Is there a sixth sense to feel “I AM”?

Devotee:   Is there a sixth sense to feel “I AM”?

Ramana Maharishi:  Do you have it in your sleep? There is only one being functioning through the five senses. Or do you mean that each sense is independent of the Self and there are five selves admitting of a sixth to control them? There is a power working through these five senses. How can you deny the existence of such Power? Do you deny your existence? Do you not remain even in sleep where the body is not perceived? The same ‘I’ continues to be now; so we admit our existence, whether there is the body or not. The senses work periodically. Their work begins and ends. There must be a substratum on which their activities depend. Where do they appear and merge? There must be a single substratum. Were you to say that the single unit is not perceived, it is an admission of its being single: for you say that there is no second one to know it.

Illiteracy is ignorance: education is learned ignorance. Both of them are ignorant of their true aim

Devotee:  Does not education make a sage more useful to the world than illiteracy?


Raman Maharishi:  Even a learned man must bow before the illiterate sage. Illiteracy is ignorance: education is learned ignorance. Both of them are ignorant of their true aim; whereas a sage is not ignorant because there is no aim for him.

Agitation of mind is the cause of desire, the sense of doership and personality. If that is stopped there is quiet.

Devotee:  Grace is necessary for the removal of ignorance.

Ramana Maharishi:  Certainly. But Grace is all along there. Grace is the Self. It is not something to be acquired. All that is necessary is to know its existence. For example, the sun is brightness only. He does not see darkness. Whereas others speak of darkness fleeing away on the sun approaching. Similarly, ignorance also is a phantom and not real. Because of its unreality, its unreal nature being found, it is said to be removed. Again, the sun is there and also bright. You are surrounded by sunlight. Still if you would know the sun you must turn your eyes in his direction and look at him. So also Grace is found by practice alone although it is here and now.

Devotee:  By the desire to surrender constantly, increasing Grace is experienced, I hope.

Ramana Maharishi:  Surrender once for all and be done with the desire. So long as the sense of doership is retained there is the desire; that is also personality. If this goes the Self is found to shine forth pure. The sense of doership is the bondage and not the actions themselves. “Be still and know that I am God.” Here stillness is total surrender without a vestige of individuality. Stillness will prevail and there will be no agitation of mind. Agitation of mind is the cause of desire, the sense of doership and personality. If that is stopped there is quiet. There ‘Knowing’ means ‘Being’. It is not the relative knowledge involving the triads, knowledge, subject and object.

Removal of ignorance is the aim of practice, and not acquisition of Realisation.

Ramana Maharishi:  Removal of ignorance is the aim of practice, and not acquisition of Realisation. Realisation is ever present, here and now. Were it to be acquired anew, Realisation must be understood to be absent at onetime and present at another time. In that case, it is not permanent, and therefore not worth the attempt. But Realisation is permanent  and eternal and is here and now.

The variety must go before unity reveals itself - its reality.

Devotee:  I do not know what happens in sleep. That is the reason I ask now.

Ramana Maharishi:  The question affects the sleeping phase and must be raised there. It does not affect the waking phase and there is no apparent reason for this question. The fact is that you have no limitations in sleep and no question arises. Whereas now you put on limitations, identify yourself with the body and questions of this kind arise.

Devotee:  I understand it, but do not realise it (i.e. unity in variety).

Ramana Maharishi:  Because you are in variety, you say you understand unity - that you have flashes, etc., remember things, etc.; you consider this variety to be real. On the other hand Unity is the reality, and the variety is false. The variety must go before unity reveals itself - its reality. It is always real. It does not send flashes of its being in this false variety. On the contrary, this variety obstructs the truth.

What is not, is always lost; what is, is ever present, here and now.

Ramana Maharishi:  What is not, is always lost; what is, is ever present, here and now. This is the eternal order of things. Example: necklace round the neck.

The mind goes out owing to the habit of looking for happiness outside oneself; but the knowledge that the external objects are not the cause of happiness will keep it in check.

Devotee:  Vichara Sagara relates four obstacles to Self-Realisation.

