RAMANA MAHARSHI QUOTES

You have to ask yourself the question ‘Who am I?’ This investigation will lead in the end to the discovery of something within you, which is behind the mind. Solve that great problem and you will solve all other problems.

The Question 'Who am I?' is not really meant to get the answer,
The Question 'Who am I?' is really meant to dissolve the questioner.

Mukti has to be gained in full awareness, because the Reality itself is pure awareness.

God, Guru and the Self are the same. After your bhakti to God has matured you, God comes in the shape of a Guru and from outside pushes your mind inside, while being inside as Self He draws you there from within.

'No one succeeds without effort... Those who succeed owe their success to perseverance.'

Everything is perfect in God's creation. Ignorance and suffering exist only in the minds of people.

That which is Bliss is also the Self. Bliss and the Self are not distinct and separate but are one and the same. And That alone is real.

Do not meditate - be!
Do not think that you are - be!
Don't think about being - you are!

Just as the sun gives light to the moon, the Heart lights the mind.

Happiness is inherent in man and is not due to external causes.

The Guru is both `external' and `internal'. From the `exterior' he [she] gives a push to the mind to turn inward; from the `interior' He pulls the mind towards the Self and helps in the quieting of the mind. That is guru's grace.

We imagine that we will realise that Self some time, whereas we are never anything but the Self.

What is ever present is pure existence. It has no past or future.

Your own Self-realization is the greatest service you can render the world.

Grace is ever present. All that is necessary is that you surrender to It.

Silence is most powerful. Speech is always less powerful than silence.

The Self cannot be found in books. You have to find it for yourself in yourself.

You ignore the doubter but try to solve the doubts...hold on to the doubter and the doubts will disappear.

The mind is born of the ego. The ego rises from the Self. Search the source of the ego and the Self is revealed. That alone remains.

What is fear? It is only a thought. If there is anything besides the Self there is reason to fear.

The life of action need not be renounced. If you meditate for an hour or two every day you can then carry on with your duties. If you meditate in the right manner then the current of mind induced will continue to flow even in the midst of your work.

Peace is your natural state. It is the mind that obstructs the natural state.

Pleasure and pain are only aspects of the mind. Our essential nature is happiness,

If you go on working with the light available, you will meet your Master, as he himself will be seeking you.

Silence is unceasing eloquence. It is the best language. There is a state when words cease and silence prevails.

Let what comes come. Let what goes go. Find out what remains.

If one realizes at heart what one's true nature is, one will find that it's infinite wisdom, truth and bliss, without beginning and end.

If the mind is happy, not only the body but the whole world will be happy.

You don't grow by acquiring something, Nor wither away by losing it. You remain what you always are.

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

The fruit of action passes.But the act leaves behind the seed of further acts leading to an endless ocean of action; not at all to moksha.

Why should you worry about the future? You don't even know the present properly. Take care of the present and the future will take care of itself.

There is neither creation nor destruction,neither destiny nor free will, neitherpath nor achievement.This is the final truth.

To see God is to be God. There is no all apart from God for Him to pervade. He alone is.

All we need do is keep quiet.

The knowledge of oneself will be revealed only to the consciousness which is silent, clear and free from activity of the agitated and suffering mind.

All these universes, humans, objects, thoughts and events are merely pictures moving on the screen of Pure Consciousness, which alone is real. Shapes and phenomena pass away, but Consciousness remains ever.

The Lord who has fed you today will ever do so well. Therefore, live carefree, placing all your burden at His feet and having no thought of tomorrow or the future.

'Happiness is your nature. It is not wrong to desire it. What is wrong is seeking it outside when it is inside.'

How to see God? To see Him is to be consumed by Him.

The conception that there is a goal and a path to it, is wrong. We are the goal or peace always. To get rid of the notion that we are not peace is all that is required.

You need not aspire for or get any new state. Get rid of your present thoughts, that is all.

By remaining in contact with realised sages the man gradually loses the ignorance until its removal is complete. The eternal Self is thus revealed.

To realise the Self is to be still. What can be easier than that?

The aim is to reach the root of the 'I'sense, through constant suppression of the mental processes.

You are already That which you seek.

The body is itself a mere projection of the mind, and the mind is but a poor reflection of the radiant Heart.

To identify oneself with the body and yet seek happiness is like attempting to crossing a river on the back of an alligator. In truth, you are Spirit.

