Ramana Maharshi famous quotes

No one succeeds without effort... Those who succeed owe their success to perseverance.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Perseverance #Effort #Succeed

Willpower should be understood to be the strength of the mind, which makes it capable of meeting success or failure with equanimity.  It is not synonymous with certain success.  Why should one's attempts always be attended by success?  Success breeds arrogance and man's spiritual progress is thus arrested.  Failure, on the other hand, is beneficial, inasmuch as it opens his eyes to his limitations and prepares him to surrender himself.  Self surrender is synonymous with eternal happiness.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Spiritual #Eye #Men

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

#Light #Pay #Attention

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

#Contentment #Desire #Awareness

Realisation is not acquisition of anything new nor is it a new faculty. It is only removal of all camouflage
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Acquisition #Camouflage #Faculty

Correcting oneself is correcting the whole world. The Sun is simply bright. It does not correct anyone. Because it shines, the whole world is full of light. Transforming yourself is a means of giving light to the whole world.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Mean #Light #Giving

The entire Universe is condensed in the body, and the entire body in the Heart. Thus the Heart is the nucleus of the whole Universe.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Heart #Body #Nucleus

There is neither past nor future. There is only the present. Yesterday was the present to you when you experienced it, and tomorrow will be also the present when you experience it. Therefore, experience takes place only in the present, and beyond experience nothing exists.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Past #Yesterday #Tomorrow

Guru, God and Self are One
-- Ramana Maharshi

#God #Self #Guru

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.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Loss #Reality #Shining

A man does not have to go and find where his eyes are in order to see. The heart is there, always open to you, if you care to enter it, always supporting your movements, although you may be unaware of it. It is perhaps more correct to say that the Self is the Heart. Really the Self is the centre and is everywhere aware of itself as the Heart or Self-awareness.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Heart #Eye #Men

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

#Perfect #Mind #Passionate

If a man considers that he is born, he cannot avoid the fear of death. Let him find out if he has been born or if the Self has any birth. He will discover that the Self always exists, that the body that is born resolves itself into thought and that the emergence of thought is the root of all mischief. Find from where thoughts emerge. Then you will be able to abide in the ever-present inmost Self and be free from the idea of birth or the fear of death.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Fear #Men #Ideas

Your true nature is that of infinite spirit. The feeling of limitation is the work of the mind.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Feelings #Mind #Spirit

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

#Yoga #Mind #Consciousness

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.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Discovery #Mind #Quiet

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

#Yoga #Mind #Inquiry

See who is the doubter, who is the thinker. It is the ego. Hold it; the other thoughts will die away - the ego will be left pure. See the source from where the ego arises and abide in it. That is pure consciousness.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Yoga #Ego #Doubters

To know one's Self is to be blissful always.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Self

It is false to speak of realisation. What is there to realise? 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 samskaras [innate tendencies] which are inside us. When all of them have been given up, the Self will shine alone.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Real #Book #Self

You are already That which you seek.
-- Ramana Maharshi

All that is required to realise the Self is to “Be Still.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Self #Stills #Realising

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.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Self #Grace #Useless

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.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Mind #Thieves #Inward

It is not enough that one surrenders oneself. Surrender is to give oneself up to the original cause of one's being. Do not delude yourself by imagining such a source to be some God outside you. One's source is within oneself. Give yourself up to it. That means that you should seek the source and merge in it.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Mean #Giving #Meditation

If one wants to abide in the thought-free state, a struggle is inevitable. One must fight one's way through before regaining one's original primal state. If one succeeds in the fight and reaches the goal, the enemy, namely the thoughts, will all subside in the Self and disappear entirely.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Struggle #Fighting #Self

Let what comes come, let what goes go.
-- Ramana Maharshi

What comes will also go. What always is will alone remain.
-- Ramana Maharshi

Take no notice of the ego and its activities, but see only the light behind.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Light #Ego #Behinds

