Grace is always there

O Humming Bee

 

Grace is always there

Mr. B. C. Das, the Physics Lecturer, asked:
D.: Contemplation is possible only with control of mind and control can be accomplished only by contemplation. Is it not a vicious circle?
M.: Yes, they are interdependent. They must go on side by side. Practice and dispassion bring about the result gradually. Dispassion is practised to check the mind from being projected outward; Practice is to keep it turned inward. There is a struggle between control and contemplation. It is going on constantly within. Contemplation will in due course be successful.

D.: How to begin? Your Grace is needed for it.
M.: Grace is always there. “Dispassion cannot be acquired, nor realization of the Truth, nor inherence in the Self, in the absence of Guru’s Grace,” the Master quoted.

Practice is necessary. It is like training a roguish bull confined to his stall by tempting him with luscious grass and preventing him from straying.

Then the Master read out a stanza from Tiruvachakam, which is an address to the mind, saying: “O humming bee (namely, mind)! Why do you take the pains of collecting tiny specks of honey from innumerable flowers? There is one from whom you can have the whole storehouse of honey by simply thinking or seeing or speaking of Him. Get within and hum to Him (hrimkara).”

D.: Should one have a form in one’s mind, supplemented with reading or chanting God’s name in one’s meditation?
M.: What is mental conception except it be meditation?

D.: Should the form be supplemented by repetition of mantras or dwelling on divine attributes?
M.: When japa is the predominating tendency, vocal japa becomes eventually mental, which is the same as meditation.

Talks with Ramana Maharshi
1st July, 1936
Talk 220.

The Real I and the Phantom I

The Real I and the Phantom I

Devotee: In the practice of meditation are there any signs of the nature of subjective experience or otherwise, which will indicate the aspirant’s progress towards Self-Realisation?
Maharshi: The degree of freedom from unwanted thoughts and the degree of concentration on a single thought are the measure to gauge the progress.

D.: Is it necessary to take to sanyasa for Self-Realisation?
M.: Sanyasa is to renounce one’s individuality. This is not the same as tonsure and ochre robes. A man may be a grihi; yet, if he does not think he is a grihi, he is a sanyasi. On the contrary a man may wear ochre robes and wander about: yet if he thinks he is a sanyasi he is not that. To think of sanyasa defeats its own purpose.

Sri Bhagavan remarked: People see the world. The perception implies the existence of a seer and the seen. The objects are alien to the seer. The seer is intimate, being the Self. They do not however turn their attention to finding out the obvious seer but run about analysing the seen. The more the mind expands, the farther it goes and renders Self-Realisation more difficult and complicated. The man must directly see the seer and realise the Self.

D.: So then, it amounts to synthesising phenomena and finding the one Reality behind.
M.: Why do you still consider the phenomena? See who the seer is. Synthesis means engaging the mind in other pursuits. That is not the way to Realisation.

D.: I want to eliminate the non-self so that the Self may be realised. How shall I do it? What are the characteristics of the non-self?
M.: There is one who says that the non-self must be eliminated. Who is he?

D.: I mean this man. When I travel from Calcutta to Madras I must know Madras so that I may not alight at an intermediate station out of ignorance. There are the sign boards and the timetable to guide me in my travel. But what is the guide in my search for the Self?
M.: It is all right for the journey. You know how far away you are from Madras. Can you tell me how far away you are from the Self in order that you should seek it?

D.: I do not know.
M.: Are you ever divorced from the Self? Is it possible to be divorced? Are not all these alien to you and the Self the most intimate? Where should you go to gain the Self?

D.: I am now away from the Self. I must retrace my steps in order to regain it.
M.: How far away? Who says that he is apart? Can there be two selves?

D.: It is said that individuals are modifications of the Self, just as ornaments are of gold.
M.: When a man speaks in terms of ornaments ignoring their substance gold, he is told that they are gold. But here the man is consciousness and speaks of himself as its modification. Do you remain apart from Self that you speak of yourself as Its modification?

D.: Cannot gold be imagined to say that it has become an ornament?
M.: Being insentient, it does not say so. But the individual is sentient and cannot function apart from consciousness. The Self is Pure Consciousness. Yet the man identifies himself with the body which is itself insentient and does not say “I am the body” of its own accord. Someone else says so. The unlimited Self does not. Who else is he that says so? A spurious ‘I’ arises between the Pure Consciousness and the insentient body and imagines itself limited to the body. Seek this and it will vanish as a phantom. That phantom is the ego, or the mind or the individuality.

