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When the mind is backed by will, miracles happen.
Our separation of each other is an optical illusion of consciousness.
Every time you say to yourself: “Who am I?” you are moving a step ahead on the spiritual path. That is all you have to do. “Who am I?” and you will soon discover that the ‘I’ is not you. The ‘I’ that you are referring to is not you, it’s not anything. It is merely a thought. It has absolutely nothing to do with you. When you think to yourself: “Who am I?” you keep saying I-I to yourself and the ‘I’ begins to separate from your body. The ‘I’ begins to become a different type of entity whatsoever, the ‘I’ begins to disappear. And you keep thinking about the ‘I’, following the ‘I’. You follow the ‘I’ to the heart. Once the ‘I’ disappears you are totally free and liberated. So it all begins with you. You are the one. You can either free yourself or put yourself in bondage depending on what you’re doing with your life.
While you’re practicing your sadhana, keep in back of your mind someplace, there’s really no one who practices. After all who does the practice? It’s your body and your mind. If you can only remember there’s no body or mind that exists, then there’s no one to practice.
That which permeates all, which nothing transcends and which, like the universal space around us, fills everything completely from within and without, that Supreme non-dual Brahman — that thou art.
The Master wanted to train Narendra [later known as Swami Vivekananda] in the teachings of the non-dualistic Vedānta philosophy. But Narendra, because of his Brāhmo upbringing, considered it wholly blasphemous to look on man as one with his Creator. One day at the temple garden he laughingly said to a friend: "How silly! This jug is God! This cup is God! Whatever we see is God! And we too are God! Nothing could be more absurd." Sri Ramakrishna came out of his room and gently touched him. Spellbound, he immediately perceived that everything in the world was indeed God. A new universe opened around him. Returning home in a dazed state, he found there too that the food, the plate, the eater himself, the people around him, were all God. When he walked in the street, he saw that the cabs, the horses, the streams of people, the buildings, were all Brahman. He could hardly go about his day's business. His parents became anxious about him and thought him ill. And when the intensity of the experience abated a little, he saw the world as a dream. Walking in the public square, he would strike his head against the iron railings to know whether they were real. It took him a number of days to recover his normal self. He had a foretaste of the great experiences yet to come and realized that the words of the Vedānta were true.
Even an emperor is no match for a man with no wants.
Attachment destroys courage. The giver is always ready to give. The taker is absent. Freedom means letting go. People just do no care to let go of everything. They do not know that the finite is the price of the infinite, as death is the price of immortality. Spiritual maturity lies in the readiness to let go of everything. The giving up is the first step. But the real giving up is in realizing that there is nothing to give up, for nothing is your own. It is like deep sleep - you do not give up your bed when you fall asleep - you just forget it.
Speak with Love and it becomes Truth. That is the way I ever acted and people thought it was a miracle.
Freedom from all desire is eternity. All attachment implies fear, for all things are transient. And fear makes one a slave. This freedom from attachment does not come with practice; it is natural, when one knows one’s true being. Self-knowledge is detachment. All craving is due to a sense of insufficiency. When you know that you lack nothing, that all there is, is you and yours, desire ceases.
See what it's doing to you.
Watch how it controls you. It makes you emotional. It makes you believe something is wrong. It makes you angry.
All these things come from the mind.
The idea is to be aware of this.
The awareness alone leads you to the light, just being aware of that alone.
You don't have to know any book knowledge. Just be aware of what your mind really is. That's how you conquer your mind. By being aware of it, and no longer responding to it, no longer to react to the mind.
Something that usually makes you angry, before you'd respond, and you'd want to win the argument, but now your reaction is no reaction.
You simply smile and you watch.
When your mind sees there's no response it will become weaker and weaker, until it disappears.
It's just like arguing with a person. What happens if you stop arguing? The person goes away. They don't know what to think. They just won't have anything to do with you. They just leave.
So when you stop responding to your thoughts your mind will go away, and become weaker, and weaker, and weaker, until there is no mind.
Watch how it controls you. It makes you emotional. It makes you believe something is wrong. It makes you angry.