Calmness is the criterion of spiritual progress. Plunge the purified mind into the Heart. Then the work is over.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Spiritual #Heart #Mind

If the ego rises, all else will also rise; if it subsides, all else will also subside.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Ego

Realization is to get rid of the delusion that you have not realized.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Yoga #Realization #Delusion

There is no greater mystery than this, that we keep seeking reality though in fact we are reality.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Reality #Facts #Mystery

That which is not present in deep dreamless sleep is not real
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Real #Sleep #Dreamless Sleep

By constantly keep one's attention on the Source, the ego is dissolved in that Source like a salt-doll in the sea.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Sea #Ego #Attention

Doubts arise because of an absence of surrender.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Doubt #Surrender #Absence

When there are thoughts, it is distraction: when there are no thoughts, it is meditation.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Meditation #Distraction

The end of all wisdom is love, love, love.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Ends

Peace is your natural state. It is the mind that obstructs the natural state.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Mind #Natural #States

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.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Self #Inquiry #Burning

Silence is most powerful. Speech is always less powerful than silence.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Powerful #Silence #Speech

Misery does not exist in reality but only in mere imagination.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Reality #Imagination #Doe

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

#Light #Goes On #Masters

There is neither Past nor Future. There is only the Present.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Past

You are awareness. Awareness is another name for you. Since you are awareness there is no need to attain or cultivate it. All that you have to do is to give up being aware of other things, that is of the not-Self. If one gives up being aware of them then pure awareness alone remains, and that is the Self.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Giving Up #Self #Names

Beyond the belief that something can be lost, there is nothing to lose.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Belief #Nothing To Lose #Lost

The question 'Who am I?' is not really meant to get an answer, the question 'Who am I?' is meant to dissolve the questioner.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Answers #Really Mean

If there is anything besides the Self there is reason to fear? Who sees the second? First, the ego arises and sees objects as external. If the ego does not rise, the Self alone exists and there is no second.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Self #Ego #Firsts

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.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Ego #Would Be #Trouble

Grace is within you. If it were external, it would be useless.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Self #Grace #Useless

The very fact that we wish for liberation shows that freedom from all bondage is our real nature. It is not to be freshly acquired. All that is necessary is to get rid of the false notion that we are bound.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Freedom #Real #Wish

A realized one sends out waves of spiritual influence in his aura, which draw many people towards him. Yet he may sit in a cave and maintain complete silence.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Spiritual #Yoga #People

Nobody doubts that he exists, though he may doubt the existence of God. If he finds out the truth about himself and discovers his own source, this is all that is required.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Doubt #May #Spirituality

Place your burden at the feet of the Lord of the universe who is ever victorious and accomplishes everything. Remain all the time steadfast in the heart, in the Transcendental Absolute. God knows the past, present and future. He will determine the future for you and accomplish the work. What is to be done will be done at the proper time. Don't worry. Abide in the heart and surrender your acts to the Divine.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Heart #Past #Feet

Peace is the inner nature of humankind. If you find it within yourself, you will then find it everywhere.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Humankind

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

#Spiritual #Progress #Degrees

The mind turned inwards is the Self; turned outwards, it becomes the ego and all the world. Cotton made into various clothes we call by various names. Gold made into various ornaments, we call by various names. But all the clothes are cotton and all the ornaments gold. The one is real, the many are mere names and forms.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Motivational #Real #Self

When you truly feel this equal love for all, when your heart has expanded so much that it embraces the whole of creation, you will certainly not feel like giving up this or that. You will simply drop off from secular life as a ripe fruit drops from the branch of a tree. You will feel that the whole world is your home.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Giving Up #Heart #Home

Realization consists of getting rid of the false idea that one is not realized.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Yoga #Ideas #Realization

The state of self-realization, 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.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Fun #Self #Goal

The thing to do is to concentrate on the seer and not on the seen, not on the objects, but on the Light which reveals them.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Light

