   To resume polemics - the author of Vritti Prabhakara claims to have studied 350,000 books before writing this book. What is the use?

Can they bring in Realisation of the Self? Vichara Sagara is fullof logic and technical terms. Can these ponderous volumes serve any real purpose? However, some people read them and then seek sages only to see if they can meet their questions. To read them, to discover new doubts and to solve them, is a source of pleasure to them. Knowing it to be sheer waste, the sages do not encourage such people. Encourage them once and there will be no end. Only the enquiry into the Self can be of use. Those familiar with logic, Vritti Prabhakara, Vichara Sagara or Sutra Bhashya, or similar large works, cannot relish small works like Truth Revealed dealing only with the Self and that pointedly too, because they have accumulated vasanas. Only those whose minds are less muddy, or are pure, can relish small and purposeful works.

Are the stones, etc. destined to be always so?

Devotee:  Are the stones, etc. destined to be always so?

Ramana Maharishi:  Who sees stones? They are perceived by your senses, which are in turn actuated by your mind. So they are in your mind. Whose mind is it? The questioner must find it himself. If the Self be found this question will not arise. The Self is more intimate than the objects. Find the subject, and the objects will take care of themselves. The objects are seen by different persons according to their outlook and these theories are evolved. But who is the seer, the cogniser of these  theories? It is you. Find your Self. Then there is an end of these vagaries of the mind.

Devotee:  What is this mind?

Ramana Maharishi:  A bundle of thoughts.

Devotee:  Wherefrom has it its origin?

Ramana Maharishi:  Consciousness of the Self.

Devotee:  Then thoughts are not real.

Ramana Maharishi:  They are not: the only reality is the Self.

Are there two ‘I’s in the same person?

Some men asked the Master questions which ultimately resolved themselves into one, that ‘I’ is not perceptible however much they might struggle.

Ramana Maharishi:  “Who is it that says that ‘I’ is not perceptible? Is there an ‘I’ ignorant, and an ‘I’ elusive? Are there two ‘I’s in the same person? Ask yourself these questions. It is the mind which says that ‘I’ is not perceptible. Where is that mind from? Know the mind. You will find it a myth. King Janaka said, ‘I have discovered the thief who had been ruining me so long. I will now deal with him summarily. Then I shall be happy.’ Similarly it will be with others.”

The intellect delights in investigating the past and the future but does not look to the present.

Ramana Maharishi:  All knowledge is meant only to lead the person to the realisation of the Self. The scriptures or religions are well-known to be for that purpose. What do they all mean? Leave alone what they say of the past or of the future; for it is only speculative. But the present existence is within the experience of all. Realise the pure Being. There is an end to all discourses and disputes. But the intellect of man does not easily take to this course. It is only rarely that a man becomes introverted. The intellect delights in investigating the past and the future but does not look to the present.

Leaving out what is intimate and immediate, why should one seek the rest?

Ramana Maharishi:  Leaving out what is intimate and immediate, why should one seek the  rest? The scriptures say “That Thou art”. In this statement ‘Thou’ is directly experienced; but leaving it out they go on seeking ‘That’!

Devotee:  In order to find the oneness of ‘That’ and of ‘Thou’.

Ramana Maharishi:  ‘Thou’ is the Inner Self immanent in all; in order to find the same, he leaves himself out and sees the world objectively. What is the world? What is Immanent in it? It is ‘That’. All such ideas arise only on forgetting one’s own Self. I never bothered myself with such matters. Only after a time it occurred to me that men had investigated such matters.

By what means to know the knower?

Devotee:  “Not this - not this”. That is the teaching to the seeker. He is told that the Self is Supreme. How is it to be found?

Ramana Maharishi:  The Self is said to be the hearer, thinker, knower, etc. But that is not all. It is also described as the ear of ear, the mind of mind, etc.; and by what means to know the knower?

Devotee:  But this does not say what the Self is.