All the sastras are based on the rise of this phantom, whose elimination is their purpose. The present state is mere illusion. Dis-illusionment (removal of illusion) is the goal and nothing more.

D.: The mind is said to be a bundle of thoughts.
M.: Because it functions on account of a single root the ‘I-thought’.

“Manasantu kim margane krte naiva manasam marga arjavat.”

It has no real existence as a separate entity.

D.: Are not thoughts projections from the mind?
M.: In that case the mind is taken to be synonymous with the ‘I-thought’ or the ego.


Talks with Ramana Mahrshi
12th June, 1937
Talk 427.

Make no effort to work or to renounce work

Make no effort to work or to renounce work

Dr. Syed: What is salvation? What did Christ mean by it?
Maharshi: Salvation for whom? and from what?

D.: Salvation for the individual and from the sorrows and sufferings of the world.
M.: Whose are the sorrows, etc.?

D.: Of the mind.
M.: Are you the mind?

D.: I shall now explain how this question arose. I was meditating. I began to reflect on the Grace shown by Christ to some devotees who got salvation. I consider that Sri Bhagavan is similar. Is not salvation the result of similar Grace? That is what I mean by my questions.
M.: Yes. Right.

D.: The booklet Who am I? speaks of swarupa drishti (seeing the essence). Then there must be a seer and the seen. How can this be reconciled with the Ultimate Unity?
M.: Why do you ask for salvation, release from sorrow, etc.? He who asks for them sees them also.
The fact is this. Drishti (sight) is consciousness. It forms the subject and object. Can there be drishti apart from the Self? The Self is all – drishti, etc.

D.: How to discern the ego from the Perfect ‘I-I’?
M.: That which rises and falls is the transient ‘I’. That which has neither origin nor end is the permanent ‘I-I’ consciousness.

D.: Will continuous thought on the Self make the mind more and more refined so that it will not think of anything but the highest?
M.: There is the peaceful mind which is the supreme. When the same becomes restless, it is afflicted by thoughts. Mind is only the dynamic power (sakti) of the Self.

D.: Are the sheaths material and different from the Self?
M.: There is no difference between matter and spirit. Modern science admits that all matter is energy. Energy is power or force (sakti). Therefore all are resolved in Siva and Sakti i.e., the Self and the Mind.

The kosas (sheaths) are mere appearances. There is no reality in them as such.

D.: How many hours a day should one devote to meditation?
M.: Your very nature is meditation.

D.: It will be so when ripe, but not now.
M.: You become conscious of it later. That does not mean that your nature is now different from meditation.

D.: What about practice?
M.: Meditation must always be practised.

D.: A Persian mystic says: “There is nothing but God.” The Quran says: “God is immanent in all.”
M.: There is no ‘all’, apart from God, for Him to pervade. He alone is.

D.: Is it morally right for a man to renounce his household duties when he once realises that his highest duty is Atma-chintana (continuous thought on the Self)?
M.: This desire to renounce things is the obstacle. The Self is simple renunciation. The Self has renounced all.

D.: It is true from Bhagavan’s standpoint. But for us …. my work demands the best part of my time and energy; often I am too tired to devote myself to Atma-chintana.
M.: The feeling “I work” is the hindrance. Enquire, “Who works?” Remember, “Who am I?” The work will not bind you. It will go on automatically.

Make no effort either to work or to renounce work. Your effort is the bondage. What is bound to happen will happen.

If you are destined to cease working, work cannot be had even if you hunt for it. If you are destined to work you cannot leave it; you will be forced to engage in it. So leave it to the Higher Power. You cannot renounce or hold as you choose.

Talks with Ramana Maharshi
23rd October, 1936
Talk 268.

Two Ways to get Real Bliss – Ramana

Two Ways to get Real Bliss

Miss Umadevi, a Polish lady convert to Hinduism, asked Sri Bhagavan: I once before told Sri Bhagavan how I had a vision of Siva at about the time of my conversion to Hinduism. A similar experience recurred to me at Courtallam. These visions are momentary. But they are blissful. I want to know how they might be made permanent and continuous. Without Siva there is no life in what I see around me. I am so happy to think of Him. Please tell me how His vision may be everlasting to me.

