Devotee: I feel I am like froth.
Ramana Maharishi: Cease that identification with the unreal and know your real identity. Then you will be firm and no doubts can arise.
Devotee: But I am the froth.
Ramana Maharishi: Because you think that way there is worry. It is a wrong imagination. Accept your true identity with the Real. Be the water and not the froth. That is done by diving in.
Devotee: If I dive in, I shall find........
Ramana Maharishi: But even without diving in, you are That. The ideas of exterior and interior exist only so long as you do not accept your real identity.
Devotee: But I took the idea from you that you want me to dive in.
Ramana Maharishi: Yes, quite right. It was said because you are identifying yourself with the froth and not the water. Because of this confusion the answer was meant to draw your attention to this confusion and bring it home to you. All that is meant is that the Self is infinite inclusive of all that you see. There is nothing beyond It nor apart from It. Knowing this, you will not desire anything; not desiring, you will be content. The Self is always realised. There is no seeking to realise what is already - always - realised. For you cannot deny your own existence. That existence is consciousness - the Self. Unless you exist you cannot ask questions. So you must admit your own existence. That existence is the Self. It is already realised. Therefore the effort to realise results only in your realising your present mistake - that you have not realised your Self. There is no fresh realisation. The Self becomes revealed.
Devotee: That will take some years.
Ramana Maharishi: Why years? The idea of time is only in your mind. It is not in the Self. There is no time for the Self. Time arises as an idea after the ego arises. But you are the Self beyond time and space; you exist even in the absence of time and space.
Ramana Maharishi: Cease that identification with the unreal and know your real identity. Then you will be firm and no doubts can arise.
Devotee: But I am the froth.
Ramana Maharishi: Because you think that way there is worry. It is a wrong imagination. Accept your true identity with the Real. Be the water and not the froth. That is done by diving in.
Devotee: If I dive in, I shall find........
Ramana Maharishi: But even without diving in, you are That. The ideas of exterior and interior exist only so long as you do not accept your real identity.
Devotee: But I took the idea from you that you want me to dive in.
Ramana Maharishi: Yes, quite right. It was said because you are identifying yourself with the froth and not the water. Because of this confusion the answer was meant to draw your attention to this confusion and bring it home to you. All that is meant is that the Self is infinite inclusive of all that you see. There is nothing beyond It nor apart from It. Knowing this, you will not desire anything; not desiring, you will be content. The Self is always realised. There is no seeking to realise what is already - always - realised. For you cannot deny your own existence. That existence is consciousness - the Self. Unless you exist you cannot ask questions. So you must admit your own existence. That existence is the Self. It is already realised. Therefore the effort to realise results only in your realising your present mistake - that you have not realised your Self. There is no fresh realisation. The Self becomes revealed.
Devotee: That will take some years.
Ramana Maharishi: Why years? The idea of time is only in your mind. It is not in the Self. There is no time for the Self. Time arises as an idea after the ego arises. But you are the Self beyond time and space; you exist even in the absence of time and space.
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