All these things come from the mind.
The idea is to be aware of this.
The awareness alone leads you to the light, just being aware of that alone.
You don't have to know any book knowledge. Just be aware of what your mind really is. That's how you conquer your mind. By being aware of it, and no longer responding to it, no longer to react to the mind.
Something that usually makes you angry, before you'd respond, and you'd want to win the argument, but now your reaction is no reaction.
You simply smile and you watch.
When your mind sees there's no response it will become weaker and weaker, until it disappears.
It's just like arguing with a person. What happens if you stop arguing? The person goes away. They don't know what to think. They just won't have anything to do with you. They just leave.
So when you stop responding to your thoughts your mind will go away, and become weaker, and weaker, and weaker, until there is no mind.
Your so-called enemy is really your best friend. The person you don't get along with is doing you a favor, for he or she is teaching you not to react.
Remember this.
You are not using self-inquiry to awaken.
If you do you will never awaken.
For you are using a method to become something you already are.
Have no attitude when you practice self-inquiry.
Have no desire, no need.
You are not using self-inquiry to awaken.
If you do you will never awaken.
For you are using a method to become something you already are.
Have no attitude when you practice self-inquiry.
Have no desire, no need.
I told Bhagavan, “I don’t want moksha, I just want that the desire for women should not enter my mind.”
Bhagavan laughed and said, “All the mahatmas are striving only for this.”
Bhagavan laughed and said, “All the mahatmas are striving only for this.”
SERVICE TO THE GURU REMOVES IGNORANCE BY AND BY
While speaking to Mr. G. Shanmugham, a very sincere lawyer devotee, Bhagavan observed:
The sastras say that one must serve a Guru for 12 years for getting Self-Realisation. What does Guru do? Does he hand it over to the disciple? Is not the Self always realised? What does the common belief mean then? The man is always the Self and yet he does not know it. He confounds it with the non-self, viz., the body etc.
Such confusion is due to ignorance. If ignorance be wiped out the confusion will cease to exist and the true knowledge will be unfolded. By remaining in contact with realised sages the man gradually loses the ignorance until its removal is complete. The eternal Self is thus revealed.ra
This is the meaning conveyed by the story of Ashtavakra and Janaka. The anecdotes differ in different books. We are not concerned with the names and the embellishments. The tatva, i.e., the moral, must not be lost sight of.
The disciple surrenders himself to the master. That means there is no vestige of individuality retained by the disciple. If the surrender is complete all sense of individuality is lost and there is thus no cause for misery. The eternal being is only happiness. That is revealed.
Without understanding it aright, people think that the Guru teaches the disciple something like “TATVAMASI” and that the disciple realises “I am Brahman”. In their ignorance they conceive of Brahman as something more huge and powerful than anything else. With a limited ‘I’ the man is so stuck up and wild. What will be the case if the same ‘I’ grows up enormous? He will be enormously ignorant and foolish! This false ‘I’ must perish. Its annihilation is the fruit of Guru seva. Realisation is eternal and it is not newly brought about by the Guru. He helps in the removal of ignorance. That is all.
Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, No 350
While speaking to Mr. G. Shanmugham, a very sincere lawyer devotee, Bhagavan observed:
The sastras say that one must serve a Guru for 12 years for getting Self-Realisation. What does Guru do? Does he hand it over to the disciple? Is not the Self always realised? What does the common belief mean then? The man is always the Self and yet he does not know it. He confounds it with the non-self, viz., the body etc.
Such confusion is due to ignorance. If ignorance be wiped out the confusion will cease to exist and the true knowledge will be unfolded. By remaining in contact with realised sages the man gradually loses the ignorance until its removal is complete. The eternal Self is thus revealed.ra
This is the meaning conveyed by the story of Ashtavakra and Janaka. The anecdotes differ in different books. We are not concerned with the names and the embellishments. The tatva, i.e., the moral, must not be lost sight of.
The disciple surrenders himself to the master. That means there is no vestige of individuality retained by the disciple. If the surrender is complete all sense of individuality is lost and there is thus no cause for misery. The eternal being is only happiness. That is revealed.
