Ravi Rajagopal

[RamanaEssence @RamanaEssence]

The Self (Atman) is ear of the ear, mind of the mind, speech of the speech. The Self is also breath of the breath, and eye of the eye. Having given up the false identification of the Self with the senses and the mind, and knowing the Self to be Brahman, the wise, on departing from this life, becomes immortal.

Kena Upanishad

[RamanaEssence @RamanaEssence]

I am, indeed, the Self. I am the Void. I am, verily, the Self. There are no qualities for me. I am the Self. There is nothing different anywhere.

I am, indeed, the Self, the Supreme Brahman. The triad of worlds is all illusory. I am, indeed, the Supreme Brahman. I, indeed, am the Supreme Guru.

I, indeed, am the ever full. I, indeed, am interstice-less. Ever satisfied and formless, I am, indeed, Brahman. There is no doubt of this.

~ Ribhu Gita

[RamanaEssence @RamanaEssence]

D: Will vichara do in the absence of meditation?

~ Ramana Maharshi:
Vichara is the process and the goal also.
‘I AM’ is the goal and the final Reality. To hold to it with effort is vichara. When spontaneous and natural it is Realization.

Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi

[RamanaEssence @RamanaEssence]

A sanyasi visitor to Sri Ramana Ashram, Swami Lokesananda, asked about samadhi.

~ Ramana Maharshi:
1- Holding on to Reality is samadhi.
2- Holding on to Reality with effort is savikalpa samadhi.
3- Merging in Reality and remaining unaware of the world is nirvikalpa samadhi.
4- Merging in ignorance and remaining unaware of the world is sleep. (Head bends but not in samadhi).
5- Remaining in the primal pure natural state without effort is sahaja nirvikalpa samadhi.

Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi

[RamanaEssence @RamanaEssence]

A devotee asked for Sri Ramana Maharshi’s Grace to begin his sadhana.

~ Ramana Maharshi:
Grace is always there. Dispassion cannot be acquired, nor realization of the Truth, nor inherence in the Self, in the absence of Guru’s Grace.

Practice is necessary. It is like training a roguish bull confined to his stall by tempting him with luscious grass and preventing him from straying.

Then Sri Bhagavan read out a stanza from Tiruvachakam, which is an address to the mind, saying: “O humming bee (namely, mind)! Why do you take the pains of collecting tiny specks of honey from innumerable flowers? There is one from whom you can have the whole storehouse of honey by simply thinking or seeing or speaking of Him. Get within and hum to Him.”

Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi

[RamanaEssence @RamanaEssence]

The mind alone is the cause of bondage and liberation.

Attached to objects, it leads to bondage. Free from objects, it leads to liberation.

Yoga Vashishta

[RamanaEssence @RamanaEssence]

O Rama, there is no world independent of the mind. The mind alone is the universe.

When the mind is quiet, the entire cosmic illusion dissolves into its source, which is Pure Awareness.

Yoga Vasishtha

[RamanaEssence @RamanaEssence]

Sri Ramana Maharshi reveals the direct path to Self-realization:

Q: What is the difference between meditation and Self-enquiry?

~ Ramana Maharshi:
Meditation is possible only if the ego is retained: there is the ego and the object meditated upon. This method is indirect.

However, if we seek the ego-source, the ego disappears and what remains is the Self. This is the direct one.

Conscious Immortality

[RamanaEssence @RamanaEssence]

Brahman is all in all. He is action, knowledge, goodness Supreme. To know Him, hidden in the lotus of the heart, is to untie the knot of ignorance.

Mundaka Upanishad

[Ramanajyothi @Searchof_WhoamI]

REMOVE THE VEIL OF IGNORANCE:

D: How shall I reach the Self?

M: There is no reaching the Self. If Self were to be reached, it would mean that the Self is not here and now but that it is yet to be obtained. What is got afresh will also be lost. So it will be impermanent. What is not permanent is not worth striving for. So I say the Self is not reached. You are the Self; you are already That.

The fact is, you are ignorant of your blissful state. Ignorance supervenes and draws a veil over the pure Self which is Bliss. Attempts are directed only to remove this veil of ignorance which is merely wrong knowledge.