M.: You speak of a vision of Siva. Vision is always of an object. That implies the existence of a subject. The value of the vision is the same as that of the seer. (That is to say, the nature of the vision is on the same plane as that of the seer.) Appearance implies disappearance also. Whatever appears must also disappear. A vision can never be eternal. But Siva is eternal.

The pratyaksha (vision) of Siva to the eye signifies the existence of the eyes to see; the buddhi (intellect) lying behind the sight; the seer behind the buddhi and the sight; and finally the Consciousness underlying the seer. This pratyaksha (vision) is not as real as one imagines it to be, because it is not intimate and inherent; it is not first-hand. It is the result of several successive phases of Consciousness. Of these, Consciousness alone does not vary. It is eternal. It is Siva. It is the Self.

The vision implies the seer. The seer cannot deny the existence of the Self. There is no moment when the Self as Consciousness does not exist; nor can the seer remain apart from Consciousness. This Consciousness is the eternal Being and the only Being. The seer cannot see himself. Does he deny his existence because he cannot see himself with the eyes as pratyaksha (in vision)? No! So, pratyaksha does not mean seeing, but BE-ing.

“To BE” is to realise – Hence I AM THAT I AM. I AM is Siva. Nothing else can be without Him. Everything has its being in Siva and because of Siva.

Therefore enquire “Who am I?” Sink deep within and abide as the Self. That is Siva as BE-ing. Do not expect to have visions of Him repeated. What is the difference between the objects you see and Siva? He is both the subject and the object. You cannot be without Siva. Siva is always realised here and now. If you think you have not realised Him it is wrong. This is the obstacle for realising Siva. Give up that thought also and realisation is there.

D.: Yes. But how shall I effect it as quickly as possible?
M.: This is the obstacle for realisation. Can there be the individual without Siva? Even now He is you. There is no question of time. If there be a moment of non-realisation, the question of realisation can arise. But as it is you cannot be without Him. He is already realised, ever realised and never non-realised.

Surrender to Him and abide by His will whether he appears or vanishes; await His pleasure. If you ask Him to do as you please, it is not surrender but command to Him. You cannot have Him obey you and yet think that you have surrendered. He knows what is best and when and how to do it. Leave everything entirely to Him. His is the burden: you have no longer any cares. All your cares are His. Such is surrender. This is bhakti.

Or, enquire to whom these questions arise. Dive deep in the Heart and remain as the Self. One of these two ways is open to the aspirant.

Sri Bhagavan also added: There is no being who is not conscious and therefore who is not Siva. Not only is he Siva but also all else of which he is aware or not aware. Yet he thinks in sheer ignorance that he sees the universe in diverse forms. But if he sees his Self he is not aware of his separateness from the universe; in fact his individuality and the other entities vanish although they persist in all their forms.

Siva is seen as the universe. But the seer does not see the background itself. Think of the man who sees only the cloth and not the cotton of which it is made; or of the man who sees the pictures moving on the screen in a cinema show and not the screen itself as the background; or again the man who sees the letters which he reads but not the paper on which they are written. The objects are thus Consciousness and forms. But the ordinary person sees the objects in the universe but not Siva in these forms. Siva is the Being assuming these forms and the Consciousness seeing them. That is to say, Siva is the background underlying both the subject and the object, and again Siva in Repose and Siva in Action, or Siva and Sakti, or the Lord and the Universe.

Whatever it is said to be, it is only Consciousness whether in repose or in action. Who is there that is not conscious? So, who is not realised? How then can questions arise doubting realisation or desiring it? If ‘I’ am not pratyaksha to me, I can then say that Siva is not pratyaksha.

These questions arise because you have limited the Self to the body, only then the ideas of within and without, of the subject and the object, arise. The objective visions have no intrinsic value. Even if they are everlasting they cannot satisfy the person. Uma has Siva always with Her. Both together form Ardhanariswara. Yet she wanted to know Siva in His true nature. She made tapas. In her dhyana she saw a bright light. She thought: “This cannot be Siva for it is within the compass of my vision. I am greater than this light.” So she resumed her tapas. Thoughts disappeared. Stillness prevailed. She then realised that BE-ing is Siva in His true nature.

