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

Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi
D.: The thinker is spirit.
M.: Do you then mean that spirit generates matter?
D.: I want to know.
M.: How do you distinguish between matter and spirit?
D.: Spirit is consciousness and the other not.
M.: Can consciousness generate non-consciousness, or light darkness?
24th January, 1939
Talk 614.
There were a few respectable men in the hall. Sri Bhagavan spoke to them
some time after their arrival. Where is the use of trying to remember the
past or discover the future? That which matters is only the present. Take
care of it and the other things will take care of themselves.
D.: Is it bad to desire something?
M.: One should not be elated on having his desire fulfilled or
disappointed on being frustrated. To be elated on the fulfilment
of desire is so deceitful. A gain will certainly be lost ultimately.
Therefore elation must end in pain at a future date. One should not
give place to feelings of pleasure or pain, come what may. How do
the events affect the person? You do not grow by acquiring something
nor wither away by losing it. You remain what you always are.
D.: We worldly men cannot resist desire.
M.: You may desire but be prepared for any eventuality. Make effort,
but do not be lost in the result. Accept with equanimity whatever
happens. For pleasure and pain are mere mental modes. They have
no relation to the objective realities.
D.: How?
M.: There were two young friends in a village in South India. They were
learned and wanted to earn something with which they might afford
relief to their respective families. They took leave of their parents and
went to Benares on a pilgrimage. On the way one of them died. The
other was left alone. He wandered for a time, and in the course of a few
months he made a good name and earned some money. He wanted to
earn more before he returned to his home. In the meantime he met a
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