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As the personal 'I' disappears under the piercing light of self-inquiry, that which witnesses its disappearance remains as it ever is—pure unmixed joy!
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 : 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.
Unless one follows the principle, “That which is essential to be reformed is only my own mind”, one’s mind will become more and more impure by seeing the defects of others.
The mind should not be allowed to wander towards worldly objects and what concerns other people. However bad other people may be, one should bear no hatred for them. Both desire and hatred should be eschewed. All that one gives to others one gives to one's self. If this truth is understood who will not give to others? When one's self arises, all arises; when one's self becomes quiescent, all becomes quiescent. To the extent we behave with humility, to that extent there will result good. If the mind is rendered quiescent, one may live anywhere.
Kishenpur, July 13th, 1956 -- This morning Ma said to some Ashramites who were put in charge of a large garden: "By working in the garden you will serve the trees and the plants and living with them try to become like them. Let the trees be your Guru. A tree gives fruit and shade. When the fruit is ripe it falls down, it is sweet to taste. The wood of the tree you use for cooking your food. So the tree gives itself entirely, it holds nothing back. Watch how the trees grow, make them your friends and learn from them. Also from the grass. Grass is lowly and puts up with everything. People tread on it, cut it and it does not defend itself. So also the earth: everyone walks on it; you hammer it, powder it - do anything you like with it, it remains quiet and friendly."
~ from "As the Flower Sheds its Fragrance"
~ from "As the Flower Sheds its Fragrance"
If you try to practice Self-Inquiry you will find as many of you tell me,
"It's so hard because there are many things happening in this world".
So many people are getting killed.
So much man's inhumanity to man and you cannot hold onto "Who am I?"
So go the other way.
Begin to reason this out for yourself.
Begin to see that there is a power within me that knows the way.
I surrender to this power.
I surrender my feelings, my thoughts, my emotions, my frustrations.
I surrender everything to this power that knows the way.
In other words get yourself out of the way.
"It's so hard because there are many things happening in this world".
So many people are getting killed.
So much man's inhumanity to man and you cannot hold onto "Who am I?"
So go the other way.
Begin to reason this out for yourself.
Begin to see that there is a power within me that knows the way.
I surrender to this power.
I surrender my feelings, my thoughts, my emotions, my frustrations.
I surrender everything to this power that knows the way.
In other words get yourself out of the way.
Not only are there outward sravana (hearing of the truth) and manana (thinking over what has been heard) but there are also inward sravana and manana. They must occur to a person as a result of the maturity of his mind. Those that are able to do that antara sravana (hearing inwardly) do not have any doubts.
Do not want to be free of your pain.
Do not look for freedom from your pain.
Do you know why?
Because when you look for freedom from pain you believe the pain has substance and it's reality, now you've got to get rid of it.
But in truth and in reality there never was a pain.
There is no pain.
You have to ask yourself,
"To whom does the pain come?"
Your Self can never have pain.
Do not look for freedom from your pain.
Do you know why?
Because when you look for freedom from pain you believe the pain has substance and it's reality, now you've got to get rid of it.
But in truth and in reality there never was a pain.
There is no pain.
You have to ask yourself,
"To whom does the pain come?"
Your Self can never have pain.
The Sage will never interfere in your life.
Remember the Sage is not a problem solver.
All problems are of the mind.
What does the Sage have to do with this?
Nothing, all works out of the mind.
The Sage is beyond the mind, beyond thinking, beyond thoughts, beyond doing, beyond appearances.
This is why there is nothing more powerful than being with the Sage, and having a quiet mind.
Remember the Sage is not a problem solver.
All problems are of the mind.
What does the Sage have to do with this?
Nothing, all works out of the mind.
The Sage is beyond the mind, beyond thinking, beyond thoughts, beyond doing, beyond appearances.
This is why there is nothing more powerful than being with the Sage, and having a quiet mind.
A spirit that lives in this world and does not wear the shirt of love, such an existence is a deep disgrace. Be foolishly in love, because love is all there is. There is no way into Presence except through a love exchange.
God attends to this business of managing the universe; but he is glad to have some help. When the helper is selfless and intelligent, all the powers of the universe are for him to command.
Creation - reflection - rejection: Brahma - Vishnu - Shiva : this is the eternal process. All things are governed by it. After the stage of creation, comes the stage of examination and reflection, and finally the stage of abandonment and forgetting.
Look at your Self or Atma, rather than anywhere else. The eyes may be kept open or closed – it is immaterial. There is only one I, whether you spell it ‘I’ or ‘eye’. There is no point in opening or closing the eyes. Attention must be focused on the inner ‘I’. You are not an eye that can be opened or closed. You may close or open the eyes according to your liking or inclination. It is immaterial, and not important. You will cease to think of the world when you think of the Self. If you are in a room and close your eyes and do not look out, it is immaterial whether you close the windows or keep them open. (The body is the room, the eyes are the window.)
