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With single mind one with the Way,
all ego-centered strivings cease;
Doubts and confusion disappear,
and so true faith pervades our life.
There is no thing that clings to us,
and nothing that is left behind.
all ego-centered strivings cease;
Doubts and confusion disappear,
and so true faith pervades our life.
There is no thing that clings to us,
and nothing that is left behind.
The total abandonment of desire alone is nirvana; clinging to desires is sorrow. By the abandonment of desire, Brahman is realized in a twinkling of an eye.
Detach yourself from those things which are not permanent, and rest in that which is always permanent.
This world is your best teacher. There is a lesson in everything. There is a lesson in each experience. Learn it and become wise. Every failure is a stepping stone to success. Every difficulty or disappointment is a trial of your faith. Every unpleasant incident or temptation is a test of your inner strength. Therefore nil desperandum. March forward hero!
When all is seen with equal mind
to our Self-nature we return.
to our Self-nature we return.
Self is the indweller of all Beings,
so love of others is Love of Self, your Self.
Self is the greatest Love and the dearest of all lovers.
Love is the attraction of Self to Self in Self.
There is nothing besides this Love, this source of Joy.
See your own beauty and you are this Indweller,
this Love and the Beauty itself.
Neti, Neti; (not this, not this) but what you Are cannot be rejected.
It is Now only; waking or sleeping or dreaming.
It is still the Now which only Is.
Only Self is.
This present Moment is Light, is Self.
This Moment is not bondage or freedom.
It is most precious beyond ideation.
This Moment is the screen on which all projects.
It is always Still and Untouched and it is out of time.
There is no difference between the Ultimate and this Presence
To be in this Moment abandon all desires,
including the desire to be in it.
so love of others is Love of Self, your Self.
Self is the greatest Love and the dearest of all lovers.
Love is the attraction of Self to Self in Self.
There is nothing besides this Love, this source of Joy.
See your own beauty and you are this Indweller,
this Love and the Beauty itself.
Neti, Neti; (not this, not this) but what you Are cannot be rejected.
It is Now only; waking or sleeping or dreaming.
It is still the Now which only Is.
Only Self is.
This present Moment is Light, is Self.
This Moment is not bondage or freedom.
It is most precious beyond ideation.
This Moment is the screen on which all projects.
It is always Still and Untouched and it is out of time.
There is no difference between the Ultimate and this Presence
To be in this Moment abandon all desires,
including the desire to be in it.
Any image you have of yourself is not true.
Take the idea ‘I was born’. You may take it to be true. It is not. You were not born, nor will you ever die. It is the idea that was born and shall die, not you.
By identifying yourself with it you became mortal.
By identifying yourself with it you became mortal.
Never believe that you live by the power of food and not by the power of God! He who has created every form of nourishment, He who has bestowed appetite, will inevitably see that His devotee is maintained. Do not imagine that rice sustains you nor that money or men support you. Could they aid if the Lord withdraws your life breath? They are His instruments merely. Is it by any skill of yours that food digests in your stomach? Use the sword of your discrimination…! Cut through the chains of agency and perceive the Single Cause!
You can chew gum, wash up and listen to the radio at the same time, and still be aware.
For one who has realised the essence of Brahman, there is no reaching out for sense-objects any more. If there is, then one has not realized Brahman because the senses still have an outgoing tendency.
When concepts do not arise, the mind vanishes.
If mind does not discriminate,
all things are as they are, as One.
all things are as they are, as One.
We must leave the entire collection of conditioned thought behind and let ourselves be led by the inner thread of silence into the unknown, beyond where all paths end, to that place where we go innocently or not at all, not once but continually. True freedom isn’t ‘I am free.’ True freedom is ‘everything is free.’ Which means everyone has the freedom to be who they are. Whether they are awake or not awake. Deluded or un-deluded. Freedom is that everything and everybody gets to be exactly as they are. Unless we’ve come to that point, unless we’ve seen that is how Reality sees things, then we are actually withholding freedom from the world.