Muruganar cited Appar’s stanza:- “To remove my darkness and give me light, Thy Grace must work through ME only.”

Sri Bhagavan mentioned Manickavachagar’s:
“We do bhajana and the rest. But we have not seen nor heard of those who had seen Thee.” One cannot see God and yet retain individuality. The seer and the seen unite into one Being. There is no cogniser, nor cognition, nor the cognised. All merge into One Supreme Siva only!

Talks with Ramana Maharshi
3rd February, 1938
Talk 450.

Food restrictions are aids for spiritual experience – Ramana

Diet restrictions are aids

Food restrictions are aids for spiritual experience



Mrs. Piggott: Why do you take milk, but not eggs?
Maharshi: The domesticated cows yield more milk than necessary for their calves and they find it a pleasure to be relieved of the milk.

D.: But the hen cannot contain the eggs?
M.: But there are potential lives in them.

D.: Thoughts cease suddenly, then ‘I-I’ rises up as suddenly and continues. It is only in the feeling and not in the intellect. Can it be right?
M.: It is certainly right. Thoughts must cease and reason disappear for ‘I-I’ to rise up and be felt. Feeling is the prime factor and not reason.

D.: Moreover it is not in the head but in the right side of the chest.
M.: It ought to be so. Because the heart is there.Diet restrictions are aids

D.: When I see outside it disappears. What is to be done?
M.: It must be held tight.

D.: If one is active with such remembrance, will the actions be always right?
M.: They ought to be. However, such a person is not concerned with the right or wrong of his actions. Such a person’s actions are God’s and therefore they must be right.

D.: Why then the restrictions of food given for such?
M.: Your present experience is due to the influence of the atmosphere you are in. Can you have it outside this atmosphere? The experience is spasmodic. Until it becomes permanent practice is necessary. Restrictions of food are aids for such experience to be repeated. After one gets established in truth the restrictions drop away naturally. Moreover, food influences the mind and it must be kept pure.

The lady told a disciple later: “I feel the vibrations from him more intensely and I am able to reach the ‘I’ centre more readily than before.”

Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi
4th February, 1935
Talk 24.

What diet is prescribed for a spiritual seeker? – Ramana

What diet is prescribed for a spiritual seeker?



Mrs. Piggott returned from Madras for a further visit. She asked questions relating to diet regulation.

D.: What diet is prescribed for a sadhak (one who is engaged in spiritual practices)?
M.: Satvic food in limited quantities.

D.: What is satvic food?
M.: Bread, fruits, vegetables, milk, etc.

D.: Some people take fish in North India. May it be done?
No answer was made by the Maharshi.

D.: We Europeans are accustomed to a particular diet; change of diet affects health and weakens the mind. Is it not necessary to keep up physical health?
M.: Quite necessary. The weaker the body the stronger the mind grows.

D.: In the absence of our usual diet our health suffers and the mind loses strength.
M.: What do you mean by strength of mind?

D.: The power to eliminate worldly attachment.
M.: The quality of food influences the mind. The mind feeds on the food consumed.

D.: Really! How can the Europeans adjust themselves to satvic food only?
M.: (Pointing to Mr. Evans-Wentz) You have been taking our food. Do you feel uncomfortable on that account?

Mr. Evans-Wentz: No. Because I am accustomed to it.

D.: What about those not so accustomed?
M.: Habit is only adjustment to the environment. It is the mind that matters. The fact is that the mind has been trained to think certain foods tasty and good. The food material is to be had both in vegetarian and non-vegetarian diet equally well. But the mind desires such food as it is accustomed to and considers tasty.

D.: Are there restrictions for the realised man in a similar manner?
M.: No. He is steady and not influenced by the food he takes.

D.: Is it not killing life to prepare meat diet?
M.: Ahimsa stands foremost in the code of discipline for the yogis.

D.: Even plants have life.
M.: So too the slabs you sit on!

D.: May we gradually get ourselves accustomed to vegetarian food?
M.: Yes. That is the way.

Talks with Ramana Maharshi
31st January, 1935
Talk 22.