Ramana Maharishi:  Why only four? Some say they are nine. Sleep is one of them. What is sleep? It is only the obverse of waking. It cannot be independent of waking. Sleep is unalloyed Self. Do not think you are awake: sleep cannot be, nor the three states either. Only forgetting the Self you say you dreamt. Can anything exist in the absence of the Self?

Why do you leave it out and hold the non-self? As the mind tends to go out turn it inwards then and there. It goes out owing to the habit of looking for happiness outside oneself; but the knowledge that the external objects are not the cause of happiness will keep it in check. This is vairagya or dispassion. Only after perfect vairagya the mind becomes steady. The mind is only a mixture of knowledge and ignorance or of sleep and waking. It functions in five ways:
Kshipta (active);
Moodha (dull);
Vikshipta (distracted);
Kashaya (latent); and
Ekagrya (one-pointed).

Of these kashaya is only the latency of tendencies and not the tendencies themselves such as attachment, repulsion, etc. Yourself being ananda (Bliss), why should you enjoy it saying, “Ah! How blissful!” This is rasasvada. During the marriage ceremonies a virgin feels happy as a bride without experiencing the embrace of man: this is rasasvada.

Can the thoughts exist without you?

Ramana Maharishi.: Are you not distinct from thoughts? Do you not exist without them? But can the thoughts exist without you?

Thoughts, good or bad, take you farther and not nearer, because the Self is more intimate than thoughts.

Devotee:   But are not creative thoughts an aspect of Realisation and therefore helpful?

Ramana Maharishi:  Helpful only in the way said before. They must all disappear in the Self. Thoughts, good or bad, take you farther and not nearer, because the Self is more intimate than thoughts. You are Self, whereas the thoughts are alien to the Self.

The body has its birth subsequent to ‘I-thought’. So its birth is secondary. Get rid of the primary cause and the secondary one will disappear by itself.

Ramana Maharishi:  Who is born? Is the Self born? Or is it the body?

Devotee:  It is the body.

Ramana Maharishi:  Then let the body ask how its rebirth may cease.

Devotee:  It will not ask. So I am asking.

Ramana Maharishi:   Whose is the body? You were without it in your deep sleep. After the ‘I-thought’ arose the body arose. The first birth is that of ‘I thought’. The body has its birth subsequent to ‘I-thought’. So its birth is secondary.  Get rid of the primary cause and the secondary one will disappear by itself.

Who is the substratum of the subject and the object? Find it and all problems are solved.

Devotee.:   I understand the general truth of it. But there must be a practical method for it which I call ‘science’.

Ramana Maharishi:  The cessation of such thoughts is the realisation of the Self.

Illustration: the necklace supposed lost. One does not see the world or one’s own body, being away from the Self. Always being the Self, one sees everything else. God and the world are all in the Heart. See the Seer and everything will be found to be the Self. Change your outlook. Look within. Find the Self. Who is the substratum of the subject and the object? Find it and all problems are solved.

Will the work, realised to be not separate from the Self, obstruct the uninterrupted Awareness of the Self?

Devotee:  Sri Bhagavan advises practice of enquiry even when one is engaged in external activities. The finality of such enquiry is the realisation of the Self and consequently breath must stop. If breath should stop, how will work go on or, in other words, how will breath stop when one is working?

Ramana Maharishi:  There is confusion between the means and the end (i.e., sadhana and sadhya). Who is the enquirer? The aspirant and not the siddha.  Enquiry signifies that the enquirer considers himself separate from enquiry. So long as this duality lasts the enquiry must be continued, i.e., until the individuality disappears and the Self is realised to be only the eternal Be-ing (including enquiry and enquirer). The Truth is that Self is constant and unintermittent Awareness. The object of enquiry is to find the true nature of the Self as Awareness. Let one practise enquiry so long as separateness is perceived. If once realisation 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. The enquirer is aware of his own individuality. Enquiry does not stand in the way of his individual awareness; nor does external work interfere with such awareness. If work, seemingly external, does not obstruct the individual awareness, will the work, realised to be not separate from the Self, obstruct the uninterrupted Awareness of the Self, which is One without a second and which is not an individual separate from work?

