Talks With Ramana Maharshi Quotes

“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. But some of these
rules and discipline are good for beginners.”
― Ramana Maharshi, Talks With Ramana Maharshi: On Realizing Abiding Peace and Happiness

“What is illusion?
M.: 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.”
― Ramana Maharshi, Talks With Ramana Maharshi: On Realizing Abiding Peace and Happiness

“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. This is done by ignoring the external world and removing the obstacles to peace of mind.”
― Ramana Maharshi, Talks With Ramana Maharshi: On Realizing Abiding Peace and Happiness

“The pure mind is itself Brahman; it therefore follows that Brahman is not other than the mind of the sage.”
― Ramana Maharshi, Talks With Ramana Maharshi: On Realizing Abiding Peace and Happiness

“Real peace is happiness. Pleasures do not form happiness.”
― Ramana Maharshi, Talks With Ramana Maharshi: On Realizing Abiding Peace and Happiness

“Solitude is in the mind of man. One might be in the thick of the world and maintain serenity of mind; such a one is in solitude. Another may stay in a forest, but still be unable to control his mind. He cannot be said to be in solitude. Solitude is a function of the mind. A man attached to desire cannot get solitude wherever he may be; a detached man is always in solitude.”
― Ramana Maharshi, Talks With Ramana Maharshi: On Realizing Abiding Peace and Happiness

“The Heart is used in the Vedas and the scriptures to denote the place whence the notion ‘I’ springs. Does it spring only from the fleshy ball? It springs within us somewhere right in the middle of our being. The ‘I’ has no location. Everything is the Self. There is nothing but that. So the Heart must be said to be the entire body of ourselves and of the entire universe, conceived as ‘I’. But to help the practiser we have to indicate a definite part of the Universe, or of the Body. So this Heart is pointed out as the seat of the Self. But in truth we are everywhere, we are all that is, and there is nothing else.”
― Ramana Maharshi, Talks With Ramana Maharshi: On Realizing Abiding Peace and Happiness

“Grace is ever present. The only thing necessary is that you surrender to it. (p. 369)”
― Ramana Maharshi, Talks With Ramana Maharshi: On Realizing Abiding Peace and Happiness

“Engage yourself in the living present. The future will take care of itself. Do not worry about the future. (p. 154)”
― Ramana Maharshi, Talks With Ramana Maharshi: On Realizing Abiding Peace and Happiness

“A jnani does not find anything different or separate from the Self. All are in the Self. It is wrong to imagine that there is the world, that there is a body in it and that you dwell in the body. If the Truth is known, the universe and what is beyond it will be found to be only in the Self. The outlook differs according to the sight of the person. The sight is from the eye. The eye must be located somewhere. If you are seeing with the gross eyes, you find others gross. If with subtle eyes (i.e., the mind), others appear subtle. If the eye becomes the Self, the Self being infinite, the eye is infinite. There is nothing else to see different from the Self. (p. 77)”
― Ramana Maharshi, Talks With Ramana Maharshi: On Realizing Abiding Peace and Happiness

“The Self is the only Reality. (p. 38)”
― Ramana Maharshi, Talks With Ramana Maharshi: On Realizing Abiding Peace and Happiness

“It will come all right in the end. There is the steady impulse of your determination that sets you on your feet again after every downfall. Gradually the obstacles are all overcome and your current becomes stronger. Everything comes right in the end. Steady determination is what is required. (p. 27)”
― Ramana Maharshi, Talks With Ramana Maharshi: On Realizing Abiding Peace and Happiness

“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, and make all this a habit. This is done by ignoring the external world and removing the obstacles to peace of mind. (p. 20)”
― Ramana Maharshi, Talks With Ramana Maharshi: On Realizing Abiding Peace and Happiness

“The whole universe is only mental. (p. 351)”
― Ramana Maharshi, Talks With Ramana Maharshi: On Realizing Abiding Peace and Happiness

“Prayer is not verbal; it is from the Heart. To merge into the Heart is prayer. That is also Grace. (p. 237)”
― Ramana Maharshi, Talks With Ramana Maharshi: On Realizing Abiding Peace and Happiness

“Do your actions without caring for the result. Do not think that you are the doer. Dedicate the work to God. (p. 236)”
― Ramana Maharshi, Talks With Ramana Maharshi: On Realizing Abiding Peace and Happiness

“A Higher Power is leading you. Be led by the same. The Higher Power knows what to do and how to do it. Trust it. (p. 182)”
― Ramana Maharshi, Talks With Ramana Maharshi: On Realizing Abiding Peace and Happiness

“Surrender, and all will be well. Throw all responsibility onto God. Do not bear the burden yourself. (p. 158)”
― Ramana Maharshi, Talks With Ramana Maharshi: On Realizing Abiding Peace and Happiness

“Be as you are. (p. 118)”
― Ramana Maharshi, Talks With Ramana Maharshi: On Realizing Abiding Peace and Happiness

