Repetition of the name of God is remembrance of what it signifies

Devotee:  People give some names to God and say that the name is sacred and repetitions of the name bestow merit on the individual. Can it be true?

Ramana Maharishi:  Why not? You bear a name to which you answer. But your body was not born with that name written on it, nor did it say to anyone that it bore such and such a name. And yet a name is given to you and you answer to that name, because you have identified yourself with the name. Therefore the name signifies something and it is not a mere fiction. Similarly, God’s name is effective. Repetition of the  name is remembrance of what it signifies. Hence its merit.

Heaven and hell - what are they?

Devotee:  Heaven and hell - what are they?

Ramana Maharishi:  You carry heaven and hell with you. Your lust, anger, etc., produce these regions. They are like dreams.

On foisting the bliss on to other things or happenings you are plunging into the Self, though unconsciously. If you do so consciously you call it Realisation.

Devotee:  Through poetry, music, japa, bhajan, beautiful landscapes, reading the lives of spiritual heroes, etc., one sometimes experiences a true sense of all-unity. Is that feeling of deep blissful quiet (wherein the personal self has no place) the “entering into the heart” whereof Bhagavan speaks? Will practice of that lead to a deeper samadhi, and so ultimately to a full vision of the Real?

Ramana Maharishi:  Again, there is happiness at agreeable sights, etc. It is the happiness inherent in the Self. That happiness is not alien and after. You are diving into the Pure Self on occasions which you consider pleasurable. That diving reveals the Self-existent Bliss.  But the association of ideas is responsible for foisting this bliss on to other things or happenings. In fact, it is within you. On these occasions you are plunging into the Self, though unconsciously. If you do so consciously you call it Realisation. I want you to dive consciously into the Self, i.e., into the Heart.

Mahatma's look has a purifying effect. The effect depends on the grades of men coming in contact with Mahatma.

Devotee:  It is said that one look of a Mahatma is enough; that  idols, pilgrimages, etc. are not so effective. I have been here for three months, but I do not know how I have been benefited by the look of Maharshi.

Ramana Maharishi:  The look has a purifying effect. Purification cannot be visualised. Just as a piece of coal takes long to be ignited, a piece of charcoal takes a short time, and a mass of gunpowder is instantaneously ignited, so it is with grades of men coming in contact with Mahatmas.

Neglecting the modes of mind, look for the light illumining them. The mind becomes still and the light remains self-shining.

Devotee:  It is said that the Self is beyond the mind and yet the realisation is with the mind. Mano na manute, Manasa na matam, and Manasaivedamaptavyam (The mind cannot think it. It cannot be thought of by the mind and the mind alone can realise it). How are these contradictions to be reconciled?

Ramana Maharishi:  Atman is realised with mruta manas (dead mind), i.e., mind devoid of thoughts and turned inward. Then the mind sees its own source and becomes That. It is not as the subject perceiving an object. When the room is dark a lamp is necessary to illumine and eyes to cognise objects. But when the sun is risen there is no need of a lamp, and the objects are seen; and to see the sun no lamp is necessary, it is enough that you turn your eyes towards the selfluminous sun.  Similarly with the mind. To see the objects the reflected light of the mind is necessary. To see the Heart it is enough that the mind is turned towards it. Then the mind loses itself and the Heart shines forth.

The modes of mind take shape as external objects and the light reflected on the modes illumines the objects. Now neglecting the modes of mind, look for the light illumining them. The mind becomes still and the light remains self-shining. The undulating mind (i.e., the mind associated with rajas = activity and tamas = darkness) is commonly known as the mind. Devoid of rajas and tamas, it is pure and selfshining. This is Self-Realisation. Therefore the mind is said to be the means for it.

Grace is vouchsafed only to him who is a true devotee or a yogin, who has striven hard and ceaselessly on the path towards freedom.

Devotee:  Whether Iswara Prasad (Divine Grace) is necessary for the attaining of samrajya (universal dominion) or whether a jiva’s honest and strenuous efforts to attain it cannot of themselves lead him to That from whence is no return to life and death?

Ramana Maharishi:  “Divine Grace is essential for Realisation. It leads one to God-realisation. But such Grace is vouchsafed only to him who is a true devotee or a yogin, who has striven hard and ceaselessly on the path towards freedom.”

Brahma-akara-vritti must be cultivated until it becomes sahaja (natural)

Devotee:  There is sometimes an irresistible desire to remain in Brahma-akara-vritti.

Ramana Maharishi:  It is good. It must be cultivated until it becomes sahaja (natural).  Then it culminates as swarupa, one’s own self.

If there be a goal to be reached it cannot be permanent.

In reply to a devotee, Sri Bhagavan said: The state of equanimity is the state of bliss. The declaration in the Vedas ‘I am This or That’, is only an aid to gain equanimity of mind.

Devotee:  So, it is wrong to begin with a goal: is it?

Ramana Maharishi:  If there be a goal to be reached it cannot be permanent. The goal must already be there. We seek to reach the goal with the ego, but the goal exists before the ego. What is in the goal is even prior to our birth, i.e., to the birth of the ego. Because we exist the ego appears to exist too.  If we look on the Self as the ego then we become the ego, if as the mind we become the mind, if as the body we become the body. It is the thought which builds up sheaths in so many ways. The shadow on the water is found to be shaking. Can anyone stop the shaking of the shadow? If it should cease to shake you would not notice the water but only the light. Similarly to take no notice of the ego and its activities, but see only the light behind. The ego is the I-thought. The true ‘I’ is the Self.

Will-power should be understood to be the strength of mind which makes it capable for meeting success or failure with equanimity.

Ramana Maharishi:  Your idea of will-power is success insured. Will-power should be understood to be the strength of mind which makes it capable for meeting success or failure with equanimity. It is not synonymous with certain success. Why should one’s attempts be always attended with success? Success develops arrogance and the man’s spiritual progress is thus arrested. Failure on the other hand is beneficial, inasmuch as it opens the eyes of the man to his limitations and prepares him to surrender himself. Self-surrender is synonymous with eternal happiness. Therefore one should try to gain the equipoise of mind under all circumstances. That is will-power. Again, success and failure are the results of prarabdha and not of will-power. A man may be doing only good and noble actions and yet prove a failure. Another may do otherwise and yet be uniformly successful. This does not mean that the will-power is present in the one and not in the other.

So long as one is in contact with it (the body) one must bathe in the waters of the Self.

Devotee:  Is it necessary to take bath if we touch dead bodies?

Ramana Maharishi:  The body is a corpse. So long as one is in contact with it (the body) one must bathe in the waters of the Self.