When I try to meditate, I am unable to do so because my mind wanders. What should I do?

Devotee:   When I try to meditate, I am unable to do so because my mind wanders. What should I do?

Ramana Maharishi:  Your question furnishes the answer. First, with regard to the first part of the question, you say you concentrate, but do not succeed. ‘You’ means ‘the Self’. On what do you concentrate? Where do you fail? Are there two selves, for the one self to concentrate on the other? Which is the self now complaining of failure? There cannot be two selves. There is only one Self. That need not concentrate. You ask, “But then, why is there no happiness?” What is it that prevents you from remaining as the spirit which you are in sleep? You yourself admit that it is the wandering mind. Find out the mind. If its ‘wandering’ stops, it will be found to be the Self - your ‘I’- consciousness which is spirit eternal. It is beyond knowledge and ignorance

That which is real must be real for ever.

Ramana Maharishi:  You create a dream body for yourself in the dream and act with that dream-body. The same is falsified in the waking state. At present you think that youare this body and not the dream-body. In your dream this body is falsified by the dream-body. So that, you see, neither of these bodies is real. Because each of them is true for a time and false at other times. That which is real must be real for ever. But you say ‘I’. This ‘I’-consciousness is present all through the three states. There is no change in it. That is alone real. The three states are false. They are only for the mind. It is the mind which obstructs your vision of your true nature. Your true nature is that of infinite spirit. That was the case in your sleep. You note the limitations in the other two states. What is the difference due to? There was no mind in sleep, but it exists in the dream and the waking states. The feeling of limitation is the work of the mind. What is mind? Find it. If you search for it, it will vanish by itself. For it has no real existence. It is comprised of thoughts. It disappears with the cessation of thoughts.

The Self is changeless. It is the ego that has come between.

Devotee:  I do not know if the Self is different from the ego.

Ramana Maharishi:  How were you in your deep sleep?

Devotee:  I do not know.

Ramana Maharishi:  Who does not know? Is it not the waking Self? Do you deny your existence in your deep sleep?

Devotee:  I was and I am; but I do not know who was in deep sleep.

Ramana Maharishi:  Exactly. The man awake says that he did not know anything in the state of sleep. Now he sees the objects and knows that he is there; whereas in deep sleep there were no objects, no spectator, etc. The same one who is now speaking was in deep sleep also. What is the difference between these two states? There are objects and play of senses now which were not in sleep. A new entity, the ego, has risen up in the meantime, it plays through the senses, sees the objects, confounds itself with the body and says that the Self is the ego. In reality, what was in deep sleep continues to exist now too. The Self is changeless. It is the ego that has come between. That which rises and sets is the ego; that which remains changeless is the Self.

Seeking it (the seer within) there all other thoughts centred round the ego will disappear along with it.

Ramana Maharishi:  For anything external to oneself implies the seer within. Seeking it there will arise no doubt, no fear - not only fear, all other thoughts centred round the ego will disappear along with it.

You are Self, whereas the thoughts are alien to the Self.

Devotee:   But are not creative thoughts an aspect of Realisation and therefore helpful?

Ramana Maharishi:  Helpful only in the way said before. They must all disappear in the Self. Thoughts, good or bad, take you farther and not nearer, because the Self is more intimate than thoughts. You are Self, whereas the thoughts are alien to the Self.

Vritti jnana (subjective modification of the mind) alone can destroy ‘ajnana’ (ignorance)

Ramana Maharishi: …….Vritti jnana alone can destroy ‘ajnana’ (ignorance). Absolute jnana is not inimical to ajnana. There are two kinds of vrittis (modes of mind). (1) vishaya vritti (objective) and (2) atma vritti (subjective). The first must give place to the second. That is the aim of abhyasa (practice), which takes one first to the puriashtaka and then to the One Self.  Vritti-jnanam is usually associated with objective phenomena. When these cease there remains the atma-vritti or the subjective vritti that is the same as jnanam. Without it ajnanam will not cease. The puriashtaka also will not be found associated with anything outside, and the Self will shine forth uniform and harmonious.