Ramana Maharishi:  “Not this - not this”.

Devotee:  It only negates.

Ramana Maharishi:  (Silence).

The devotee complains that the Self is not pointed out.

Ramana Maharishi:  A man wants to know what he is. He sees animals and objects around him. He is told: ‘You are not a cow, not a horse, not a tree, not this, not that, and so on’. If again the man asks saying ‘You have not said what I am,’ the answer will be, ‘It is not said you are not a man’. He must find out for himself that he is a man. So you must find out for yourself what you are. You are told, ‘You are not this body, nor the mind, nor the intellect, nor the ego, nor anything you can think of; find out what truly you are’. Silence denotes that the questioner is himself the Self that is to be found. In a svayamvara the maiden goes on saying ‘no’ to each one until she faces her choice and then she looks downwards and remains silent.

What is mind after all?

Ramana Maharishi:  Holding the mind and investigating it is advised for a beginner. But what is mind after all? It is a projection of the Self. See for whom it appears and from where it rises. The ‘I-thought’ will be found to be the root-cause. Go deeper; the ‘I-thought’ disappears and there is an infinitely expanded ‘I-consciousness’. That is otherwise called Hiranyagarbha. When it puts on limitations it appears as individuals.

Engaged in other pursuits, can the mental activities be checked and the query “Who am I?” pursued?

Devotee:  Engaged in other pursuits, can the mental activities be checked and the query “Who am I?” pursued? Are they not contrary to each other?

Ramana Maharishi:  These questions arise only in the absence of strength of mind. As the mental activities diminish its strength increases.

Everyone is the Self, indeed infinite.

Ramana Maharishi:  Everyone is the Self, indeed infinite. Yet each one mistakes the body for the Self. To know anything, illumination is necessary. Such illuminating agency can only be in the form of light which is however lighting the physical light and darkness. So then that other Light lies beyond the apparent light and darkness. It is itself neither light nor darkness but is said to be Light because It illumines both. It is also Infinite and remains as Consciousness. Consciousness is the Self of which everyone is aware. No one is away from the Self. So each one is Self-realised. Yet what a mystery that no one knows this fundamental fact, and desires to realise the Self?  This ignorance is due to the mistaking of the body for the Self. Realisation now consists in getting rid of this false idea that one is not realised. Realisation is not anything newly got. It must be already there in order that it may be permanent. Otherwise Realisation is not worth attempting. After the false notion ‘I-am-the-body’ or ‘I have not realised’  is removed, Supreme Consciousness or the Self alone is left over, which is however called Realisation in the present state of knowledge. However, the truth is that Realisation is eternal and already there, here and now. Finally, Realisation amounts to elimination of ignorance and nothing more or less.

How to permeate the separate objects?

Devotee:  How to permeate the separate objects?

Ramana Maharishi:  Do they exist independently of “I”? Do they say to you “We are”? You see them. You are, and then the objects are also seen. “Without me, these do not exist” - this knowledge is permeation. Owing to the idea “I am the body; there is something in me” the separate objects are seen as if lying outside. Know that they are all within yourself. Is a piece of cloth independent of yarn? Can the objects remain without Me?

What is moksha (liberation)?

Devotee:  What is moksha (liberation)?

Ramana Maharishi:  Moksha is to know that you were not born. “Be still and know that I am God.” To be still is not to think. Know, and not think, is the word.

The objects exist because of the seer cognising them.

Devotee:  Is the waking state independent of existing objects?

Ramana Maharishi:  Were it so, the objects must exist without the seer; that is to say, the object must tell you that it exists. Does it do so? For example, does a cow moving in front of you say that she is moving? Or do you say of your own accord “There is a cow moving”? The objects exist because of the seer cognising them.

How is the mind to be stilled?

Devotee:  How is the mind to be stilled?

Ramana Maharishi:  Looking at the mind with the mind, or fixing the mind in the Self, brings the mind under control of the Self.

