Part 2 - Few Teachings Of Ramana Maharshi

Since even (the gods) Vayu and Agni are unable to lift or burn a blade of grass, (in the presence of God), how can an ego-ridden person accomplish anything whatever (by his own endeavour, unsustained by Grace)? (91)

“There are two Selves; the individual self is one; the Supreme is another,” so think the ignorant ones; the Self is only one, not two; the Supreme One is the Real (Self); the other one is a false appearance, (94)

Though you may not believe all that is said of God, believe at least this much there. There is God. This seed is very potent in its growth. That seed has such great might that you will not see anything other than God – you will not see even yourself. Verily, God is all. (All is One)

Because the sage has already renounced for the sake of humanity his mind and body, he feels no concern under the strain of service of his mind and body to the world. He will not shun the bodily labour and will not be a friend of any suffering. It is the realization of the Peace that gives him such courage and presence of mind. (All in One)

Since the (vital) fire called Kundalini flames upwards, and the moon, namely intellect, flows downwards, the Supreme Self, the Sun Consciousness, who is the (one) Source of bothm dwells between them in the Heart. (Guru Ramana Vachana Mala, 93)

If the vasanas that come forth from the mind, like soldiers from within a fort, are then and there killed by the sword of the quest of the Self, the mind is finally conquered.So long as one single vasana remains, good or bad, so long must we remain unrealized.

The man who is deluded by the conviction ‘I am the body’ thinks that God’s world is outside himself and far away. Really God’s world is inside the Heart. (No world in reality). (92)

Unswervingly worship of God of your Self with the flower of mental peace. Let the children – the mental modes – watch this worship. Gradually they will learn to cast away their childish pranks and desire to delight like yourself. Continue your worship patiently. (All is One)

Unless the thought ‘the bliss of the self’ has not been experienced is completely destroyed, the experience of the self is not revealed. It is not experienced like a sense pleasure with the accompanying false and superficial the activity of the mind. Indeed, the activity of the mind is the obstacle to it. (All is one)

If God – who is in the Heart – does not draw the (Sadhaka’s) mind inwards by the might of His grace, who can attain Peace by diving into the Heart, by the (mere) power of his own mind, which is treacherous? (Guru Ramana Vachana Mala, 89)

The might of God’s grace and the Quest of the Self in the form of (the question) ‘Who am I?’ – these two together lead the seeker (Sadhaka) to the Heart and give him the Supreme State, which is the state of (his own) Real Self. (88)

Bliss is not something to be got. You have only to get rid of your ignorance which makes you think that you are other than bliss. For whom is this ignorance? For the ego. Trace the source of the ego. Then the ego is destroyed and bliss remains ever. It is eternal. (Talk, 106)

Liberation is not to be achieved through endless cycled of time by reading the scriptures or worshipping the gods or by anything else than knowledge of the unity of Brahman and atman. (Viveka Chudamani, Tr. By Sri Bhagavan)

The state of Atmanishta (being fixed in the self) devoid of the individual feeling ‘I’, in the supreme state. In this state there is no room for thinking of objects, nor for this feeling of individual being. There is no doubt of any kind in this natural state of being consciousness.

Nirvana is perfection. In the perfect state there is neither subject nor object, ‘there is nothing to see, nothing to feel, nothing to know. Seeing and knowing are the functions of the mind. In nirvana there is nothing but the blissful pure consciousness ‘I am’ (Talk 406)

Actions are prescribed only for purification of the mind, not for realization of the Self Knowledge of the truth of the Self is obtained only by Self enquiry and not by any number of actions. (Viveka Chudamani, Tr. By Sri Bhagavan)

As God is ever shining as ‘I’ (as one’s own relating) realizing one’s Self without attributes is realizing God Himself. (Upadesa Undhiar, 25)

If the light of the sun is invisible to the owl, it is only the fault of that bind and not of the sun. Similarly, can the unawareness by ignorant persons of the Self, which is always of the nature awareness, be other than their own fault. (Collected Works of Sri Ramana Maharshi)

Hear will be removed by the cool moon, poverty by the celestial wish-fulfilling tree, and sin by taking holy dip in the ganga. But know that all these beginning with heat, will be removed merely by having the darshan of incomparable sadhus. (Ulladu Narpadu – Supplement, 4)

To know the Self is to be Self as the Self (I) is not two. This is (to be the Self) indeed Self-abidance. (Upadesa Undhiar, 26)

Power over all and adorability by all came to God, because He never says ‘I’, even through forgetfulness. (Guru Ramana Vachana Mala, 98)