You can be bound, Or you can be free – Ramana

Sri Ramana Maharshi

Sri Ramana Maharshi

You can be bound, Or you can be free

Another pilgrim asked: I am a man with a family. Is it possible for those in a family to get release, and if so how?
Maharshi: Now what is family? Whose family is it? If the answers to these questions are found the other questions solve themselves.

Tell me: Are you in the family, or is the family in you?

The visitor did not answer.

Then Sri Bhagavan’s answer was continued: Who are you? You include three aspects of life, namely, the waking, the dream and the sleep states. You were not aware of the family and their ties in your sleep and so these questions did not arise then. But now you are aware of the family and their ties and therefore you seek release. But you are the same person throughout.

D.: Because I now feel that I am in the family it is right that I should seek release.
M.: You are right. But consider and say: Are you in the family or is the family in you?

Another visitor interposed: What is family?

M.: That’s it. It must be known.

D.: There is my wife and there are also my children. They are dependent on me. That is the family.
M.: Do the members of the family bind your mind? Or do you bind yourself to them? Do they come and say to you “We form your family. Be with us”? Or do you consider them as your family and that you are bound to them?

D.: I consider them as my family and feel bound to them.
M.: Quite so. Because you think that so-and-so is your wife and so-and-so are your children you also think that you are bound to them.
These thoughts are yours. They owe their very existence to you.
You can entertain these thoughts or relinquish them. The former is bondage and the latter is release.

D.: It is not quite clear to me.
M.: You must exist in order that you may think. You may think these thoughts or other thoughts. The thoughts change but not you. Let go the passing thoughts and hold on to the unchanging Self. The thoughts form your bondage. If they are given up, there is release. The bondage is not external. So no external remedy need be sought for release. It is within your competence to think and thus to get bound or to cease thinking and thus be free.

D.: But it is not easy to remain without thinking.
M.: You need not cease thinking. Only think of the root of the thoughts; seek it and find it. The Self shines by itself. When that is found the thoughts cease of their own accord. That is freedom from bondage.

D.: Yes. I understand it now. I have learnt it now. Is a Guru necessary?
M.: So long as you consider yourself as an individual, a Guru is necessary to show to you that you are not bound by limitations and that your nature is to be free from limitations.

Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi
29th September, 1938
Talk 524.

What are the steps of practical training (for Salvation) – Ramana?

What are the steps of practical training (for Salvation)?

 

A visitor asked: What to do to get liberation (moksha)?
Maharishi: Learn what liberation is.

D.: Should I do worship (upasana) for it?
M.: Worship is for mind control (chitta nirodha) and concentration.

D.: Should I do idol worship? Is there any harm in it?
M.: So long as you think you are the body there is no harm.

D.: How to get over the cycle of births and deaths?
M.: Learn what it means.

D.: Should I not leave my wife and family?
M.: How do they harm you? First find out who you are.

D.: Should not one give up wife, wealth, home?
M.: Learn first what samsara is. Is all that samsara? Have there not been men living among them and getting realisation?

D.: What are the steps of practical training (sadhana) for it?
M.: It depends on the qualifications and the nature of the seeker.

D.: I am doing idol worship.
M.: Go on with it. It leads to concentration of mind. Get one-pointed. All will come out right. People think that freedom (moksha) is somewhere yonder and should be sought out. They are wrong. Freedom (moksha) is only knowing the Self within yourself. Concentrate and you will get it. Your mind is the cycle of births and deaths (samsara).

D.: My mind is very unsteady. What should I do?
M.: Fix your attention on any single thing and try to hold on to it. All will be right.

D.: I find concentration difficult.
M.: Go on practising. Your concentration will be as easy as breathing. That will be the crown of your achievements.

D.: Are not abstinence and pure food helpful?
M.: Yes, all that is good. (Then Maharshi concentrates and silently gazes at vacancy, and thus sets an example to the questioner).

D.: Do I not require Yoga?
M.: What is it but the means to concentration?

D.: To help concentration, is it not good to have some aids?
M.: Breath-regulation, etc., are such helps.

D.: Is it not possible to get a vision of God?
M.: Yes. You see this and that. Why not see God? Only you must know what God is. All are seeing God always. But they do not know it. You find out what God is. People see, yet see not, because they know not God.