Devotee: Is there any yoga, i.e., a process for it?

Ramana Maharishi:  Vichara (investigation) alone will do.

How is that (self-enquiry) to be done?

Devotee:  When I read Sri Bhagavan’s works I find that investigation is said to be the one method for Realisation.

Ramana Maharishi:  Yes, that is vichara.

Devotee:  How is that to be done?

Ramana Maharishi:  The questioner must admit the existence of his self. “I AM” is the Realisation. To pursue the clue till Realisation is vichara. Vichara and Realisation are the same.

Devotee:  It is elusive. What shall I meditate upon?

Ramana Maharishi:  Meditation requires an object to meditate upon, whereas there is only the subject without the object in vichara. Meditation differs from vichara in this way.

Devotee:  Is not dhyana one of the efficient processes for Realisation?

Ramana Maharishi:  Dhyana is concentration on an object. It fulfils the purpose of keeping away diverse thoughts and fixing the mind on a single thought, which must also disappear before Realisation. But Realisation is nothing new to be acquired. It is already there, but obstructed by a screen of thoughts. All our attempts are directed for lifting this screen and then Realisation is revealed. If a true seeker is advised to meditate, many may go away satisfied with the advice. But someone among them may turn round and ask, “Who am I to meditate on an object?” Such a one must be told to find the Self. That is the finality. That is Vichara.

Devotee:  Will vichara alone do in the absence of meditation?

Ramana Maharishi:  Vichara is the process and the goal also. ‘I AM’ is the goal and the final Reality. To hold to it with effort is vichara. When spontaneous and natural it is Realisation.

How do you know the existence?

Ramana Maharishi:  How do you know the existence?

Devotee:  By my senses.

Ramana Maharishi:  ‘My’ implies your existence. But you are speaking of another’s existence. You must exist to speak of “my senses”. There cannot be ‘my’ without ‘I’.

The Master is within.

Ramana Maharishi:  The Master is within. Meditation is meant for the removal of ignorance, of the wrong idea that he is without. If he be a stranger whose advent you await he is bound to disappear also. Where is the use of transient being like that? However, as long as you think that you are an individual or that you are the body, so long the master also is necessary and he will appear with a body. When this wrong identification ceases the master will be found to be the Self. There is a stanza in Kaivalya: “My Lord! You had remained as my Self within, protecting me in all my past incarnations. Now, by your Grace, you have manifested yourself as my master and revealed yourself as the Self “.

Self Realisation sounds so easy, but yet is so difficult in practice.

Devotee:  Self Realisation sounds so easy, but yet is so difficult in practice.

Ramana Maharishi:  What can be easier? The Self is more intimate than anything else. If that cannot be realised, is it easy to realise what is apart and farther away?

Devotee:  Self Realisation is so illusory. How can it be made permanent?

Ramana Maharishi:  The Self can never be illusory. It is the only Reality. That which appears will also disappear and is therefore impermanent. The Self never appears and disappears and is therefore permanent.

If the mind is distracted, ask the question promptly, “To whom do these distracting thoughts arise?”

Devotee:  Can a line of thought or a series of questions induce Selfhypnotism? Should it not be reduced to a single point analysing the unanalysable, elementary and vaguely perceived and elusive ‘I’?

Ramana Maharishi:  Yes. It is really like gazing into vacancy or a dazzling crystal or light.

Devotee:  Can the mind be fixed to that point? How?

Ramana Maharishi:  If the mind is distracted, ask the question promptly, “To whom do these distracting thoughts arise?” That takes you back to the ‘I’ point promptly

Devotee:  How long can the mind stay or be kept in the Heart?

Ramana Maharishi:  The period extends by practice.

Devotee:  What happens at the end of the period?

Ramana Maharishi:  The mind returns to the present normal state. Unity in the Heart is replaced by variety of phenomena perceived. This is called the outgoing mind. The heart-going mind is called the resting mind.