Through the power and grace of the master, the identity you feel is yours is becoming more light, more distant—passing. One day you will ask, “Who am I?” but instead of an answer, an old perspective once disguised as a person will no longer be found.
In that moment you will find yourself established in your true nature.
In that moment you will find yourself established in your true nature.
When you sit, allow Mother Earth to sit for you. When you
breathe, allow Mother Earth to breathe for you. When you walk,
allow Mother Earth to walk for you. Don’t make any effort. Allow
her to do it. She knows how to do it.
When you are sitting, allow the air to enter your lungs. Allow
the air to go out of your lungs. We don’t need to try to breathe in.
We don’t need to try to breathe out. We just allow nature, allow
the Earth to breathe in and out for us. We just sit there and enjoy
the breathing in and the breathing out. There is no “you” who is
breathing in and breathing out. The breathing in and the breathing
out happen by themselves. Try it.
We allow our body to relax totally, without striving or even
making an effort. Behave like the fetus in the womb of the mother.
Allow your mother to do everything for you, to breathe, to eat, to
drink. This is possible if you know how to take refuge in Mother
Earth.
breathe, allow Mother Earth to breathe for you. When you walk,
allow Mother Earth to walk for you. Don’t make any effort. Allow
her to do it. She knows how to do it.
When you are sitting, allow the air to enter your lungs. Allow
the air to go out of your lungs. We don’t need to try to breathe in.
We don’t need to try to breathe out. We just allow nature, allow
the Earth to breathe in and out for us. We just sit there and enjoy
the breathing in and the breathing out. There is no “you” who is
breathing in and breathing out. The breathing in and the breathing
out happen by themselves. Try it.
We allow our body to relax totally, without striving or even
making an effort. Behave like the fetus in the womb of the mother.
Allow your mother to do everything for you, to breathe, to eat, to
drink. This is possible if you know how to take refuge in Mother
Earth.
Watch yourself become depressed.
Watch yourself become angry.
Do not deny it, but observe it.
And if you observe yourself correctly in that calm way, you can ask yourself,
"Who becomes angry?
Who is feeling depressed?"
And follow it through.
Do this over and over and over again, as many times as you have to.
54 Abiding in the 'I' - March 28, 1991
Watch yourself become angry.
Do not deny it, but observe it.
And if you observe yourself correctly in that calm way, you can ask yourself,
"Who becomes angry?
Who is feeling depressed?"
And follow it through.
Do this over and over and over again, as many times as you have to.
54 Abiding in the 'I' - March 28, 1991
Pay attention to the gap - the gap between two thoughts, the brief, silent space between words in a conversation, between the notes of a piano or flute, or the gap between the in-breath and the out-breath. When you pay attention to those gaps, awareness of 'something' becomes - just awareness. The formless dimension of pure conciousness arises from within you and replaces identification with form.
No object of desire is real, no object of desire is worth your Peace.
If your house is full of desires, burn it down.
If your house is full of desires, burn it down.
The wise grieve neither for the dead, nor for the living.
In my deepest wound
I saw your Glory,
And it astounded me.
I saw your Glory,
And it astounded me.
And it was then that all these kinds of things thus established received their shapes from the Ordering One, through the action of Ideas and Numbers.
The jnani sees even his own body in action as if it were someone else's,
so how could he ever be disturbed by praise or blame?
so how could he ever be disturbed by praise or blame?
There is nothing to learn at all (laughter).
Who has to learn?
The person who has to learn doesn't even exist.
It is the ego that wants to learn.
The mind wants to learn.
The ego believes it has to know knowledge.
It has to acquire wisdom.
But you are wisdom.
Wisdom is your real nature.
When the ego is gone then you know because you are the universe.
But the one who wants to know is the ego.
123 Does Karma Really Exist? – January 26, 1992
Who has to learn?
The person who has to learn doesn't even exist.
It is the ego that wants to learn.
The mind wants to learn.
The ego believes it has to know knowledge.
It has to acquire wisdom.
But you are wisdom.
Wisdom is your real nature.
When the ego is gone then you know because you are the universe.
But the one who wants to know is the ego.
123 Does Karma Really Exist? – January 26, 1992
The Self does not move. The world moves in it.
The first thing to understand is that everything that has transpired in your life has been necessary.
No matter how it looks, no matter what has happened, everything has been necessary.
The second thing to understand is, everything has been preordained.
In other words, everything was supposed to happen the way it happened.
There were no mistakes.
The third thing to understand is that the first two things are all a pack of lies, for these things do not even exist in Reality.
No matter how it looks, no matter what has happened, everything has been necessary.
The second thing to understand is, everything has been preordained.
In other words, everything was supposed to happen the way it happened.
There were no mistakes.
The third thing to understand is that the first two things are all a pack of lies, for these things do not even exist in Reality.
Beings
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