118 Ramana Maharshi Quotes & Pointers

“The Real is ever-present, like the screen on which the cinematographic pictures move. While the picture appears on it, the screen remains invisible. Stop the picture, and the screen will become clear. All thoughts and events are merely pictures moving on the screen of Pure Consciousness, which alone is real.”

“Our own self-realization is the greatest service we can render the world.”

“Experiences such as, ‘I went; I came; I was; I did,’ come naturally to everyone. From these experiences, does it not appear that the consciousness ‘I’ is the subject of those various acts? Enquiry into the true nature of that consciousness, and remaining as oneself, is the way to understand, through enquiry, one’s true nature.”

“If you are vigilant and make a stern effort to reject every thought when it rises, you will soon find that you are going deeper and deeper into your own inner self, where there is no need for your effort to reject the thoughts.”

“That which comes and goes, rises and sets, is born and dies is the ego. That which always abides, never changes, and is devoid of qualities is the Self.”

“When there are thoughts, it is distraction: when there are no thoughts, it is meditation.”

“The Self is self-luminous without darkness and light, and is the reality which is self-manifest. Therefore, one should not think of it as this or as that. The very thought of thinking will end in bondage.”

“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.”

“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.”

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

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

“It is every intelligent man’s experience that evildoing recoils on the doer sooner or later.”

“There is neither Past nor Future. There is only the Present.”

“All that is required to realise the Self is to ‘Be Still.’”

“Eventually, all that one has learnt will have to be forgotten.”

“If you hold this feeling of ‘I’ long enough and strongly enough, the false ‘I’ will vanish leaving only the unbroken awareness of the real, immanent ‘I’, consciousness itself”

“Everything in the world was my Guru.”

“Your duty is to be, and not to be this or that.”

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

“Realization is nothing to be gained afresh. It is already there. All that is necessary is to get rid of the thought ‘I have not realized.’”

“All knowledge will have to be finally given up to experience the truth.”

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

“Silence is also conversation.”

“The Real is ever-present, like the screen on which the cinematographic pictures move. While the picture appears on it, the screen remains invisible. Stop the picture, and the screen will become clear. All thoughts and events are merely pictures moving on the screen of Pure Consciousness, which alone is real.”

“The greatest error of a man is to think that he is weak by nature, evil by nature. Every man is divine and strong in his real nature. What are weak and evil are his habits, his desires and thoughts, but not himself.”

“Let come what comes, let go what goes. See what remains.”

“When there are thoughts, it is distraction. When there are no thoughts, it is meditation.”

“Experience such as, ‘I went; I came; I was; I did,’ come naturally to everyone. From these experiences, does it not appear that the consciousness ‘I’ is the subject of those various acts? Enquiry into the true nature of that consciousness, and remaining as oneself, is the way to understand, through enquiry, one’s true nature.”

“Time and space always change, but there is something which is eternal and changeless. For example, the world and time, past or future, nothing exists for us in sleep. But we exist. Let us try to find out that which is changeless and which always exists.”

“I have never said that there is no need for a guru. All depends on what you call guru. He need not be in human form.”

“There is no doubt whatsoever that the universe is the merest illusion.”

“Doubts never end. If one doubt is removed, another takes its place. It is like removing the leaves of a tree one by one. Even if all the leaves are clipped off, new ones grow. The tree itself must be uprooted.”

“If you are vigilant and make a stern effort to reject every thought when it rises, you will soon find that you are going deeper and deeper into your own inner self, where there is no need for your effort to reject thoughts.”

“All bad qualities centre round the ego. When the ego is gone, Realisation results by itself. There are neither good nor bad qualities in the Self. The Self is free from all qualities. Qualities pertain to the mind only.”

“That which comes and goes, rises and sets, is born and dies is the ego. That which always abides, never changes and is devoid of qualities is the Self.”

“For those who have obtained unobstructed knowledge of Self, the world is seen merely as a bondage causing imagination.”

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

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

“The best way to meditate is through meditation itself.”

