Beauty ＆ Pure 184

Bhagavan Ramana said, "...when the mind goes astray, it should be turned inward and made to steady itself in the thought of the Self. That is the only way.” A devotee asked, “To do so, the repeating of the name of Rama is good, is it not?” “Certainly it is good,” said Bhagavan. “What could be better?..." The picture below shows Lord Rama's meeting with Shabri, his great devotee

Beauty ＆ Pure 183

The moon-like jiva [the mind], ever wedded to the sun-like Self, should always remain in her home, the Heart; to forsake the Bliss of Self and go astray for worldly pleasures, is like the madness of a wife who spoils her precious chastity.

Beauty ＆ Pure 182

  The appearance of this illusory world, which is seen as real, is just like the serpent seen in a rope, the thief seen in a tree-stump or the water seen in a mirage.

45. The various ornaments fashioned out of gold are not different from the gold, and similarly, this world of moving and unmoving things, manifested out of Self, cannot be other than Self.

46. Self is hidden when the world appears, but when Self shines forth, the world will disappear. Being different in nature, like the [apparent] dog [seen in] the stone, both cannot be seen together.

(From 'Guru Vachaka Kovai')

Sadhu Om and Michael James: "The nature of Self, the true aspect of Brahman, is not these names and forms, whereas the nature of the world, the false aspect of Brahman, is not Sat-Chit- Ananda, so both cannot be seen simultaneously."

Beauty ＆ Pure 181

'Is it necessary for one who longs for release to inquire into the nature of categories (tattvas)?'

Just as one who wants to throw away garbage has no need to analyse it and see what it is, so one who wants to know the Self has no need to count the number of categories or inquire into their characteristics; what he has to do is to reject altogether the categories that hide the Self. The world should be considered like a dream.

('Who Am I?', Q. 21)

Beauty ＆ Pure 180

Of the devotees, who is the greatest?'

'He who gives himself up to the Self that is God is the most excellent devotee. Giving one’s self up to God means remaining constantly in the Self without giving room for the rise of any thoughts other than that of the Self. 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?'

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Beauty ＆ Pure 179

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?' - Bhagavan's reply to Q. 10, 'How will the mind become quiescent?'.)