Since God is verily the Self in the heart, constant meditation on the Truth of oneself is the devotion that is most pleasing to God. (107)

Man is guilty of theft, in thinking himself to be being separate from that Pure indivisible Consciousness, which is the true nature of the Supreme one. (110)

Since the Supreme One Himself shines in the heart of every living being as ‘I-I’, (it needs to be understood that) thus God teaches all, saying “I am the one (Self) in all”. (‘I-I’ is the description of the Real Self, becaue His manifestation as the Self is constant while the ego is not so). (95)

God’s creation surely leads (man), through devotion to the Guru, to the state of Self-Realisation; thus it becomes a means of liberation from bondage, and should therefore be considered as benign. (102)

God’s grace consists in the act that He shines in the heart of everyone as the Self; that power of grace does not exclude anyone, whether good or otherwise. (103)

For those great ones that see in their hearts the lotus-feet of God, arises the Light of Consciousness of the One Real Self, through the extinction of their mental taints. (106)

The (Supreme) Self is described as being smaller than the tiny atom of greater than the greatest, because He is beyond the reach of the mind, which is itself infinite and atomic. (99)

Understand that the truth of the Vermilion powder (Kumkumam, used by some devotees), is the fire of Illumination, by which the delusion ‘I am the body’ is burnt out in the Heart, as the effect of the quest of the Self. (122)

Like the offering of a bit of jaggery, taken off from Lord Ganesa made of jaggery, is the offering of one’s own self to God. Is there any entity called the self, apart from Him? (111)

He that sees the Lord in the temple, the living body, by seeking Him within, can alone see Him, the Infinite, in the temple of the universe, having become the endless Eye. He that has practiced devotion to God like that of monkey, through many lives, attains supreme Illumination by the grace of God, through devotion like that of kitten. (114)

Ignorant ones look upon love as the seventh taste; (the truth is that) it is the first and foremost of all tastes, which gives flavour to all the (so-called) other tastes. (119)

Even if one who has shaken off all fruits and won the divine endowment, has gone forth from the house (as a homeless ascetic) and practiced discipline (tapas), he will not win (complete) happiness, without the company of a (competent) Guru. (126)

The man who has the notion ‘I am the body’ cannot possibly worship God as formless; whatever worship he makes will be worship in form alone, not otherwise. (115)

The grace of the Guru is like an ocean. If you come with a cup, you will only receive a cupful.It is no use complaining of the niggardliness of the ocean; the bigger the vessel, the more you will be able to carry.It is entirely upto you.

Days, planets, astrological ‘yogas;, time-periods, and constellations, are all auspicious for practicing devotion to the Most Auspicious, for those that have (sincere) devotion (to Him). (118)

Perfect devotion is just the persistence of identity with the One all-embracing Reality, which shines forth when the false ‘I’ is destroyed utterly in the Heart, by the process of seeking the Self. (123)

The seeker of illumination should approach (as a disciple), not the bound one who (merely) knows the sense of the sacred love, (but) the Jivanmukta, the one that is in the Supreme Silence, who is happy in unity with the Reality. (124)

Whatever one does in the world is worship of God, if he has the conviction that difference does not really exist, since all forms are only manifestation of God.(117)

(But) he that is unqualified for the formless obtains by the grace of God in the end the Illumination of the Real Self, by worshipping Him with form. (116)

He that has (himself) crossed the ocean of relativity can (alone) help other men to cross (the same); an unenlightened person elected (as Guru) by another unenlightened one is like a blind guide to another blind one. (125)

The One (Real Self) becomes threefold; to the devotee He is God; to the seeker of illumination He becomes the Guru; when the mind still in the heart He Himself becomes (manifest as) the Real Self. (120)

Offering of the self to that which is the reality of God in the Heart, through the extinction of the ego, is the final outcome of sustained devotion to Him. (113)

The act of making the ego serve as the food of God, by stilling the mind in the Heart, by the power of devotion to God in his real nature (as the Self), is real offering to Him. (112)

That auspicious and immortal Reality which remains over as the residue, when the individual (false) self is cremated in the fire of Illumination, is the real meaning of the ‘holy ash’, (vibhuti). (121)

It is said that Hari gives Liberation, and that Hara gives Illumination; but Illumination is the true nature of Liberation; hence Hari and Hara are one and the same. (100)

Those who serve God (Siva) for the sake of objects desired do not (really) serve God; they serve the desired objects; hence they do not win the (true) reward of devotion. (105)

That God prompted Kannapa, the great devotee, to offer (to Himself) his own eyes, was in order to confer on him His own state through the extinction of his ego. (104)