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

Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi
D.: Is work an obstruction to Self-realisation?
M.: No. For a realised being the Self alone is the Reality, and actions
are only phenomenal, not affecting the Self. Even when he acts he
has no sense of being an agent. His actions are only involuntary
and he remains a witness to them without any attachment.
There is no aim for this action. Even one who is still practising
the path of Wisdom (jnana) can practise while engaged in work. It
may be difficult in the earlier stages for a beginner, but after some
practice it will soon be effective and the work will not be found a
hindrance to meditation.
D.: What is the practice?
M.: Constant search for ‘I’, the source of the ego. Find out ‘Who am I?’
The pure ‘I’ is the reality, the Absolute Existence-Consciousness-
Bliss. When That is forgotten, all miseries crop up; when that is
held fast, the miseries do not affect the person.
D.: Is not brahmacharya (celibacy) necessary for realisation of the Self?
M.: Brahmacharya is ‘living in Brahman’. It has no connection with
celibacy as commonly understood. A real brahmachari, that is one
who lives in Brahman, finds bliss in the Brahman which is the
same as the Self. Why then should you look for other sources of
happiness? In fact the emergence from the Self has been the cause
of all the misery.
D.: Celibacy is a sine qua non for Yoga?
M.: So it is. Celibacy is certainly an aid to realisation among so many
other aids.
D.: Is it then not indispensable? Can a married man realise the Self?
M.: Certainly, it is a matter of fitness of mind. Married or unmarried,
a man can realise the Self, because that is here and now. If it were
not so, but attainable by some efforts at some other time, and if it
were new and something to be acquired, it would not be worthy of
pursuit. Because what is not natural cannot be permanent either.
But what I say is that the Self is here and now and alone.
D.: God being immanent in all, one should not take life of any kind. Is
society right in taking the life of a murderer? Can the State do so either?
The Christian countries begin to think that it is wrong to do so.
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