Your body, the society, the forest and the ways are all in you; you are not in them.

Devotee:  But I am obliged to move in society.


Ramana Maharishi:  Society is also an idea similar to that of the forest.



Devotee:  I leave my home and go and mix in society.


Ramana Maharishi:  Who does it?



Devotee:  The body moves and does all.


Ramana Maharishi:  Quite so. Now that you identify yourself with the body you feel the trouble. The trouble is in your mind. You think that you are the body or that you are the mind. But there are occasions when you are free from both. For example in deep slumber, you create a body and a world in your dream. That represents your mental activities. In your waking state you think that you are the body and then the idea of forest and the rest arise. Now, consider the situation. You are an unchanging and continuous being who remains in all these states which are constantly changing and therefore transient. But you are always there. It follows that these fleeting objects are mere phenomena which appear on your being like pictures which move across a screen. The screen does not move when the picture moves. Similarly, you do not move from where you are even when the body leaves the home and mixes in society. Your body, the society, the forest and the ways are all in you; you are not in them. You are the body also but not this body only. If you remain as your pure Self, the body and its movements need not affect you.