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

Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi
M.: If the meditator and meditation be understood to be the same
there will be no headache or similar complaints.
D.: But they are different. How shall we consider them to be the same?
M.: That is due to your outlook. There is only one and there are no
differences. On meditation the relative consciousness will vanish. That
is not annihilation; for Absolute Consciousness arises. The Bible itself
says, “The Kingdom of Heaven is within you” . . . If you consider
yourself to be the body there is some difficulty in understanding the
statement. On the other hand if you know who you really are, the
Kingdom of Heaven and all are included in your true Self. They are
concepts arising after the ego has arisen. Drishtim jnanamayeem krtva
pasyet Brahmamayam jagat (Direct your look within and make it
absolute). With that absolute awareness realised, look without and you
will realise the universe to be not apart from the realised Absolute.
Because your outlook is externally directed you speak of a without. In that
state you are advised to look within. This within is relative to the without
you are seeking. In fact, the Self is neither without nor within.
Speaking of Heaven one thinks of it as above or below, within or
without, since one is accustomed to relative knowledge. One seeks
only objective knowledge and hence these ideas.
Really speaking there is neither up nor down, neither in nor out.
If they were real they must be present in dreamless sleep also. For
what is real must be continuous and permanent. Did you feel ‘in’
or ‘out’ in sleep? Of course not.
D.: I do not remember.
M.: If there was anything there that could be remembered. But you
admit your existence then. The same Self is now speaking. The Self
who was undifferentiated in sleep is differentiated in the present state,
and sees the diversity. The Real Existence is the only One devoid of
objective knowledge. That is absolute consciousness. That is the state
of happiness, as admitted by all of us. That state must be brought about
even in this waking state. It is called jagrat sushupti. That is mukti.
D.: The ego is the one which reincarnates.
M.: Yes. But what is reincarnation? The ego remains the same. New
bodies appear and hold it. The ego does not change. It does not leave
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