D.: Should I not go on with repetition of sacred syllables, (mantra japa), e.g., Krishna or Rama’s name, when I worship images?
M.: Mental japa is very good. That helps meditation. Mind gets identified with the repetition and then you get to know what worship (puja) really is – the losing of one’s individuality in that which is worshipped.

D.: Is the Universal Soul (Paramatma) always different from us?
M.: That is the common belief, but it is wrong. Think of Him as not different from you, and then you achieve identity of Self with God.

D.: Is it not the Advaita doctrine to become one with God?
M.: Where is becoming? The thinker is all the while the Real. He ultimately realises the fact. Sometimes we forget our identities, as in sleep and dreams. But God is perpetual consciousness.

D.: Is not the Master’s guidance necessary, besides idol worship?
M.: How did you start it without advice?

D.: From sacred books (puranas).
M.: Yes. Someone tells you of God, or Bhagavan Himself tells you. In the latter case God Himself is your Master. What matters it who the Master is? We really are one with Master or Bhagavan. The Master is God; one discovers it in the end. There is no difference between human-guru and God-guru.

D.: If we have done virtuous action (punya) the achievement will not leave us. I hope.
M.: You will reap your destiny (prarabdha) that way.

D.: Will not a Wise Master be a great help in pointing out the way?
M.: Yes. If you go on working with the light available, you will meet your Master, as he himself will be seeking you.

D.: Is there a difference between prapatti (self-surrender) and the Path of Yoga of the Seers?
M.: Jnana Marga and Bhakti Marga (prapatti) are one and the same. Self-surrender leads to realisation just as enquiry does. Complete self-surrender means that you have no further thought of ‘I’. Then all your predispositions (samskaras) are washed off and you are free. You should not continue as a separate entity at the end of either course.

D.: Do not we go to Heaven (svarga), etc. as the result of our actions?
M.: That is as true as the present existence. But if we enquire who we are and discover the Self, what need is there to think of heaven, etc.?

D.: Should I not try to escape rebirth?
M.: Yes. Find out who is born and who has the trouble of existence now. When you are asleep do you think of rebirths or even the present existence, etc.? So find out whence the present problem arises and there is the solution also. You will discover that there is no birth, no present trouble or unhappiness, etc. All is That; All is Bliss; we are freed from rebirth in fact. Why fret over the misery of rebirth?

Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi
4th February, 1935
Talk 31.

How is the ego to be destroyed? – Ramana

How is the ego to be destroyed?


A Devotee asked Maharshi: How is the ego to be destroyed?

M.: Hold the ego first and then ask how it is to be destroyed. Who asks this question? It is the ego. Can the ego ever agree to kill itself? This question is a sure way to cherish the ego and not to kill it. If you seek the ego you will find it does not exist. That is the way to destroy it.

In this connection I am often reminded of a funny incident which took place when I was living in the West Chitrai Street in Madura. A neighbour in an adjoining house anticipated the visit of a thief to his house. He took precautions to catch him. He posted policemen in mufti to guard the two ends of the lane, the entrance and the back-door to his own house.

The thief came as expected and the men rushed to catch him. He took in the situation at a glance and shouted “Hold him, hold him. There – he runs – there – there.” Saying so he made good his escape.
So it is with the ego. Look for it and it will not be found. That is the way to get rid of it.

Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi
24th January, 1939
Talk 615.

Is it bad to desire something? – Ramana

Is it bad to desire something?


There were a few respectable men in the hall. Sri Bhagavan spoke to them some time after their arrival.

M.: “Where is the use of trying to remember the past or discover the future? That which matters is only the present. Take care of it and the other things will take care of themselves.”

D.: Is it bad to desire something?
M.: One should not be elated on having his desire fulfilled or disappointed on being frustrated. To be elated on the fulfillment of desire is so deceitful. A gain will certainly be lost ultimately. Therefore elation must end in pain at a future date. One should not give place to feelings of pleasure or pain, come what may. How do the events affect the person? You do not grow by acquiring something nor wither away by losing it. You remain what you always are.

D.: We worldly men cannot resist desire.
M.: You may desire but be prepared for any eventuality. Make effort, but do not be lost in the result. Accept with equanimity whatever happens. For pleasure and pain are mere mental modes. They have no relation to the objective realities.

