The Self is ever there, there is nothing without it

Ramana Maharishi:  The Self is ever there, there is nothing without it. Be the Self and the desires and doubts will disappear. Such Self is the witness in sleep, dream and waking states of existence. These states belong to the ego. The Self transcends even the ego. Did you not exist in sleep? Did you know then that you were asleep or unaware of the world? It is only in the waking state that you describe the experience of sleep as being unawareness; therefore the consciousness when asleep is the same as that when awake. If you know what this waking consciousness is, you will know the consciousness which witnesses all the three states. Such consciousness could be found by seeking the consciousness as it was in sleep.

Be still and know that I am God

Ramana Maharishi, while referring to the Bible for “Be still and know that I am God”, Psalm 46, found in the Ecclesiastes. “There is one alone and there is no second” and “The wise man’s heart is at the right hand and a fool’s heart is at the left.”

I have my professional work and yet I want to be in perpetual dhyana. Will they conflict with each other?

Devotee: I have my professional work and yet I want to be in perpetual dhyana. Will they conflict with each other?

Ramana Maharishi: There will be no conflict. As you practise both and develop your powers you will be able to attend to both. You will begin to look on business as a dream. Says the Bhagavad Gita: “That which is the night of all beings, for the disciplined man is the time of waking; when other beings are waking, then is it night for the sage who seeth.”

How to control lust, anger, etc.?

Devotee:  How to control lust, anger, etc.?

Ramana Maharishi:  Whose are these passions? Find out. If you remain as the Self, there will be found to be nothing apart from the Self. Then there will be no need to control, etc.

Identification with the body is dvaita. Non-identification is advaita

Ramana Maharishi:  Identification with the body is dvaita. Non-identification is advaita

Work performed with attachment is a shackle, whereas work performed with detachment does not affect the doer.

Devotee: Is solitude necessary for a Jnani?

Ramana Maharishi: Solitude is in the mind of man. One might be in the thick of the world and maintain serenity of mind; such a one is in solitude.  Another may stay in a forest, but still be unable to control his mind.  He cannot be said to be in solitude. Solitude is a function of the mind. A man attached to desire cannot get solitude wherever he may be; a detached man is always in solitude.

Devotee: So then, one might be engaged in work and be free from desire and keep up solitude. Is it so?

Ramana Maharishi: Yes. Work performed with attachment is a shackle, whereas work performed with detachment does not affect the doer. He is, even while working, in solitude.

Delete the prefixes and hold on to the common factor in all of them. That is Aham-’I’, that is the gist of the whole matter.

Devotee: : Is it necessary to control one’s breath? What becomes of the man who has not practised breath-control?

Ramana Maharishi: Breath-control is only an aid for diving deep. One may as well dive down by control of mind. On the mind being controlled, the breath becomes controlled automatically. One need not attempt breathcontrol; mind-control is enough. Breath-control is recommended for the man who cannot control his mind straightaway.
Naham - I am not this - corresponds to rechaka
Koham - Who am I? (search for the I) - corresponds to puraka
Soham - He am I; (The Self alone) - corresponds to kumbhaka.
So these are the functions of pranayama. Again the three formulae are:
Na - Aham (Not - I).
Ka - Aham (Who - I).
Sa - Aham (He - I).
Delete the prefixes and hold on to the common factor in all of them. That is Aham-’I’, that is the gist of the whole matter.

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

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.

‘I’ dissolves away, being only a bundle of circumstances

Devotee: Krishnamurti says that man should find out the ‘I’. Then ‘I’ dissolves away, being only a bundle of circumstances. There is nothing behind the ‘I’. His teaching seems to be very much like Buddha’s.

Ramana Maharishi: Yes - yes, beyond expression.

Good tendencies (suvasana) are cultivated and they must also be finally destroyed by jnana.

Sri Bhagavan said that good tendencies and bad ones (suvasana and kuvasana) are concomitant - the one cannot exist without the other. Maybe that the one class predominates. Good tendencies (suvasana) are cultivated and they must also be finally destroyed by jnana.