It (Jnanam) is being aware of That which always is.

Ramana Maharishi:  …...It is said that awaking from ignorance is like awaking from a fearful  dream of a beast. It is thus. There are two taints of mind, namely veiling and restlessness (avarana and vikshepa). Of the two, the former is evil, the latter is not so. So long as the veiling effect of sleep persists there is the frightful dream; on awaking the veiling ceases; and there is no more fear. Restlessness is not a bar to happiness. To get rid of the restlessness caused by the world, one seeks the restlessness (activity) of being with the Guru, studying the sacred books and worshipping God with forms, and by these awakening is attained.  What happens in the end? Karna was ever the son of Kunti. The tenth man was such all along. Rama was Vishnu all the time. Such is jnanam. It is being aware of That which always is.

How is the mind to be steadily kept right?

Devotee:  How is the mind to be steadily kept right?

Ramana Maharishi:  All living beings are aware of their surroundings and therefore intellect must be surmised in all of them. At the same time, there is a difference between the intellect of man and that of other animals, because man not only sees the world as it is and acts accordingly, but also seeks fulfilment of desires and is not satisfied with the existing state of affairs. In his attempt to fulfil his desires he extends his vision far and wide and yet he turns away dissatisfied. He now begins to think and reason. The desire for permanency of happiness and of peace bespeaks such permanency in his own nature. Therefore he seeks to find and regain his own nature, i.e., his Self. That found, all is found. Such inward seeking is the path to be gained by man’s intellect. The intellect itself realises after continuous practice that it is enabled by some Higher Power to function. It cannot itself reach that Power.  So it ceases to function after a certain stage. When it thus ceases to function the Supreme Power is still left there all alone. That is Realisation; that is the finality; that is the goal. It is thus plain that the purpose of the intellect is to realise its own dependence upon the Higher Power and its inability to reach the same. So it must annihilate itself before the goal is gained.

Why the mind cannot be turned inward in spite of repeated attempts?

Devotee:  Why the mind cannot be turned inward in spite of repeated attempts?

Ramana Maharishi:  It is done by practice and dispassion and that succeeds only gradually. The mind, having been so long a cow accustomed to graze stealthily on others’ estates, is not easily confined to her stall. However much her keeper tempts her with luscious grass and fine fodder, she refuses the first time; then she takes a bit; but her innate tendency to stray away asserts itself; and she slips away; on being repeatedly tempted by the owner, she accustoms herself to the stall; finally even if let loose she would not stray away. Similarly with the mind. If once it finds its inner happiness it will not wander outward.

How do you meditate?

Ramana Maharishi:  How do you meditate?

Devotee:  I begin to ask myself “Who am I?”, eliminate body as not ‘I’, the breath as not ‘I’, the mind as not ‘I’ and I am not able to proceed further.

Ramana Maharishi:  Well, that is so far as the intellect goes. Your process is only intellectual. Indeed, all the scriptures mention the process only to guide the seeker to know the Truth. The Truth cannot be directly pointed out. Hence this intellectual process. You see, the one who eliminates all the not I cannot eliminate the ‘I’. To say ‘I am not this’ or ‘I am that’ there must be the ‘I’. This ‘I’ is only the ego or the ‘I-thought’. After the rising up of this ‘I-thought’, all other thoughts arise. The ‘I-thought’ is therefore the root-thought. If the root is pulled out all others are at the same time uprooted. Therefore seek the root ‘I’, question yourself “Who am I?”; find out its source. Then all these will vanish and the pure Self will remain ever.

Devotee:  How to do it?

Ramana Maharishi:  The ‘I’ is always there - in deep sleep, in dream and in wakefulness. The one in sleep is the same as that who now speaks. There is always the feeling of ‘I’. Otherwise do you deny your existence? You do not. You say ‘I am’. Find out who is.

Devotee:  Even so, I do not understand. ‘I’, you say, is the wrong ‘I’ now. How to eliminate this wrong ‘I’?