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

“If one’s mind has peace, the whole world will appear peaceful.”

“All unhappiness is due to the ego. With it comes all your trouble. If you would deny the ego and scorch it by ignoring it you would be free.”

“Man’s search for happiness is an unconscious search for his true Self. The true Self is imperishable; therefore when a man finds it, he finds a happiness which does not come to an end.”

“The method is summed up in the words ‘Be still.’ What does stillness mean? It means destroy yourself. Because any form or shape is the cause for trouble. Give up the notion that ‘I am so and so.’ All that is required to realize the Self is to be still. What can be easier than that?”

“If the mind falls asleep, awaken it. Then if it starts wandering, make it quiet. If you reach the state where there is neither sleep nor movement of mind, stay still in that, the natural (real) state.”

“Silence is truth. Silence is bliss. Silence is peace. And hence Silence is the Self.”

“You can only stop the flow of thoughts by refusing to have any interest in it.”

“Become conscious of being conscious. Say or think ‘I am,’ and add nothing to it. Be aware of the stillness that follows the ‘I am.’ Sense your presence, the naked unveiled, unclothed beingness. It is untouched by young or old, rich or poor, good or bad, or any other attributes.”

“When one remains without thinking one understands another by means of the universal language of silence.”

“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.”

“What is called mind is a wondrous power existing in Self. It projects all thoughts. If we set aside all thoughts and see, there will be no such thing as mind remaining separate; therefore, thought itself is the form of the mind. Other than thoughts, there is no such thing as the mind.”

“That which rises in this body as ‘I’ is the mind. If one enquires ‘In which place in the body does the thought ‘I’ rise first?,’ it will be known to be in the heart [spiritual heart is ‘two digits to the right from the centre of the chest’]. Even if one incessantly thinks ‘I,’ ‘I,’ it will lead to that place (Self).”

“The mind will subside only by means of the enquiry ‘Who am I?’ The thought ‘Who am I?,’ destroying all other thoughts, will itself finally be destroyed like the stick used for stirring the funeral pyre.”

“If other thoughts rise, one should, without attempting to complete them, enquire, ‘To whom did they arise?’, it will be known ‘To me.’ If one then enquires ‘Who am I?’, the mind (power of attention) will turn back to its source. By repeatedly practising thus, the power of the mind to abide in its source increases.”

“The place where even the slightest trace of the ‘I’ does not exist, alone is Self.”

“We see only the script and not the paper on which the script is written. The paper is there, whether the script is on it or not. To those who look upon the script as real, you have to say that it is unreal — an illusion — since it rests upon paper. The wise person looks upon both paper and script as one.”

“It is false to speak of realization. What is there to realize? The real is as it is always. We are not creating anything new or achieving something which we did not have before. The illustration given in books is this. We dig a well and create a huge pit. The space in the pit or well has not been created by us. We have just removed the earth which was filling the space there. The space was there then and is also there now. Similarly we have simply to throw out all the age-long sanskaras which are inside us. When all of them have been given up, the Self will shine alone.”

“Why should you trouble yourself about the future? You do not even properly know about the present. Take care of the present, the future will take care of itself.”

“There are no impediments to meditation. The very thought of such obstacles is the greatest impediment.”

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

“Seek the seeker.”

“If you hold this feeling of ‘I’ long enough and strongly enough, the false ‘I’ will vanish leaving only the unbroken awareness of the real, immanent ‘I,’ consciousness itself.”

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

“Illusion? To whom is the illusion? Find it out. Then illusion will vanish. Generally people want to know about illusion and do not examine to whom it is. It is foolish. Illusion is outside and unknown. But the seeker is considered to be known and is inside. Find out what is immediate, intimate, instead of trying to find out what is distant and unknown.”

“Aim high, aim at the highest, and all lower aims are thereby achieved. It is looking below on the stormy sea of differences that makes you sink. Look up, beyond these and see the One Glorious Real, and you are saved.”

“Realisation is not acquisition of anything new nor is it a new faculty. It is only removal of all camouflage.”

