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The quotes of Ramana Maharshi

38 quote(s)  | Page 2 / 2




O ne man may read the Bhagavata by the light of a lamp, and another may commit a forgery by that very light; but the lamp is unaffected. The sun sheds its light on the wicked as well as on the virtuous.


quote 5363  | 




T wo persons were hotly disputing as to the colour of a chameleon. One said, ‘The chameleon on that palm-tree is of a beautiful red colour.’ The other, contradicting him, said, ‘You are mistaken, the chameleon is not red, but blue.’ Not being able to settle the matter by arguments, both went to the person who always lived under that tree and had watched the chameleon in all its phases of colour. One of them said, ‘Sir, is not the chameleon on that tree of a red colour?’ The person replied, ‘Yes, sir.’ The other disputant said, ‘What do you say? How is it? It is not red, it is blue.’ That person again humbly replied, ‘Yes, sir.’ The person knew that the chameleon is an animal that constantly changes its colour; thus it was that he said ‘yes’ to both these conflicting statements. The Sat-chit-ananda likewise has various forms. The devotee who has seen God in one aspect only, knows Him in that aspect alone. But he who has seen Him in His manifold aspects, is alone in a position to say, ‘All these forms are of one God, for God is multiform.’ He has forms and has no forms, and many are His forms which no one knows.


quote 5362  | 




W hatever is destined not to happen will not happen, try as you may. Whatever is destined to happen will happen, do what you may to prevent it. This is certain. The best course, therefore, is to remain silent.


quote 5347  | 




Y our duty is to be and not to be this or that. ‘I am that I am’ sums up the whole truth. The method is summed up in the words ‘Be still’. What does stillness mean? It means destroy yourself. Because any form or shape is the cause for trouble. Give up the notion that ‘I am so and so’. All that is required to realize the Self is to be still. What can be easier than that?


quote 5332  | 




Y our own Self-Realization is the greatest service you can render the world.


quote 5322  | 




H appiness is your nature. It is not wrong to desire it. What is wrong is seeking it outside when it is inside.


quote 5308  | 




I AM NOW seventy-four years old. And yet I feel that I am an infant. I feel clearly that in spite of all the changes I am a child. My Guru told me; that child, which is you even now, is your real self. Go back to that state of pure being, where the I am" is still in its purity before it got contaminated with "this I am" or "that I am." Your burden is of false self-identifications-abandon them all. My Guru told me-"Trust me. I tell you; you are divine. Take it as the absolute truth. Your joy is divine, your suffering is divine too. All comes from God. Remember it always. You are God, your will alone is done." I did believe him and soon realized how wonderfully true and accurate were his words. I did not condition my mind by thinking: I am God, I am wonderful, I am beyond." I simply followed his instruction, which was to focus the mind on pure being I am," and stay in it. I used to sit for hours together, with nothing but the I am" in my mind and soon peace and joy and a deep all embracing love became my normal state. In it all disappeared-myself, my Guru, the life lived, the world around me. Only peace remained and unfathomable silence.


quote 2704  | 
I Am That: Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, translated from the Marathi recordings by Maurice Frydman; edited by Sudhakar S. Dikshit. Durham, North Carolina, The Acorn Press, 1982 (11th printing 2000), P. 239. 




W ith repeated practice in this manner, the mind will develop the skill to stay in its source. When the mind that is subtle goes out through the brain and the sense-organs, the gross names and forms appear; when it stays in the heart, the names and forms disappear. Not letting the mind go out but retaining it in the Heart is what is called "inwardness (antar-mukha). Letting the mind to go out of the Heart is known as "externalization" (bahirmukha). Thus, when the mind stays in the Heart, the "I" which is the source of all thoughts will go, and the Self which ever exists will shine. Whatever one does, one should do without the egoity “I" If one acts in that way, all will appear as of the nature of Shiva (God).


quote 2703  | 
The Collected Works of Ramana Maharshi (Tiruvannamailai, India: Sri Ramanasraman, 1979). 




W hat is the means for constantly holding on to the thought “Who am I”
When other thoughts arise, one should not pursue them, but should inquire: "To whom did they arise?" It does not matter how many thoughts arise. As each thought arises, one should inquire with diligence, "To whom has this thought arisen?" The answer that would emerge would be "To me." Thereupon if one inquires “Who am I” the mind will go back to its source; and the thought that arose will become quiescent.


quote 2702  | 
The Collected Works of Ramana Maharshi (Tiruvannamailai, India: Sri Ramanasraman, 1979). 




W hat is the path of inquiry for understanding the nature of the mind?
That which rises as 'I' in this body is the mind. If one inquires as to where in the body the thought "I" rises first, one would discover that it rises in the heart. That is the place of the mind's origin. Even if one thinks constantly "I" one will be led to that place. Of all the thoughts that arise in the mind, the "I" thought is the first. It is only after the rise of this that the other thoughts arise. It is after the appearance of the first personal pronoun that the second and third personal pronouns appear; without the first personal pronoun there will not be the second and third.


quote 2701  | 
The Collected Works of Ramana Maharshi (Tiruvannamailai, India: Sri Ramanasraman, 1979). 




W hat is referred to as the Self is the Atman. The mind always exists only in dependence on something gross; it cannot stay alone. It is the mind that is called the subtle body or the soul (jiva).


quote 2700  | 
The Collected Works of Ramana Maharshi (Tiruvannamailai, India: Sri Ramanasraman, 1979). 




W hen the mind comes out of the Self, the world appears. Therefore, when the world appears (to be real), the Self does not appear; and when the Self appears [shines] the world does not appear.


quote 2699  | 
The Collected Works of Ramana Maharshi (Tiruvannamailai, India: Sri Ramanasraman, 1979). 




W hat is the nature of the mind?
What is called "mind" is a wondrous power residing in the Self. It causes all thought to arise. Apart from thoughts, there is no such thing as mind. Therefore, thought is the nature of mind. Apart from thoughts, there is no independent entity called the world. In deep sleep there are no thoughts, and there is no world. In the states of waking and dream, there are thoughts, and there is a world also.


quote 2698  | 
The Collected Works of Ramana Maharshi (Tiruvannamailai, India: Sri Ramanasraman, 1979). 



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