GEMS FROM CONVERSATIONS WITH RAMANA MAHARSHI

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

The mind is nothing but the thought 'I'.

Thoughts arise because of the thinker (subject). The thinker is the ego, which if sought will automatically vanish.

The body itself is a thought. Be as you really are (consciousness, awareness, Being-ness, spirit).

What does it matter if the mind is active? It is only so on the substratum of the Self (awareness). Hold on to the Self (awareness), even during mental activity.

Realization consists of getting rid of the false idea that one is not realized (conscious, aware).

Because people want something elaborate and mysterious, so many religions have come into existence. Only those who are mature can understand the matter in its naked simplicity (existence as bodiless awareness).

Realization is nothing to be gained anew. You are the Self (awareness, Being-ness, existence, consciousness). You are already and eternally That. There is never a moment when the Self is not; it is ever-present, here and now. If Realization was something to be gained hereafter, there would be an equal chance of its being lost; this cannot be Liberation, which is eternal.

We see only the script and not the paper on which it 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 on the paper. The wise person looks upon both paper and script as one.

Apart from thought, there is no independent entity called "world."

To identify oneself with the body and yet seek happiness is like attempting to cross a river on the back of an alligator.

There is neither past nor future (in consciousness); there is only the present. Yesterday was the present when you experienced it; tomorrow will also be the present when you experience it. Therefore, experience takes place only in the present, and beyond and apart from experience (being in the present moment), nothing exists. Even the present is mere imagination, for the sense of time is purely mental (formless consciousness alone exists).

The state we call Realization is simply being one's self, not knowing anything or becoming anything.