If concentration is made with the brain, sensations of heat and even headache ensue. Concentration has to be made in the heart, which is cool and refreshing. Relax and your meditation will be easy. Keep your mind steady by gently warding off all intruding thoughts, but without strain - soon you will succeed.

Whatever burdens are thrown on God, He bears them. Since the supreme power of God makes all things move, why should we, without submitting ourselves to it, constantly worry ourselves with thoughts as to what should be done and how, and what should not be done and how not? We know that the train carries all loads, so after getting on it why should we carry our small luggage on our head to our discomfort, instead of putting it down in the train and feeling at ease?

The final obstacle to meditation is ecstasy; when you feel great bliss and happiness, the tendency is to stay in that ecstasy. Do not yield to this (laya) but pass onto the sixth stage, which is great calm. The calm is higher than ecstasy and it merges into samadhi.

Take care of yourself. Let the world take care of itself. See your Self. If you are the body there is the gross world also. If you are spirit all is spirit alone.

When the mind is left without anything to cling to, it becomes still.

Have faith in God and in yourself; that will cure all. Hope for the best, expect the best, toil for the best and everything will come right for you in the end.

Keep an open mind, dive within and find out the Self. The truth will itself dawn upon you.

Your duty is to be and not to be this or that. 'I am that I am' sums up the whole truth.

The ego is the root of all diseases. Give it up.

The Ordainer controls the fate of souls in accordance with their prarabdhakarma (destiny to be worked out in this life, resulting from the balance sheet of actions in past lives). Whatever is destined not to happen will not happen, try as you may. Whatever is destined to happen will happen, do what you may to prevent it. This is certain. The best course, therefore, is to remain silent.

Guru is not the physical form. So the contact will remain even after the physical form of the Guru vanishes.

'Does free will prevail or fate?' is only for those who do not know the root of both. Those who have known the Self, the common source of freewill and of fate, have passed beyond them both and will not return to them.

Surrender is to give oneself up to the original cause of one's being.

Giving to others is really giving to oneself.

"Remain all the time steadfast in the heart. God will determine the future for you to accomplish the work. What is to be done will be done at the proper time. Don’t worry. Abide in the heart."

We are so engrossed with the objects or appearances revealed by the light that we pay no attention to the light.

Engage yourself in the living present. The future will take care of itself.

Meditation is your true nature now. You call it meditation, because there are other thoughts distracting you. When these thoughts are dispelled, you remain alone, i.e., in the state of meditation free from thoughts; and that is your real nature which you are now attempting to gain by keeping away other thoughts. Such keeping away of other thoughts is now called meditation. When the practice becomes firm, the real nature shows itself as the true meditation.

You know that you know nothing. Find out that knowledge.

There is only one state, that is consciousness, or awareness or existence. The three states of waking, dream and deep sleep cannot be real. They simply come and go. The real will always exist.

Reality is simply the loss of ego. Destroy the ego by seeking its identity. Because the ego is no entity it will automatically vanish and reality will shine forth by itself.

“Wanting to reform the world without discovering one's true self is like trying to cover the world with leather to avoid the pain of walking on stones and thorns. It is much simpler to wear shoes.”

There is never a moment when the Self is not; it is ever-present, here and now.

 Find the source. You must reach the source without fail. The false `I' will disappear and the real `I' will realized. The former cannot exist apart from the latter.There is now wrong identification of the Self with the body, senses, etc. You proceed to discard these, and this is neti. This can be done only by holding to the one which cannot be discarded. That is iti[that which is].

Your business is simply to surrender and leave everything to me.

Time is only an idea. There is only the Reality. Whatever you think it is, it looks like that. If you call it time, it is time. If you call it existence, it is existence, and so on. After calling it time, you divide it into days and nights, months, years, hours, minutes, etc. Time is immaterial for the Path of Knowledge.

Transforming yourself is a means of giving light to the whole world.

Mind is consciousness which has put on limitations. You are originally unlimited and perfect. Later you take on limitations and become the mind.

Body, senses, mind, breath, sleep --All insentient and unreal --- Cannot be 'I'.

Purity of heart, self-restraint, evenness of temper, tenderness towards all beings, fortitude and freedom from desire, hatred and arrogance are the outstanding virtues of the sattvic mind.

There is no alternative for you but to accept the world as unreal if you are seeking the truth and the truth alone, for the simple reason that unless you give up the idea that the world is real your mind will always be after it.

You and I are the same. What I have done is surely possible for all. You are the Self now and can never be anything else. Throw your worries to the wind, turn within and find Peace.