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

Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi
pilgrim who was going south and would pass through the native village
of the young pandit. He requested the new acquaintance to tell his parents
that he would return after a few months with some funds and also that his
companion had died on the way. The man came to the village and found
the parents. He gave them the news, but changed the names of the two
men. Consequently the parents of the living man bemoaned his supposed
loss and the parents of the dead man were happy expecting the return of
their son bringing rich funds as well.
You see therefore that pleasure and pain have no relation to the
actualities but are mere mental modes.
Talk 615.
Another from the group asked: How is the ego to be destroyed?
M.: Hold the ego first and then ask how it is to be destroyed. Who asks
this question? It is the ego. Can the ego ever agree to kill itself? This
question is a sure way to cherish the ego and not to kill it. If you seek
the ego you will find it does not exist. That is the way to destroy it.
In this connection I am often reminded of a funny incident which
took place when I was living in the West Chitrai Street in Madura. A
neighbour in an adjoining house anticipated the visit of a thief to his
house. He took precautions to catch him. He posted policemen in mufti
to guard the two ends of the lane, the entrance and the back-door to his
own house. The thief came as expected and the men rushed to catch him.
He took in the situation at a glance and shouted “Hold him, hold him.
There - he runs - there - there.” Saying so he made good his escape.
So it is with the ego. Look for it and it will not be found. That is
the way to get rid of it.
23rd to 28th January, 1939
Talk 616.
D.: Is the Jivanadi an entity or a figment of the imagination?
M.: The yogis say that there is a nadi called the jivanadi, atmanadi or
paranadi. The Upanishads speak of a centre from which thousands
of nadis branch off. Some locate such a centre in the brain and
others in other centres. The Garbhopanishad traces the formation
of the foetus and the growth of the child in the womb. The jiva is
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