Chapter 1
How to attain Knowledge (Jnana)?

5. Virtue and vice, pleasure and pain, are of the mind, not you, O All pervading One. You are neither doer nor enjoyer. Verily you are ever free.

9. That (Consciousness) in which the universe appears, being conceived like a snake in a rope, is Bliss - Supreme Bliss. You are that Consciousness. Be happy.

10. One who considers oneself free is free indeed and one who considers oneself bound remains bound. "As one thinks, so one becomes," is a popular saying in this world, which is true

11. The Self is the witness and all-pervading perfect, one, free, intelligence, actionless, unattached, desireless and quiet. Through illusion it appears of the world.

13. My child, you have long been trapped by body consciousness. Sever the trap with the sword of the knowledge "I am Intelligence" and be happy.

17. Know that which has form to be unreal and the formless to be permanent. Through this spiritual instruction y ou will escape the possibility of rebirth.

19. As the same all pervading ether is inside and outside the jar, even so the eternal all pervasive Brahman exists in all things.

In whatever you perceive you alone appear. Completely give up all such distinctions as 'I am he' and 'I am not this'. Consider all as thy self.

The mind is a bundle of thoughts. But the source of all thoughts is the I - thought. So if you try to find out who this 'I' is, the mind will disappear. The mind will exist only so long as you think of external things. But when you draw it from external things and make it think of the mind or 'I' - in other words introvert it - it ceases to exist.

If the mind is distracted, ask the question promptly, "To whom do these distracting thoughts arise?" That takes you back to the 'I' point promptly.

Search for the source of the 'I - thought'. That is all that one has to do. The universe exists on account of the 'I - thought'. If that ends there is an end of misery also. The false 'I' will end only when its source is sought.

Trace, then, the ultimate cause of 'I' or personality. From where does this 'I' arise? Seek for it within; it then vanishes .... When the mind unceasingly investigates its own nature, it transpires that there is no such thing as mind.

Self-Realisation will come to an earnest seeker in a trice.

The marks of an earnest disciple are an intense longing for the removal of sorrow and attainement of joy and an intense aversion for all kinds of mundane pleasure.

There is consciousness along with quietness in the mind; that is exactly the state to be aimed at.

The mind alone is the kundalini. It is described otherwise as a serpent only for those having a gross outlook. The six yogic centres and so on are all only mental imaginations and are meant only for beginners in yoga.

The ego is described as having three bodies, the gross, the subtle and the causal, but that is only for the purpose of analytical exposition. If the method of enquiry were to depend on the ego’s form you may take it that any enquiry would become altogether impossible, because the forms the ego may assume are legion. Therefore, for the purposes of self-enquiry, you have to proceed on the basis that the ego has but one form, namely that of the ‘I’-thought.

Ramana to Ganapati Sastri

Ganapati Muni:
Pray enlighten me as to the nature of tapas.

Ramana:
If one watches whence the notion ‘I’ arises, the mind gets absorbed there; that is tapas. When a mantra is repeated, if one watches whence that mantra sound arises, the mind gets absorbed there; that is tapas.

--

Bhagavan: For those who cannot reach through jnana-marga [i.e. Self-enquiry] the place [source] where ‘I’ exists, it is better to know during japa the place where the supreme Word [para-vak] shines.

Sadhu Om: After seeing the following verse composed by Sri Muruganar [which is a venba, a four line verse], Sri Bhagavan composed the above verse [which is a kural venba, a two line verse] giving the same idea in a terser form.

706. For those who cannot dive deep within through silence, the keenest knowledge, seeking “What is the source from which the ‘I’ rises?”, it is better to scrutinize while mentally doing japa wherefrom the supreme Word [para-vak] comes.

Sadhu Om: In the above two verses, Sri Bhagavan has explained the secret behind the second of the two instructions which he gave to Kavyakantha Ganapati Sastri on 18th November 1907.
When Ganapati Sastri approached Sri Bhagavan and prayed for instructions concerning the nature of true tapas, Sri Bhagavan at first remained silent and quietly gazed at him for about fifteen minutes. Then Ganapati Sastri again prayed, “I have read about such mouna-upadesa in sastras, but I am unable to understand it. Graciously instruct me through speech also”. The first instruction then given by Sri Bhagavan was His basic teaching [yathartha upadesa] ‘Who am I?’, that is, to attend to the source from which ‘I’ rises. But being bewildered by the novelty of this upadesa, Ganapati Sastri again asked, “Can that same state be achieved through japa also?” Therefore, seeing that the devotee had a great liking for japa, Sri Bhagavan gave His second instruction, namely “If one repeats a mantra and if one watches wherefrom the sound of that mantra starts, there the mind will sub- side; that is tapas.”

GURU VACHAKA KOVAI

The Ordainer controls the fate of souls in accordance with their prarabdhakarma (destiny to be worked out in this life, resulting from the balance-sheet of actions in past lives). 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.

Maharaj on trust

"If you trust me, believe when I tell you that you are the pure awareness that illumines consciousness and its infinite content. Realise this and live accordingly.

If you do not believe me, then go within, enquiring ‘What am I?’ or, focus your mind on ‘I am’, which is pure and simple being."