There was once a Guru who had a very young disciple. They had to go to another village, but on their way they had to cross a small stream which, due to the rains had risen and become neck deep. They both could cross the stream because they were able to keep their small bags on their heads. But there was a prostitute standing nearby who had to attend a wedding function and couldn't cross the stream because of her nice dress and make-up. So this saint said she should sit on his shoulders and he would carry her to the other side, and so she did. Then she went her way and the two sannyasins went theirs.
Now the student was very confused and troubled. His Guru had always said not to touch a woman, but then he had told the prostitute to have a ride on his shoulders! After about ten miles he humbly asked, "Sir, I have a question. I am very much annoyed with your behavior. You teach me not to see or touch any woman because we are monks, we are sannyasins, and then you touch that girl."
"Yes, yes, I lifted the girl because she wanted to cross the stream. Then I let her down and we went our way. Now we have been traveling for ten miles, why are you still carrying her? I carried her ten meters but you have carried her ten miles! Why do you still remember her? That is over now.
Like this, whatever comes in front of you take care of the circumstances and forget about it. This is the guidance
Don't avoid anything that comes!
Don't invite anything you don't need!
Attend to circumstances as best you can,
and forget about it!
Now the student was very confused and troubled. His Guru had always said not to touch a woman, but then he had told the prostitute to have a ride on his shoulders! After about ten miles he humbly asked, "Sir, I have a question. I am very much annoyed with your behavior. You teach me not to see or touch any woman because we are monks, we are sannyasins, and then you touch that girl."
"Yes, yes, I lifted the girl because she wanted to cross the stream. Then I let her down and we went our way. Now we have been traveling for ten miles, why are you still carrying her? I carried her ten meters but you have carried her ten miles! Why do you still remember her? That is over now.
Like this, whatever comes in front of you take care of the circumstances and forget about it. This is the guidance
Don't avoid anything that comes!
Don't invite anything you don't need!
Attend to circumstances as best you can,
and forget about it!
Q: So... there's no magic "poof" to make the ego disappear?
MOOJI: Have you been listening to me all these days? I did not say I sell some "detonator" for the ego. I say first of all you can check the credibility of what you call ego, if this is true or not. And also: what is aware of ego? Simple question. What is aware of ego? And we don't want a quick answer about it. Just invite the question to reveal its possibilities. What are you seeing? You say, "ego comes back". But you are there when it comes back! Ego goes, ego comes back. You are here. What's the problem?
You have this thing, "the ego must go". But ego is not. Have you come to that seeing? Ego is only created itself. It's not easy to see.
Ego comes and goes in some presence which is not going and coming. What would that be?
MOOJI: Have you been listening to me all these days? I did not say I sell some "detonator" for the ego. I say first of all you can check the credibility of what you call ego, if this is true or not. And also: what is aware of ego? Simple question. What is aware of ego? And we don't want a quick answer about it. Just invite the question to reveal its possibilities. What are you seeing? You say, "ego comes back". But you are there when it comes back! Ego goes, ego comes back. You are here. What's the problem?
You have this thing, "the ego must go". But ego is not. Have you come to that seeing? Ego is only created itself. It's not easy to see.
Ego comes and goes in some presence which is not going and coming. What would that be?
BHAGAVAN ON SEXUAL DESIRES
Question : Do you approve of sexual continence?
Ramana Maharshi : A true brahmachari [celibate] is one who dwells in Brahman. Then there is no question of desires any more.
Question : At Sri Aurobindo's ashram there is a rigid rule that married couples are permitted to live there on condition that they have no sexual intercourse.
Ramana Maharshi : What is the use of that ? If it exists in the mind, what use is it to force people to abstain ?
Question : Is marriage a bar to spiritual progress?
Ramana Maharshi : The householder's life is not a bar, but the householder must do his utmost to practise self-control. If a man has a strong desire for the higher life then the sex tendency will subside. When the mind is destroyed, the other desires are destroyed also.
Question : I have committed sexual sin.
Ramana Maharshi : Even if you have, it does not matter so long as you do not think afterwards that you have done so. The Self is not aware of any sin and renunciation of sex is internal, not merely of the body alone.
Question : I am carried away by the sight of the breasts of a young woman neighbor and I am often tempted to commit adultery with her. What should I do?
Ramana Maharshi : You are always pure. It is your senses and body which tempt you and which you confuse with your real Self. So first know who is tempted and who is there to tempt. But even if you do commit adultery, do not think about it afterwards, because you are yourself always pure. You are not the sinner.