Without understanding it aright, people think that the Guru teaches the disciple something like “TATVAMASI” and that the disciple realises “I am Brahman”. In their ignorance they conceive of Brahman as something more huge and powerful than anything else. With a limited ‘I’ the man is so stuck up and wild. What will be the case if the same ‘I’ grows up enormous? He will be enormously ignorant and foolish! This false ‘I’ must perish. Its annihilation is the fruit of Guru seva. Realisation is eternal and it is not newly brought about by the Guru. He helps in the removal of ignorance. That is all.
Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, No 350
What prevents you from knowing yourself as all and beyond all, is the mind based on memory. It has power over you as long as you trust it. Don’t struggle with it; just disregard it. Deprived of attention, it will slow down and reveal the mechanism of its working. Once you know its nature and purpose, you will not allow it to create imaginary problems. What problems can there be which the mind did not create? Life and death do not create problems; pains and pleasures come and go, experienced and forgotten. It is memory and anticipation that create problems of attainment or avoidance, coloured by like and dislike.
You must have enough of yourself in order to disappear and become the Being.
Once a devotee asked Bhagawan:
‘How many Upanishads does one have to read to understand the Self?’ Bhagawan, in his usual style answered, ‘How many mirrors do you need to see your face?’
‘How many Upanishads does one have to read to understand the Self?’ Bhagawan, in his usual style answered, ‘How many mirrors do you need to see your face?’
Where are you coming from?
Where are you coming from?
What is going on inside of yourself?
You say,
I want to be enlightened.
I want to be self-realized.
I want to awaken.
I've been with Robert for two days now and I haven't awakened yet.
It's time to find another teacher.
There is no time.
Forget about time.
Have no reason for coming here.
Just be here.
If you have a purpose you will always be disappointed.
If you have no purpose you are already awake.
Where are you coming from?
What is going on inside of yourself?
You say,
I want to be enlightened.
I want to be self-realized.
I want to awaken.
I've been with Robert for two days now and I haven't awakened yet.
It's time to find another teacher.
There is no time.
Forget about time.
Have no reason for coming here.
Just be here.
If you have a purpose you will always be disappointed.
If you have no purpose you are already awake.
Never Judge Yourself
The worst thing you could ever do is to judge yourself.
Never judge yourself.
Don't even look at yourself too much.
Realize your divine nature and do not allow your problems to get to you.
Understand that you are not your problems.
You are not the body.
You're not the thoughts or the mind.
And begin by controlling your thoughts. Do not allow your thoughts to become greater than you.
No matter what your thoughts tell you, don't listen.
Remember your thoughts are not your friend.
Your thoughts try to confound you, confuse you. And they will tell you all kinds of things.
Do not listen to your thoughts, even your good thoughts.
Transcend everything, go beyond your thoughts to your bliss, to your joy and to your happiness.
Your thoughts will take you away from this. It'll make you think all sorts of things.
But if you realize that your mind is a trickster, you will not allow your thoughts to convey any message to you at all.
As soon as the thoughts start to come, you ask yourself the question, "To whom comes these thoughts?" and they'll stop.
"They come to me, well who is this me? Who is me? I am me. Well, who am I?"
And you begin to search for the source of the 'I'.
And as you search, everything in your life begins to improve.
As you search diligently, things improve because you're no longer reacting the same way to situations.
Your reaction has become different, the situations maybe the same.
The worst thing you could ever do is to judge yourself.
Never judge yourself.
Don't even look at yourself too much.
Realize your divine nature and do not allow your problems to get to you.
Understand that you are not your problems.
You are not the body.
You're not the thoughts or the mind.
And begin by controlling your thoughts. Do not allow your thoughts to become greater than you.
No matter what your thoughts tell you, don't listen.
Remember your thoughts are not your friend.
Your thoughts try to confound you, confuse you. And they will tell you all kinds of things.
Do not listen to your thoughts, even your good thoughts.
Transcend everything, go beyond your thoughts to your bliss, to your joy and to your happiness.
