Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi Complete ... - BrahminVoice.org

Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi
Thus - you see - Devotion is nothing more than knowing oneself. The
school of Qualified Monism also admits it. Still, adhering to their
traditional doctrine, they persist in affirming that the individuals are
part of the Supreme - his limbs as it were. Their traditional doctrine
says also that the individual soul should be made pure and then
surrendered to the Supreme; then the ego is lost and one goes to the
regions of Vishnu after one’s death; then finally there is the enjoyment
of the Supreme (or the Infinite)!
To say that one is apart from the Primal Source is itself a pretension;
to add that one divested of the ego becomes pure and yet retains
individuality only to enjoy or serve the Supreme, is a deceitful
stratagem. What duplicity is this - first to appropriate what is really
His, and then pretend to experience or serve Him! Is not all this
already known to Him?
19th June, 1936
Talk 209.
Mr. B. C. Das, the Physics Lecturer, asked about free-will and destiny.
M.: Whose will is it? ‘It is mine’, you may say. You are beyond will
and fate. Abide as that and you transcend them both. That is the
meaning of conquering destiny by will. Fate can be conquered.
Fate is the result of past actions. By association with the wise the
bad tendencies are conquered. One’s experiences are then viewed
to their proper perspective.
I exist now. I am the enjoyer. I enjoy fruits of action. I was in the
past and shall be in the future. Who is this ‘I’? Finding this ‘I’ to
be pure Consciousness beyond action and enjoyment, freedom and
happiness are gained. There is then no effort, for the Self is perfect
and there remains nothing more to gain.
So long as there is individuality, one is the enjoyer and doer. But if
it is lost, the divine Will prevails and guides the course of events.
The individual is perceptible to others who cannot perceive divine
force. Restrictions and discipline are for other individuals and not
for the liberated.
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