Part 2 - Few Talks With Sri Ramana Maharshi By LUCY CORNELSSEN

‘Be still and know that I am God’. To be still is not to think. Know, and not think, is the word! (Talks, 131).

Solitude is in the mind of man. One might be in the thick of the world and maintain serenity of mind; such a one is in solitude. Another may stay in the forest but still be unable to control his mind. He cannot be said to be in solitude. Solitude is a function of the mind. A man attached to desire cannot get solitude wherever he many be; a detached man is always in solitude. (Talks, 20).

You can never find the mind through mind. Pass beyond it in order to find it non-existent. (Talks, 473).

All thoughts are inconsistent with realisation. The correct state is to exclude thoughts of ourselves and all other thoughts.Thought is one thing and realisation is quite another. (Talks, 30).

It must be clearly understood that meditation is not prohibited in the absence of asanas or prescribed times or any accessories of the kind. (Talks, 17).

There is no jnana as it is commonly understood. The ordinary ideas of jnana and ajnana are only relative and false.They are not real and therefore not abiding. The true state is the non-dual Self. It is eternal and abides whether one is aware
or not. (Talks, 499).

Jnana, once revealed, takes time to steady itself. The Self is certainly within the direct experience of everyone, but not as one imagines it to be. It is only as It is. (Talks, 141).

Experience is said to be temporary or permanent. The first experience is temporary and by concentration it can become permanent. In the former the bondage is not completely destroyed; it remains subtle and reasserts itself in due course.But in the latter it is destroyed root and branch, never to appear again. (Talks, 95).

There is no investigation into the Atman. The investigation can only be into the non-Self. Elimination of the non-Self is alone possible. The Self being always self-evident will shine forth of itself. (Talks, 78).

Jnana-marga and bhakti-marga are one and the same. Selfsurrender leads to realisation just as enquiry does. Complete self-surrender means that you have no further thought of ‘I’.Then all your vasanas are washed off and you are free. You should not continue as a separate entity at the end of either course. (Talks, 31).

Surrender unreservedly. One of the two things must be done: either surrender because you admit your inability and also require a Higher Power to help you; or investigate into the cause of misery, go to the source and merge into the Self. Either way you will be free from misery. God never forsakes one who has surrendered. (Talks, 363).

Surrender is to give oneself up to the original source of one’s being. Do not delude yourself by imagining such source to be some God outside you. One’s source is within oneself.Give yourself up to it. That means that you should seek the source and merge in it. (Talks, 111).

If on the other hand you merge in the Self there will be no individuality left. You will become the Source itself. In that case...what is surrender? Who is to surrender and to whom? This constitutes devotion, wisdom and investigation. (Talks, 208).

The ‘Gita’ starts saying that you are not the body, that you are not therefore the doer. So one should act without thinking that oneself is the actor. The actions go on despite this egolessness.The person has come into manifestation for a certain purpose.That purpose will be accomplished whether he considers himself the actor or not. (Talks, 643).

How do we know that actions are ours or not?... If the fruits of actions do not affect the person, he is free from action. (Talks, 40).

The one infinite Unbroken Whole (plenum) becomes aware of Itself as ‘I’. This is the original name. All other names,e.g., OM, are later growths. Liberation is only to remain aware of the Self. The Mahavakya ‘I am Brahman’ is its authority.Though the ‘I’ is always experienced, yet one’s attention has to be drawn to it. Then only knowledge dawns. Thus the need for the instruction of the Upanishads and of wise sages. (Talks, 92).

The ultimate Truth is so simple. It is nothing more than being in the pristine state. This is all that need be said. (Talks, 96).

Reality is one only. How can it be realised? Realisation is thus an illusion. Practice seems to be necessary. Who is to practise? Looking for the doer, the act and the accessories disappear. Moreover, if Realisation is not present here and now,
how can it, newly got, be of any use? Realise what is present here and now. The sages did so before and still do that only.Hence they say that it looks as if newly got. Once veiled by ignorance and later revealed, Reality looks as if newly realised.But it is not new. (Talks, 439).

Source: HUNTING THE ‘I’ according to Sri Ramana Maharshi By LUCY CORNELSSEN