“If you understand your own reality, then that of the rishis and Masters will be clear to you. There is only one Master and that is the Self […] The power is only one in all. (p. 110-111)”
― Ramana Maharshi, Talks With Ramana Maharshi: On Realizing Abiding Peace and Happiness

“The universe is only expanded Self. It is not different from the Self. (p. 77)”
― Ramana Maharshi, Talks With Ramana Maharshi: On Realizing Abiding Peace and Happiness

“First set yourself right, and only then set out to improve others. Change the hearts of men and the world will surely change. But one must begin somewhere; and one can only begin with oneself.”
― Ramana Maharshi, Talks With Ramana Maharshi: On Realizing Abiding Peace and Happiness

“They say that there are many saints in Tibet who remain in solitude and are still very helpful to the world... "It can be so. Realisation of the Self is the greatest help that can be rendered to humanity. Therefore, the saints are said to be helpful, though they remain in forests. But it should not be forgotten that solitude is not in forest only. It can be had even in towns, in the thick of worldly occupations.”
― Ramana Maharshi, Talks With Ramana Maharshi: On Realizing Abiding Peace and Happiness

“Does the realized being tell you that the world is full of pain? It is the other one who feels the pain and seeks the help of the wise saying that the world is painful. Then the wise one explains from his experience that if one withdraws within the Self, there is an end of pain. The pain is felt so long as the object is different from oneself. But when the Self is found to be an undivided whole, who and what is there to feel? The realized mind is the Holy Spirit and the other mind is the home of the devil. For the realized being this is the Kingdom of Heaven: „The Kingdom of Heaven is within you.“ That Kingdom is here and now. (p. 387)”
― Ramana Maharshi, Talks With Ramana Maharshi: On Realizing Abiding Peace and Happiness

“Is the cinema screen affected by a scene of fire burning or sea rising? So it is with the Self. The idea that I am the body or the mind is so deeply ingrained that one cannot get over it, even if convinced otherwise. One experiences a dream and knows it to be unreal on waking. Waking experience is unreal in other states. So each state contradicts the others. They are therefore mere changes taking place in the seer, or phenomena appearing in the Self, which is unbroken and remains unaffected by them. Just as the waking, dream and sleep states are phenomena, so also birth, growth and death are phenomena in the Self, which continues to be unbroken and unaffected. Birth and death are only ideas. They pertain to the body or the mind. The Self exists before the birth of this body and will remain after the death of this body.

So it is with the series of bodies taken up in succession. The Self is immortal. The phenomena are changeful and appear mortal. The fear of death is of the body. It is not true of the Self. Such fear is due to ignorance. Realization means True Knowledge of the Perfection and Immortality of the Self. Mortality is only an idea and cause of misery. You get rid of it by realizing the Immortal nature of the Self. (p. 386)”
― Ramana Maharshi, Talks With Ramana Maharshi: On Realizing Abiding Peace and Happiness

“The srutis and the sages say that the objects are only mental creations. They have no substantive being. Investigate the matter and ascertain the truth of this statement. The result will be the conclusion that the objective world is in the subjective consciousness. The Self is thus the only Reality that permeates and also envelops the world. Since there is no duality, no thoughts will arise to disturb your peace. This is Realization of the Self. (p. 382)”
― Ramana Maharshi, Talks With Ramana Maharshi: On Realizing Abiding Peace and Happiness

“(Ramana Maharshi's advice on depression) This depression must be traced to its origin. The origin is the wrong identification of the body with the Self. The disease is not of the Self. It is of the body. But the body does not come and tell you that it is possessed by the disease. It is you who say so. Why? Because you have wrongly identified yourself with the body. The body itself is a thought. Be as you really are. There is no reason to be depressed. (p. 360)”
― Ramana Maharshi, Talks With Ramana Maharshi: On Realizing Abiding Peace and Happiness

“God never forsakes one who has surrendered (mam ekam saranam vraja)”
― Ramana Maharshi, Talks With Ramana Maharshi: On Realizing Abiding Peace and Happiness

“The seat of Realization is within and the seeker cannot find it as an object outside him. That seat is bliss and is the core of all beings; hence it is called the Heart. The only useful purpose of the present birth is to turn within and realize it. There is nothing else to do. (p. 146)”
― Ramana Maharshi, Talks With Ramana Maharshi: On Realizing Abiding Peace and Happiness

“I Am is the name of God. Of all the definitions of God, none is indeed so well put as the Biblical statement "I Am that I Am" in Exodus (chap. 3). There are other statements, such as Brahmaivaham, Aham Brahmasmi, and Soham. But none is so direct as the name Jehovah = I Am. The Absolute Being is what is – it is the Self. It is God. Knowing the Self, God is known. In fact, God is none other than the Self. (p. 76)”
― Ramana Maharshi, Talks With Ramana Maharshi: On Realizing Abiding Peace and Happiness