Ramana Maharishi:  You need not eliminate the wrong ‘I’. How can ‘I’ eliminate itself? All that you need do is to find out its origin and abide there. Your efforts can extend only thus far. Then the Beyond will take care of itself. You are helpless there. No effort can reach it.

Devotee:  If ‘I’ am always - here and now, why do I not feel so?

Ramana Maharishi:  That is it. Who says it is not felt? Does the real ‘I’ say it or the false ‘I’? Examine it. You will find it is the wrong ‘I’. The wrong ‘I’ is the obstruction. It has to be removed in order that the true ‘I’ may not be hidden. The feeling that I have not realised is the obstruction to realisation. In fact it is already realised; there is nothing more to be realised. Otherwise, the realisation will be new; it has not existed so far, it must take place hereafter. What is born will also die. If realisation be not eternal it is not worth having. Therefore what we seek is not that which must happen afresh. It is only that which is eternal but not now known due to obstructions; it is that we seek. All that we need do is to remove the obstruction. That which is eternal is not known to be so because of ignorance. Ignorance is the obstruction. Get over this ignorance and all will be well.  The ignorance is identical with the ‘I-thought’. Find its source and it will vanish. The ‘I-thought’ is like a spirit which, although not palpable, rises up simultaneously with the body, flourishes and disappears with it. The body-consciousness is the wrong ‘I’. Give up this body consciousness. It is done by seeking the source ‘I’. The body does not say ‘I am’. It is you who say, ‘I am the body!’ Find out who this ‘I’ is. Seeking its source it will vanish.

Devotee:  Then, will there be bliss?

Ramana Maharishi:  Bliss is coeval with Being-Consciousness. All the arguments relating to the eternal Being of that Bliss apply to Bliss also. Your nature is Bliss. Ignorance is now hiding that Bliss. Remove the ignorance for Bliss to be freed.

Devotee:  Should we not find out the ultimate reality of the world, individual and God?

Ramana Maharishi:  These are all conceptions of the ‘I’. They arise only after the advent of the ‘I-thought’. Did you think of them in your deep sleep? You existed in deep sleep and the same you are now speaking. If they be real should they not be in your sleep also? They are only dependent upon the ‘I-thought’. Again does the world tell you ‘I am the world’? Does the body say ‘I am body’? You say, “This is the world”, “this is body” and so on. So these are only your conceptions. Find out who you are and there will be an end of all your doubts.

Devotee:  What becomes of the body after realisation? Does it exist or not? We see realised beings acting like others.

Ramana Maharishi:  This question need not arise now. Let it be asked after realisation, if need be. As for the realised beings let them take care of themselves. Why do you worry about them? In fact, after realisation the body and all else will not appear different from the Self.

Devotee:  Being always Being-Consciousness-Bliss, why does God place us in difficulties? Why did He create us?

Ramana Maharishi:  Does God come and tell you that He has placed you in difficulties? It is you who say so. It is again the wrong ‘I’. If that disappears there will be no one to say that God created this or that. That which is does not even say ‘I am’. For, does any doubt rise that ‘I am not’? Only in such a case should one be reminding oneself ‘I am a man’. One does not. On the other hand, if a doubt arises whether he is a cow or a buffalo he has to remind himself that he is not a cow, etc., but ‘I am a man.’ This would never happen. Similarly with one’s own existence and realisation.

The mind is only a bundle of thoughts. The thoughts arise because there is the thinker.

A devotee was stricken with grief due to bereavement of wife and children. He sought peace of mind and asked how to get it.

Ramana Maharishi:  It is in the mind that birth and death, pleasure and pain, in short the world and ego exist. If the mind is destroyed all these are destroyed too. Note that it should be annihilated, not just made latent. For the mind is dormant in sleep. It does not know anything. Still, on waking up, you are as you were before. There is no end of grief. But if the mind be destroyed the grief will have no background and will disappear along with the mind.

Devotee:  How to destroy the mind?

Ramana Maharishi:  Seek the mind. On being sought, it will disappear.