“There is neither creation nor destruction, Neither destiny nor free will, Neither path nor achievement. This is the final truth.”

“Your duty is to be and not to be this or that. ‘I am that I am’ sums up the whole truth. The method is summed up in the words ‘Be still.’ What does stillness mean? It means destroy yourself. Because any form or shape is the cause for trouble. Give up the notion that ‘I am so and so.’ All that is required to realize the Self is to be still. What can be easier than that?”

“To ask the mind to kill itself is like making the thief the policeman. He will go with you and pretend to catch the thief, but nothing will be gained. So you must turn inward and see where the mind rises from, and then it will cease to exist.”

“If we talk of knowing the Self, there must be two Selves, one a knowing Self, another the Self which is known, and the process of knowing. The state we call realisation is simply being oneself, not knowing anything or becoming anything. If one is realised, he is that which alone is and which alone has always been.”

“You do not acquire happiness. Your nature is happiness. Bliss is not newly acquired. All that is done is to remove unhappiness.”

“Life of man is what it is. That which is, is. All the trouble arises by having a conception of it. Mind comes in. It has a conception. All trouble follows. If you are as you are, without a mind and its conceptions about various things, all will be well with you. If you seek the source of the mind, then all questions will be solved.”

“Do not meditate — be! Do not think that you are — be! Don’t think about being — you are!”

“The radio sings and speaks, but if you open it you will find no one inside. Similarly, my existence is like the space; though this body speaks like the radio, there is no one inside as the doer.”

“If the mind subsides, the whole world subsides. Mind is the cause of all this. If that subsides, the natural state presents itself.”

“Removal of the notion that we have not realized the Self is all that is required. We are always the Self only we don’t realise it.”

“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.”

“The mind cannot kill itself. So your business is to find the real nature of the mind. Then you will know that there is no mind. When the Self is sought, the mind is nowhere. Abiding in the Self, one need not worry about the mind.”

“The nature of bondage is merely the rising, ruinous thought ‘I am different from the reality.’ Since one surely cannot remain separate from the reality, reject that thought whenever it rises.”

“Our real nature is mukti. But we are imagining we are bound and are making various, strenuous attempts to become free, while we are all the while free. This will be understood only when we reach that stage. We will be surprised that we were frantically trying to attain something which we have always been and are.”

“Nothing but the Self exists.”

“Knowing the Self is being the Self, and being means existence, one’s own existence. No one denies one’s existence any more than one denies one’s eyes, although one cannot see them. The trouble lies with your desire to objectify the Self, in the same way as you objectify your eyes when you place a mirror before them. You have been so accustomed to objectivity that you have lost the knowledge of yourself, simply because the Self cannot be objectified.”

“The ego-Self appears and disappears and is transitory, whereas the real Self is permanent. Though you are actually the true Self you wrongly identify the real Self with the ego-Self.”

“All that is required of you is to give up the thought that you are this body and to give up all thoughts of the external things or the not-Self.”

“There is nothing to be attained. You are the Self. You exist always.”

“Know then that true knowledge does not create a new being for you, it only removes your ignorant ignorance. Bliss is not added to your nature, it is merely revealed as your true natural state, eternal and imperishable. The only way to be rid of your grief is to know and be the Self.”

“Truly there is no cause for you to be miserable and unhappy. You yourself impose limitations on your true nature of infinite being, and then weep that you are but a finite creature. Then you take up this or that spiritual practice to transcend the non-existent limitations. But if your spiritual practice itself assumes the existence of the limitations, how can it help you to transcend them?”

“The state of being is permanent and the body and the world are not. They are fleeting phenomena passing on the screen of being-consciousness which is eternal and stationary.”

“As soon as one ceases to imagine that one is an individual person, inhabiting a particular body, the whole superstructure of wrong ideas collapses and is replaced by a conscious and permanent awareness of the real Self.”

“The mind turned inwards is the Self; turned outwards, it becomes the ego and all the world.”