Devotee:  Is all this process merely intellectual or does it exhibit feeling predominantly?

Ramana Maharishi:  The latter.

Surrender to be complete must be unquestioning

Ramana Maharishi:  Grace is ever present. All that is necessary is that you surrender to It.

Devotee:  I surrender and pray that even if I go wrong I may be forcibly drawn to it.

Ramana Maharishi:  Is this surrender? Surrender to be complete must be unquestioning.

Devotee:  Yes, I surrender. You say I must dive into the ocean of the Self like a pearl-diver into the sea.

Ramana Maharishi:  Because you are now thinking that you are out of the ocean of Consciousness.

Is there a difference between prapatti (self-surrender) and the Path of Yoga of the Seers?

Devotee:  Is there a difference between prapatti (self-surrender) and the Path of Yoga of the Seers?

Ramana Maharishi:  Jnana Marga and Bhakti Marga (prapatti) are one and the same. Self-surrender leads to realisation just as enquiry does. Complete self-surrender means that you have no further thought of ‘I’. Then all your predispositions (samskaras) are washed off and you are free. You should not continue as a separate entity at the end of either course.

The world cannot remain apart from the Self

Devotee:  Can it be complete happiness to remain Self-realised if one does not contribute to the happiness of the world? How can one be so happy when there is a war in Spain, a war in China? Is it not selfishness to remain Self-realised without helping the world?

Ramana Maharishi:  The Self was pointed out to you to cover the universe and also transcend it. The world cannot remain apart from the Self. If the realisation of such Self be called selfishness that selfishness must cover the world also. It is nothing contemptible.

There were breaks in her awareness and desired to know how the awareness might be made continuous.

Devotee:  There were breaks in her awareness and desired to know how the awareness might be made continuous.

Ramana Maharishi:  Breaks are due to thoughts. You cannot be aware of breaks unless you think so. It is only a thought. Repeat the old practice, “To whom do thoughts arise?” Keep up the practice until there are no breaks. Practice alone will bring about continuity of awareness.

Sanyasa consists in renunciation not of material objects but of attachment to them.

Ramana Maharishi:  Sannyasa is mentioned for one who is fit. It consists in renunciation not of material objects but of attachment to them. Sannyasa can be practised by anyone even at home. Only one must be fit for it. 

How does mere life or death here confer mukti? It is difficult to understand.

Devotee:  How does mere life or death here confer mukti? It is difficult to understand.

Ramana Mahariahi:  Darsanad Abhrasadasi jananat Kamalalaye, Kasyantu maranam
muktih smaranad Arunachale.
“To see Chidambaram, to be born in Tiruvarur, to die in Benares, or merely to think of Arunachala, is to be assured of Liberation.” Jananat Kamalalaye means “by being born in Kamalalaya”. What  is it? It is the Heart. Similarly, Abhrasadasi - Seat of Consciousness. Again, Kasi is  the Light of Realisation. Remembering Arunachala completes the verse. It must also be understood in the same sense.

Upasana and dhyana are possible so long as there is the mind and they must cease with the cessation of the mind.

In the course of conversation, Sri Bhagavan said that upasana and dhyana are possible so long as there is the mind and they must cease with the cessation of the mind. They are mere preliminaries to final eradication of thoughts and the stillness of mind.

In the practice of meditation are there any signs of the nature of subjective experience or otherwise, which will indicate the aspirant’s progress towards Self-Realisation

Devotee:  In the practice of meditation are there any signs of the nature of subjective experience or otherwise, which will indicate the aspirant’s progress towards Self-Realisation

Ramana Maharishi: The degree of freedom from unwanted thoughts and the degree of concentration on a single thought are the measure to gauge the progress.

Is it not better to say ‘I am the Supreme Being’ than ask ‘Who am I?’

Devotee:  Is it not better to say ‘I am the Supreme Being’ than ask ‘Who am I?’

Ramana Maharishi:  Who affirms? There must be one to do it. Find that one.