The wrong knowledge is the false identification of the Self with the body, mind etc. This false identification must go, and then the Self alone remains.

Therefore, Realization is for everyone; Realization makes no difference between the aspirants. This very doubt, whether you can realize, and the notion ‘I- have-not-realized’ are themselves the obstacles. Be free from these obstacles also.
~~
Maharshi’s Gospel

@davidfrawleyved @DrDeVinderSingh
@DrSurendra_12 @Santosh64355195
@vinlandwisdom

[RamanaEssence @RamanaEssence]

A visitor: What is the difference between meditation (dhyana) and investigation (vichara)?

~ Ramana Maharshi:
Both amount to the same. Those unfit for investigation must practice meditation. In this practice the aspirant forgetting himself meditates ‘I am Brahman’ or ‘I am Siva’; thus he continues to hold to Brahman or Siva; this will ultimately end on the residual Being as Brahman or Siva which he will realize to be Pure Being, i.e., the Self.
He who engages in investigation starts holding on to himself, asks ‘Who am I’? and the Self becomes clear to him.

Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi

[RamanaEssence @RamanaEssence]

In Dec 1898, Sri Ramana Maharshi’s mother, Alagammal, tracked him down at the Pavalakkunru temple on the slopes of Arunachala. Overcome with grief, she begged her son to abandon his severe lifestyle and return home to Madurai.

Because Bhagavan was maintaining silence at the time, he did not utter a single word. Instead he took a scrap of paper and a pencil, and wrote down an uncompromising decree on destiny that would permanently alter the course of her life, and become the bedrock of his teachings on absolute surrender.

Sri Ramana wrote:
“The ordainer controls the fate of souls in accordance with their past deeds - their prarabdha karma. Whatever is destined not to happen will not happen, try hard how you may. Whatever is destined to happen will happen, do what you may to stop it. This is certain. The best course, therefore, is for one to be silent.”

Self-Realization: Life and Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi

[RamanaEssence @RamanaEssence]

Sri Ramana Maharshi explains how to quiet the mind:

Q: How will the mind become quiescent?

Ramana Maharshi:
By the inquiry ‘Who am I?’. The thought ‘Who am I?’ will destroy all other thoughts, and like the stick used for stirring the burning pyre, it will itself in the end get destroyed. Then, there will arise Self-realization.

Who am I?
The Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi

[RamanaEssence @RamanaEssence]

Do not take pride in wealth, friends, followers, or youth; time takes away all of these in the blink of an eye.

Recognizing that this entire objective world is nothing but a deceptive illusion born of Maya, rise above it; realize your true nature and merge into the timeless state of Brahman.

~ Adi Shankara
Bhaja Govindam

[RamanaEssence @RamanaEssence]

Devotee:
How shall I reach the Self?

Ramana Maharshi:
There is no reaching the Self. If the Self were to be reached, it would mean that the Self is not now and here, but it should be got anew. What is got afresh, will also be lost. So it will be impermanent. What is not permanent is not worth striving for. So I say, the Self is not reached.

You are the Self. You are already That. The fact is that you are ignorant of your blissful state. Ignorance supervenes and draws a veil over the pure Bliss. Attempts are directed only to remove this ignorance.

This ignorance consists in wrong knowledge. The wrong knowledge consists in the false identification of the Self with the body, the mind, etc. This false identity must go and there remains the Self.

Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi

[RamanaEssence @RamanaEssence]

Silence is the most potent form of instruction. The silence of the Self is more eloquent than all scriptures. It is the real teaching.

~ Ramana Maharshi
Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi

[RamanaEssence @RamanaEssence]

The obstacle is the mind. It must be got over whether at home or in the forest. If you can do it in the forest, why not in the home?

Therefore why change the environment? Your efforts can be made even now, whatever the environment.

~ Ramana Maharshi
Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi

[R @AlphaWizarDD]

“If you want to ruin your life, spend it trying to change your spouse’s behaviour.”

- Charlie Munger. 2013

[RamanaEssence @RamanaEssence]

I am neither the doer nor the enjoyer. I am neither the mind nor the intellect. I am the pure, eternal Witness, the unconditioned Self. I am Brahman, the one without a second.

~ Adi Shankara
Viveka-Chudamani