Devotee:  I do not understand.

Ramana Maharishi:  The mind is only a bundle of thoughts. The thoughts arise because there is the thinker. The thinker is the ego. The ego, if sought, will vanish automatically. The ego and the mind are the same. The ego is the root-thought from which all other thoughts arise.

Devotee:  How to seek the mind?

Ramana Maharishi:  Dive within. You are now aware that the mind rises up from within. So sink within and seek.

Devotee:  I do not yet understand how it is to be done.

Ramana Maharishi:  You are practising breath-control. Mechanical breath-control will not lead one to the goal. It is only an aid. While doing it mechanically take care to be alert in mind and remember the ‘I’ thought and seek its source. Then you will find that where breath sinks, there ‘I-thought’ arises. They sink and rise together. The ‘I-thought’ also will sink along with breath. Simultaneously, another luminous and infinite ‘I-I’ will become manifest, which will be continuous and unbroken. That is the goal. It goes by different names - God, Self, Kundalini Sakti, Consciousness, Yoga, Bhakti, Jnana, etc.

Devotee:  Not clear yet.

Ramana Maharishi:  When the attempt is made, it will of itself take you to the goal.

What is jnana-marga?

Devotee:  What is jnana-marga?

Ramana Maharishi:  What is jnana? Jnana means realisation of the Truth. It is done by dhyana. Dhyana helps you to hold on to Truth to the exclusion of all thoughts.

The other methods also will ultimately lead everyone to this method of the investigation of the Self.

Ramana Maharishi:  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.

All thoughts are from the unreal ‘I’. i.e., the ‘I’- thought.

Devotee was asked to say what exactly was his method of meditation. He said: “Aham Brahmasmi” (“I am Brahman”).

Ramana Maharishi:  “I am Brahman” is only a thought. Who says it? Brahman itself does not say so. What need is there for it to say it? Nor can the real ‘I’ say so. For ‘I’ always abides as Brahman. To be saying it is only a thought. Whose thought is it? All thoughts are from the unreal ‘I’. i.e., the ‘I’- thought. Remain without thinking. So long as there is thought there will be fear.

Dhyana is to keep the mind active in its own pursuit without taking in external impressions or thinking of other matters.

Ramana Maharishi:  The main factor in dhyana is to keep the mind active in its own pursuit without taking in external impressions or thinking of other matters.

Happiness is born of Peace. Peace can reign only when there is no disturbance.

Devotee:  Does the sage use occult powers for making others realise the Self or is the mere fact of his Self-Realisation enough for it?

Ramana Maharishi:  The force of his Self-Realisation is far more powerful than the use of all other powers. Inasmuch as there is no ego in him, there are not others for him.

What is the highest benefit that can be conferred on others? It is happiness. Happiness is born of Peace. Peace can reign only when there is no disturbance. Disturbance is due to thoughts which arise in the mind. When the mind itself is absent there will be perfect Peace. Unless a person had annihilated his mind he cannot gain peace and be happy. Unless he himself is happy he cannot bestow happiness on others. When there is no mind he cannot be aware of others. So the mere fact of his Self-Realisation is itself enough to make all others happy.

The one who has given up the idea of being the doer cannot repeat, “This is my prarabdha”

Devotee:  Samskaras are said to persist even in a Jnani.

Ramana Maharishi:  Yes. They are bhoga hetu (leading to enjoyment only) and not bandha hetu.

Devotee:  This fact is often abused by fakes who pretend to be sadhus but lead vicious lives. They say it is prarabdha (remnant of past Karma). How shall we mark off the fakes from the genuine sadhus?

Ramana Maharishi:  The one who has given up the idea of being the doer cannot repeat, “This is my prarabdha”. “The jnanis lead different lives” is said for the benefit of others. The jnanis cannot make use of this in explanation of their lives and conduct.

With right knowledge, the ego is nowhere and only you remain as the SELF.”

Ramana Maharishi:   Nammalvar says: “In ignorance I took the ego to be myself; however, with right knowledge, the ego is nowhere and only you remain as the SELF.”