“The state of Self-realisation, as we call it, is not attaining something new or reaching some goal which is far away, but simply being that which you always are and which you always have been. All that is needed is that you give up your realisation of the not-true as true. All of us are regarding as real that which is not real. We have only to give up this practice on our part. Then we shall realise the Self as the Self; in other words, ‘Be the Self.’ At one stage you will laugh at yourself for trying to discover the Self which is so self-evident.”

“...how does speech arise? First there is abstract knowledge. Out of this arises the ego, which in turn gives rise to thought, and thought to the spoken word. So the word is the great-grandson of the original source. If the word can produce an effect, judge for yourself, how much more powerful must be the preaching through silence.”

“Wherever you concentrate and on whatever centre there must be a you to concentrate, and that is what you must concentrate on.”

“Killing the innocent body is certainly wrong. Suicide must be committed on the mind, where the suffering is deposited, and not on the body, which is insentient and feels nothing. The mind is the real culprit, being the creator of the anguish which tempts to suicide, but by an error of judgement, the innocent, insentient body is punished for it.”

“When you see that the mind invents everything, all will vanish. The good will vanish, the evil will vanish, and you will remain as you are.”

“The greatest obstacle to enlightenment is getting past your delusion that you are not already enlightened.”

“People insist on asking me questions and so I must reply. But the truth is beyond words.”

“Meditation must be so intense that it does not give room even to the thought 'I am meditating.’”

“Solitude cannot efface one's thoughts. Practice does it.”

“If you go by the way of your thoughts you will be carried away by them and you will find yourself in an endless maze.”

“The mind always seeks external knowledge, leaving aside knowledge about itself.”

“All your cares are His. Such is surrender.”

“You can feel yourself one with the One that exists. The whole body becomes a mere power, a force-current. Your life becomes a needle drawn to a huge mass of magnet and as you go deeper and deeper, you become a mere centre and then not even that, for you become a mere Consciousness; there are no thoughts or cares any longer — they were shattered at the threshold — it is an inundation. You, a mere straw, are swallowed alive, but it is very delightful, for you become the very thing that swallows you. This is the union of jiva with Brahman, the loss of ego in the real Self, the destruction of falsehood and the attainment of Truth.”

“The solution to your problem is to see who has it.”

“Do not suffer through chasing after the world and its ways, but attain peace by running along the straight path to the Heart.”

“The mind is by nature restless. Begin liberating it from its restlessness; give it peace; make it free from distractions; train it to look inward; make this a habit.”

“Do not tell this path to all. Only the few who manifest anxiety to know the Truth and an eagerness to find it, should be told. With all others be silent and keep it secret. ~ Conscious Immortality”

“Do not meditate — be. Do not think that you are — be. Don't think about being — you are.”

“Silence is ever speaking; it is the perennial flow of language.”

“All bad qualities centre round the ego. When the ego is gone, Realisation results by itself. There are neither good nor bad qualities in the Self. The Self is free from all qualities. Qualities pertain to the mind only.”

“Realisation is not acquisition of anything new nor is it a new faculty. It is only removal of all camouflage”

“When one remains without thinking one understands another by means of the universal language of silence.”

“Your concentration must come as easily as the breath. Fix yourself on one thing and try to hold onto it. All will come right. Meditation is sticking to one thought. That single thought keeps away other thoughts. The dissipated mind is a sign of its weakness. By constant meditation it gains strength.”

“Self reform automatically brings about social reform.”

“The Self is self-luminous without darkness and light, and is reality which is self-manifest. Therefore, one should not think of it as this or as that. The very thought of thinking will end in bondage.”

“There is no greater mystery than this: being Reality ourselves, we seek to gain Reality.”

“The mind is by nature restless. Begin liberating it from its restlessness; give it peace; make it free from distractions; train it to look inward; make this a habit.”

“The Self is only one. Do you feel hurt if you blame yourself or scorn yourself for your errors? If you hold the Self there is no second person to scorn you. When you see the world you have lost hold of the Self. On the contrary, hold the Self and the world will not appear.”