D.: How?
M.: There were two young friends in a village in South India. They were learned and wanted to earn something with which they might afford relief to their respective families. They took leave of their parents and went to Benares on a pilgrimage. On the way one of them died. The other was left alone. He wandered for a time, and in the course of a few months he made a good name and earned some money. He wanted to earn more before he returned to his home.

In the meantime he met a pilgrim who was going south and would pass through the native village of the young pandit. He requested the new acquaintance to tell his parents that he would return after a few months with some funds and also that his companion had died on the way.

The man came to the village and found the parents. He gave them the news, but changed the names of the two men. Consequently the parents of the living man bemoaned his supposed loss and the parents of the dead man were happy expecting the return of their son bringing rich funds as well.

You see therefore that pleasure and pain have no relation to the actualities but are mere mental modes.

Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi
24th January, 1939
Talk 614.

Can you ever remain apart from the SELF ? – Ramana

Can you ever remain apart from the SELF ?


Dr. Mohammed Hafiz Syed, a Muslim Professor of Persian and Urdu in the University of Allahabad, asked:

D.: “ What is the purpose of this external manifestation?”
M.: This manifestation had induced your question.

D.: True. I am covered by maya. How to be free from it?
M.: Who is covered by maya? ‘Who’ wants to be free?

D.: Master, being asked ‘Who?’, I know that it is ignorant me, composed of the senses, mind and body. I tried this enquiry ‘Who?’ after reading Paul Brunton’s book. Three or four times I was feeling elated and the elation lasted sometime and faded away. How to be established in ‘I’? Please give me the clue and help me.
M.: That which appears anew must also disappear in due course.

D.: Please tell me the method of reaching the eternal Truth.
M.: You are That. Can you ever remain apart from the Self? To be yourself requires no effort since you are always That.

Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi
3rd January, 1936
Talk 123.

May Bhagavan give me strength of mind – Ramana

May Bhagavan give me strength of mind


The aristocratic lady again came after a few days, went straight to Bhagavan, saluted him and said:

“I came last time with my husband and children. I was thinking of their food and time was pressing. So I could not stay here as long as I would have wished. But I was later worried over the hurried nature of the visit. I have returned now to sit quiet and imbibe Sri Bhagavan’s Grace. May He give me strength of mind!”

The hall was already kept clear of people. She sat on a crude carpet in front of Sri Bhagavan.

Sri Bhagavan said smiling: “Yes. Silence is perpetual speaking. Ordinary speech hinders that heart- to-heart talk.”

She agreed and sat quiet. Sri Bhagavan was sitting reclining on the sofa. His eyes were fixed in her direction with a gracious smile on His lips. Both remained silent and motionless for about an hour.

Prasad was distributed.

The lady said: “Now I want to return. The river between Bangalore and this place is in floods. On my way here a bus was overturned in the floods. My car came later, and I saw the sad accident. Still I was not afraid to ford the river. My car came out safe. I would like to return in daytime.

“This time I shall not say ‘is the last time I shall come’ as I said on former occasions. I do not know, but it may be so. Yet Maharshi should give me strength of mind.

“I long for bhakti. I want more of this longing. Even realization does not matter for me. Let me be strong in my longing.”

M.: If the longing is there, Realisation will be forced on you even if you do not want it. Subhechcha is the doorway for realization.

D.: Let it be so. But I am content with longing. Even when I am away from this place I must not relax in my devotion. May Sri Bhagavan give me the necessary strength. Such longing could only be through His Grace. I am personally too weak.

Again, when I was here on a previous occasion I asked several questions. But I could not follow Sri Bhagavan’s answers. I thought I would not ask any more questions but only sit quiet in His Presence imbibing Grace which might be extended to me. So I do not pursue Maharshi with more questions this time. Only let me have His Grace.

M.: Your repeated visits to this place indicate the extension of Grace.

She was surprised and said: “I was going to ask Maharshi if He called me. For all of a sudden my husband told me this morning: ‘There are two days free. If you want you may visit Maharshi and return.’
“I was very agreeably surprised and pleased. I took it to be a call from Maharshi.”

She also expressed a desire to reside near Maharshi and asked for His blessings.

Maharshi said: A Higher Power is leading you. Be led by the same.

D.: But I am not aware of it. Please make me aware of it.
M.: The Higher Power knows what to do and how to do it. Trust it.

Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi
21st October, 1936
Talk 265.