Question : Do you approve of sexual continence?
Ramana Maharshi : A true brahmachari [celibate] is one who dwells in Brahman. Then there is no question of desires any more.
Question : At Sri Aurobindo's ashram there is a rigid rule that married couples are permitted to live there on condition that they have no sexual intercourse.
Ramana Maharshi : What is the use of that ? If it exists in the mind, what use is it to force people to abstain ?
Question : Is marriage a bar to spiritual progress?
Ramana Maharshi : The householder's life is not a bar, but the householder must do his utmost to practise self-control. If a man has a strong desire for the higher life then the sex tendency will subside. When the mind is destroyed, the other desires are destroyed also.
Question : I have committed sexual sin.
Ramana Maharshi : Even if you have, it does not matter so long as you do not think afterwards that you have done so. The Self is not aware of any sin and renunciation of sex is internal, not merely of the body alone.
Question : I am carried away by the sight of the breasts of a young woman neighbor and I am often tempted to commit adultery with her. What should I do?
Ramana Maharshi : You are always pure. It is your senses and body which tempt you and which you confuse with your real Self. So first know who is tempted and who is there to tempt. But even if you do commit adultery, do not think about it afterwards, because you are yourself always pure. You are not the sinner.
On every side shine devotees, like stars around the moon;
Their Friend, the Lord All-merciful, joyously plays with them.
Behold! the gates of paradise today are open wide.
Their Friend, the Lord All-merciful, joyously plays with them.
Behold! the gates of paradise today are open wide.
Nobody suffers in a play, unless one identifies himself with it.
Don't identify yourself with the world and you will not suffer.
Don't identify yourself with the world and you will not suffer.
The truth is revealed by removing things that stand in its light, an art not unlike sculpture, in which the artist creates, not by building, but by hacking away.
Sitting quietly
doing nothing
spring comes,
and the grass grows by itself.
doing nothing
spring comes,
and the grass grows by itself.
The greatest step towards a life of happiness and simplicity is to let go. Trust in the power that is already taking care of you spontaneously without effort.
The most spiritual men, as the strongest, find their happiness where others would find their destruction…Their joy is self-conquest: asceticism becomes in them nature, need, and instinct. Difficult tasks are a privilege to them; to play with burdens that crush others, a recreation. Knowledge-a form of asceticism. They are the most venerable kind of man: that does not preclude their being the most cheerful and the kindliest.
Eternal life is now. We’re surrounded by it, like the fish in the ocean, but we have no notion about it at all. We’re too distracted with this attachment. Temporarily, the world rearranges itself to suit our attachment, so we say, ‘Yeah, great! My team won!’ But hang on; it’ll change; you’ll be depressed tomorrow. Why do we keep doing this?
Do this little exercise for a few minutes. Think of something or someone you are attached to; in other words, something or someone without which or without whom you think you are not going to be happy. It could be your job, your career, your profession, your friend, your money, whatever. And say to this object or person, ‘I really do not need you to be happy. I’m only deluding myself in the belief that without you I will not be happy. But I really don’t need you for my happiness; I can be happy without you. You are not my happiness, you are not my joy.’ If your attachment is a person, he or she is not going to be very happy to hear you say this, but go ahead anyway. You can say it in the secrecy of your heart. In any case, you’ll be making contact with the truth; you’ll be smashing through a fantasy. Happiness is a state of non-illusion, of dropping the illusion.
Do this little exercise for a few minutes. Think of something or someone you are attached to; in other words, something or someone without which or without whom you think you are not going to be happy. It could be your job, your career, your profession, your friend, your money, whatever. And say to this object or person, ‘I really do not need you to be happy. I’m only deluding myself in the belief that without you I will not be happy. But I really don’t need you for my happiness; I can be happy without you. You are not my happiness, you are not my joy.’ If your attachment is a person, he or she is not going to be very happy to hear you say this, but go ahead anyway. You can say it in the secrecy of your heart. In any case, you’ll be making contact with the truth; you’ll be smashing through a fantasy. Happiness is a state of non-illusion, of dropping the illusion.
Beings
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