Ramana Maharshi Quotes - Page 9

Peace can reign only where there is no disturbance, and disturbance is due to thoughts that arise in the mind.

An unawakened person sees only his mind, which is merely a reflection of the light of pure consciousness arising from the Heart.

Grace is within you. Grace is your self. Grace is not something to be acquired from others. If it is external, it is useless. All that is necessary is to know its existence is in you. You are never out of its operation.

Realisation is our nature. It is nothing new to be gained. What is new cannot be eternal. Therefore there is no need for doubting if one would lose or gain the Self.

Whatever be the means adopted, you must at last return to the Self, so why not abide as the Self here and now?

The inquiry "who am I" turns the mind introvert and makes it calm.

When we turn the mind inwards, God manifests as the inner consciousness.

Jnana is given neither from outside nor from another person. It can be realised by each and everyone in his own Heart. The jnana Guru of everyone is only the Supreme Self that is always revealing its own truth in every Heart through the being-conciousness 'I am, I am.' The granting of true knowledge by him is initiation into jnana. The grace of the Guru is only that Self-awareness that is one's own true nature. It is the inner conciousness by which he is unceasingly revealing his existence. This divine upadesa is always going on naturally in everyone.

Love is verily the heart of all religions.

The main factor in meditation is to keep the mind active in its own pursuit without taking in external impressions or thinking of other matters.

The Self is the heart, self-luminous. Illumination arises from the heart and reaches the brain, which is the seat of the mind. The world is seen with the mind; so you see the world by the reflected light of the Self.

You may go on reading any number of books on Meditation. They can only tell you ‘Realize the Self’. The Self cannot be found in books. You have to find it for yourself in yourself.

The seat of Realization is within and the seeker cannot find it as an object outside him. That seat is bliss and is the core of all beings. Hence it is called the Heart.

Discover your undying Self and be immortal and happy.

The ultimate truth is so simple. It is nothing more than being in the pristine state. This is all that needs to be said. Only mature minds can grasp the simple truth in all its nakedness.

We loosely talk of Self-realization, for lack of a better term. But how can one realize that which alone is real? All we need to do is to give up our habit of regarding as real that which is unreal. All religious practices are meant solely to help us do this.

When one remains without thinking one understands another by means of the universal language of Silence.

The Self is here and now, it is the only Reality. There is nothing else.

The degree of freedom from unwanted thoughts and the degree of concentration on a single thought are the measures to gauge spiritual progress.

The experience of not forgetting consciousness alone is the state of devotion which is the relationship of unfading real love, because the real knowledge of Self, which shines as the undivided supreme bliss itself, surges up as the nature of love. Love itself is the actual form of God. That is pure bliss. Call it pure bliss, God, Self, or what you will. That is devotion, that is realization and that is everything.

Till you reach the state of jnana and thus wake out of maya you must do social service by relieving suffering whenever you see it. But even then you must do it without ahankara, i.e., without the sense of 'I am the doer', but with the feeling 'I am the Lord's tool'.

All activities and events that a body is to go through are determined at the time of conception.

The "I" thought is said to be the sum total of all thoughts. The source of the "I" thought has to be inquired into.

You do not like to suffer yourself. How can you inflict suffering on others?

That is the ego which rises and sinks periodically. But you exist always. That which lies beyond the ego is consciousness - the Self.