The ego's phenomenal existence is transcended when you dive into the source from where the `I'-thought rises
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Ego #Source #Existence

What exists in truth is the Self alone. The world, the individual soul and God are appearances in it. Like silver in mother-of-pearl, these three appear at the same time and disappear at the same time. The Self is that where there is absolutely no 'I thought'. That is called 'Stillness'. The Self itself is the world; the Self itself is 'I'; the Self itself is God; all is Siva, the Self.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Mother #Self #Soul

Your duty is to Be, and not to be this or that.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Letting Go #Duty

We are always peace. To get rid of the idea that we are not peace is all that is required.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Ideas #Spirituality

The world is so unhappy because it is ignorant of the true Self. Man’s real nature is happiness. Happiness is inborn in the true Self. 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.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Real #Men #Self

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

#Peace #Mind #Reign

Silence is also conversation.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Silence #Chaos #Conversation

Your own Self-Realization is the greatest service you can render the world
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Life #Self #World

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.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Mean #Self #Quiet

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.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Wind #Self #Worry

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.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Heart #Self #Grace

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

#Mean #Light #Giving

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

#Yoga #Mind #Stills

Bliss is a thing which is always there and is not something which comes and goes. That which comes and goes is a creation of the mind.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Mind #Bliss #Creation

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 the paper. The wise person looks upon both paper and script as one.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Wise #Real #Paper

The fact is that the mind is only a bundle of thoughts. The mind is fattened by new thoughts rising up. Therefore it is foolish to attempt to kill the mind by means of the mind. The only way of doing it is to find its source and hold on to it. The mind will then fade away of its own accord.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Mean #Rising Up #Mind

There is nothing wrong with God's creation. Mystery and Suffering only exist in the mind.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Mind #Suffering

The Higher Power knows what to do and how to do it. Trust it.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Higher Power #Higher

Instead of indulging in mere speculation, devote yourself here and now to the search for the Truth that is ever within you.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Here And Now #Speculation

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.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Trying #May #Silent

Turn your vision inward and the whole world will be full of supreme spirit.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Meditation #Vision #World

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.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Spiritual #Pain #Self

Grace is ever present. All that is necessary is that you surrender to it.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Grace #Surrender

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.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Real #Sea #Differences

True Silence is really endless speech.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Silence #Speech #Endless

Good thoughts keep off bad thoughts. They must themselves disappear before the state of realization.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Yoga #Realization #Disappear

How to get rid of the mind? Is it the mind that wants to kill itself? 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.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Real #Self #Worry

Realisation is nothing new to be acquired. It is already there, but obstructed by a screen of thoughts. All our attempts are directed to lifting this screen and then realisation is revealed.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Inspiration #Practice #Meditation

Seeing God without seeing the Self, one sees only mental image. Only he who has seen Himself has seen God, since he has lost individuality, and now sees nothing but God.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Self #Individuality #Age

When one makes the mind stick to one thought, the mind becomes rock-steady and the energy is conserved.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Yoga #Rocks #Mind

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.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Religious #Giving Up #Powerful

Meditation depends upon the strength of mind. It must be unceasing even when one is engaged in work. Particular time for it is meant for novices.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Yoga #Meditation #Mind

Meditation is sticking to one thought. That single thought keeps away other thoughts; distraction of mind is a sign of its weakness; by constant meditation it gains strength.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Yoga #Meditation #Mind

Nearly all mankind is more or less unhappy because nearly all do not know the true Self. Real happiness abides in Self-knowledge alone. All else is fleeting. To know one's Self is to be blissful always.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Happiness #Real #Self

The mind is only a bundle of thoughts. The thoughts have their root in the I-thought. Whoever investigates the True "I" enjoys the stillness of bliss.
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Yoga #Roots #Mind

All that one gives to others one gives to one's self. If this truth is understood, who will not give to others?
-- Ramana Maharshi

#Self #Giving #Generosity