Your thoughts will take you away from this. It'll make you think all sorts of things.
But if you realize that your mind is a trickster, you will not allow your thoughts to convey any message to you at all.
As soon as the thoughts start to come, you ask yourself the question, "To whom comes these thoughts?" and they'll stop.
"They come to me, well who is this me? Who is me? I am me. Well, who am I?"
And you begin to search for the source of the 'I'.
And as you search, everything in your life begins to improve.
As you search diligently, things improve because you're no longer reacting the same way to situations.
Your reaction has become different, the situations maybe the same.
As we sat in silence, what thoughts came into mind? Whatever thoughts there were, good or bad, they have got to go. Even if you were thinking, what a wonderful Satsang, that has got to go. All thoughts must go. Your wonderful Satsang will not bring you realization. Emptiness will.
REMAIN WHERE YOU ARE
At a quarter to ten this morning, just as Bhagavan was getting up to go for his usual short mid-morning walk, an Andhra young man approached the couch and said, “Swami, I have come here because I want to perform austerities (tapas) and don’t know which would be the proper place for it. I will go wherever you direct me.”
Bhagavan did not answer. He was bending down, rubbing his legs and knees, as he often does before beginning to walk, on account of his rheumatic trouble, and was smiling
quietly to himself. We, of course, eagerly waited to hear what he would say. A moment later he took the staff that he uses to steady himself while walking, and looking at the young man, said, “How can I tell you where to go for performing tapas? It is best to stay where you are.” And with a smile he went out.
The young man was confused. “What is the meaning of this?” he exclaimed. “Being an elderly person, I thought he would tell me of some holy place where I could stay, but instead of that he tells me to stay where I am. I am now near this couch. Does that mean that I should stay here near the couch? Was it to receive such a reply that I approached him? Is this a matter for jokes?”
One of the devotees took him out of the hall and explained, “Even when Bhagavan says something in a lighter vein there is always some deep meaning in it. Where the feeling ‘I’ arises is one’s Self. Tapas means knowing where the Self is and abiding in it. For knowing that, one has to know who one is; and when one realises one’s Self what does it matter where one stays? This is what he meant.” He thus pacified the young man and sent him away.
Similarly, someone asked yesterday, “Swami, how can we find the Self (Atma)?”
“You are in the Self; so how can there be any difficulty in finding it?” Bhagavan replied.
“You say that I am in the Self, but where exactly is that Self?” the questioner persisted.
“If you abide in the heart and search patiently you will find it,” was the reply.
The questioner still seemed unsatisfied, and made the rather curious observation that there was no room in his heart for him to stay in it.
Bhagavan turned to one of the devotees sitting there and said smiling, “Look how he worries about where the Self
is! What can I tell him?
What Is, is the Self. It is all-pervading.
When I tell him that it is called ‘Heart’ he says there is no room in it for him to stay. What can I do?
To say that there is no room in the heart after filling it with unnecessary vasanas* is like grumbling that there is no room to sit down in a house as big as Sri Lanka.
If all the junk is thrown out, won’t there be room? The body itself is junk. These people are like a man who fills all the rooms of his house chokeful with unnecessary junk and then complains that there is no room for keeping his body in it.
In the same way they fill the mind with all sorts of impressions and then say there is no room for the Self in it.
If all the false ideas and impressions are swept away and thrown out what remains is a feeling of plenty and that is the Self itself. Then there will be no such thing as a separate ‘I’; it will be a state of egolessness.
Where then is the question of a room or an occupant of the room? Instead of seeking the Self people say, ‘no room! no room!’, just like shutting your eyes and saying there is ‘no sun! no sun!’. What can one do under such circumstances?”
10th September, 1947, 'Letters from Sri Ramanasramam'
At a quarter to ten this morning, just as Bhagavan was getting up to go for his usual short mid-morning walk, an Andhra young man approached the couch and said, “Swami, I have come here because I want to perform austerities (tapas) and don’t know which would be the proper place for it. I will go wherever you direct me.”
