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

Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi
D.: It is said Atma samstham manah krtva (fixing the mind in the
Self). But the Self is unthinkable.
M.: Why do you wish to meditate at all? Because you wish to do so
you are told Atma samstham manah krtva (fixing the mind in the
Self); why do you not remain as you are without meditating? What
is that manah (mind)? When all thoughts are eliminated it becomes
Atma samstha (fixed in the Self).
D.: If a form is given I can meditate on it and other thoughts are
eliminated. But the Self is formless.
M.: Meditation on forms or concrete objects is said to be dhyana, whereas
the enquiry into the Self is vichara (enquiry) or nididhyasana.
Explaining adhyaropapavadabhyam (superimposition and its
elimination), Sri Bhagavan pointed out that the first turns you
inward to the Self; and then according to the second, you know
that the world is not apart from the Self.
16th December, 1936
Talk 295.
Mr. Natverlal Parekh, a Gujerati gentleman who had attended the
International Religious Conference as a delegate from Baroda, came
here on a visit. He is a young man, well-groomed, alert, and quite
conscious of his well-earned merit. He presented a note containing
some questions to Sri Bhagavan.
D.: Pray help me realise Atma - Paramatma - Satchidananda.
M.: Atma - Paramatma - Satchidananda mean one and the same thing,
i.e., the Self. The Self is eternally realised. Otherwise there will
be no pleasure in it. If it is not eternal it must have a beginning;
what begins will also end; so that it is only transient. There is no
use seeking for a temporary state of affairs. The fact is that it is the
state of effortless, ever alert Peace. Effortlessness while remaining
aware is the state of Bliss, and that is Realisation.
D.: I do not want intellectual answers. I want them to be practical.
M.: Yes. Direct knowledge does not require intellectual discourses.
Since the Self is directly experienced by everyone, they are not at all
necessary. Everyone says “I am”. Is there anything more to realise?
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