Bhagavan did not answer. He was bending down, rubbing his legs and knees, as he often does before beginning to walk, on account of his rheumatic trouble, and was smiling
quietly to himself. We, of course, eagerly waited to hear what he would say. A moment later he took the staff that he uses to steady himself while walking, and looking at the young man, said, “How can I tell you where to go for performing tapas? It is best to stay where you are.” And with a smile he went out.
The young man was confused. “What is the meaning of this?” he exclaimed. “Being an elderly person, I thought he would tell me of some holy place where I could stay, but instead of that he tells me to stay where I am. I am now near this couch. Does that mean that I should stay here near the couch? Was it to receive such a reply that I approached him? Is this a matter for jokes?”
One of the devotees took him out of the hall and explained, “Even when Bhagavan says something in a lighter vein there is always some deep meaning in it. Where the feeling ‘I’ arises is one’s Self. Tapas means knowing where the Self is and abiding in it. For knowing that, one has to know who one is; and when one realises one’s Self what does it matter where one stays? This is what he meant.” He thus pacified the young man and sent him away.
Similarly, someone asked yesterday, “Swami, how can we find the Self (Atma)?”
“You are in the Self; so how can there be any difficulty in finding it?” Bhagavan replied.
“You say that I am in the Self, but where exactly is that Self?” the questioner persisted.
“If you abide in the heart and search patiently you will find it,” was the reply.
The questioner still seemed unsatisfied, and made the rather curious observation that there was no room in his heart for him to stay in it.
Bhagavan turned to one of the devotees sitting there and said smiling, “Look how he worries about where the Self
is! What can I tell him?
What Is, is the Self. It is all-pervading.
When I tell him that it is called ‘Heart’ he says there is no room in it for him to stay. What can I do?
To say that there is no room in the heart after filling it with unnecessary vasanas* is like grumbling that there is no room to sit down in a house as big as Sri Lanka.
If all the junk is thrown out, won’t there be room? The body itself is junk. These people are like a man who fills all the rooms of his house chokeful with unnecessary junk and then complains that there is no room for keeping his body in it.
In the same way they fill the mind with all sorts of impressions and then say there is no room for the Self in it.
If all the false ideas and impressions are swept away and thrown out what remains is a feeling of plenty and that is the Self itself. Then there will be no such thing as a separate ‘I’; it will be a state of egolessness.
Where then is the question of a room or an occupant of the room? Instead of seeking the Self people say, ‘no room! no room!’, just like shutting your eyes and saying there is ‘no sun! no sun!’. What can one do under such circumstances?”
10th September, 1947, 'Letters from Sri Ramanasramam'
The one who gets liberated is the consciousness, there is no entity.
The ultimate understanding is that which enables the understanding to take place and itself becomes so subtle, so fine, that it disappears.
The ultimate understanding is that which enables the understanding to take place and itself becomes so subtle, so fine, that it disappears.
There are mean people who see only meanness reflected in you, but they are wrong. You are pure soul, and made of the ground.
Humble living does not diminish. It fills.
Going back to a simpler self gives wisdom.
Going back to a simpler self gives wisdom.
King Janaka once dreamt that he was a beggar. On waking up he asked his guru, Vashishta: “Am I a king dreaming of being a beggar or a beggar dreaming of being a king?”
The guru answered, “You are neither, you are both. You are, and yet you are not what you think yourself to be. You are because you behave accordingly; you are not because it does not last. Can you be a king or a beggar forever? All must change. You are what does not change. What are you?”
Janaka said, “Yes, I am neither king nor beggar; I am the dispassionate witness.”
The guru said, “This is your last illusion: that you are a jnani—that you are different from, and superior to, the common man.”
The guru answered, “You are neither, you are both. You are, and yet you are not what you think yourself to be. You are because you behave accordingly; you are not because it does not last. Can you be a king or a beggar forever? All must change. You are what does not change. What are you?”
Janaka said, “Yes, I am neither king nor beggar; I am the dispassionate witness.”
The guru said, “This is your last illusion: that you are a jnani—that you are different from, and superior to, the common man.”
Beings
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