Quotessence
Home / Authors / Ramana Maharshi
Ramana Maharshi

Ramana Maharshi Quotes

Author

Filter quotes by topic

AllSelfMindIfsHeartWorldRealKnowsMeditationYogaEgoRealizationThinkingStatesBodyDoeSpiritualConsciousnessSelf RealizationPracticeSilence

Famous Ramana Maharshi Quotes

“How does one get rid of fear? Ramana: What is fear? It is only a thought. If there is anything besides the Self there is reason to fear. Who sees things separate from the Self? First the ego arises and sees objects as external. If the ego does not rise, the Self alone exists and there is nothing external. For anything external to oneself implies the existence of the seer within. Seeking it there will eliminate doubt and fear. Not only fear, all other thoughts centred round the ego will disappear along with it.”

IfsFirstsDoeSelfReasonExistenceDoubtDyingObjectsEgoRoundsOneselfSeekingDisappearAriseFear NotSeersDoubt And Fear
Book:Be As You Are: The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi
Create image

“It is false to speak of realization. What is there to realize? The real is as it is always. We are not creating anything new or achieving something which we did not have before. The illustration given in books is this. We dig a well and create a huge pit. The space in the pit or well has not been created by us. We have just removed the earth which was filling the space there. The space was there then and is also there now. Similarly we have simply to throw out all the age-long sanskaras [innate tendencies] which are inside us. When all of them have been given up, the Self will shine alone.”

WellsLongHas BeensBookRealSelfAgeEarthSpeakGivenSpaceAchieveHugeCreatingShiningSelf RealizationTendenciesRealizationRealisingFillingInnatePitsGiven UpIllustrationRealisationSelf RealisationSelf WillSamskara
Author:Ramana Maharshi
Create image

“If a man considers that he is born, he cannot avoid the fear of death. Let him find out if he has been born or if the Self has any birth. He will discover that the Self always exists, that the body that is born resolves itself into thought and that the emergence of thought is the root of all mischief. Find from where thoughts emerge. Then you will be able to abide in the ever-present inmost Self and be free from the idea of birth or the fear of death.”

IfsMenHas BeensIdeasSelfBodyAbleFearBornDyingBirthRootsResolveFear Of DeathMischiefEmergence
Author:Ramana Maharshi
Create image

“The master is within; meditation is meant to remove the ignorant idea that he is only outside. If he is a stranger whom you await, he is bound to disappear also. What is the use of a transient being like that? But so long as you think you are separate or that you are the body, an external master is also necessary and he will appear to have a body. When the wrong identification of oneself with the body ceases, the master will be found to be none other than the Self.”

IfsThinkingLongIdeasSelfUseBodyFoundMeditationMastersBoundsOneselfStrangerDisappearCeaseIgnorantRemoveIdentificationTransient
Author:Ramana Maharshi
Create image

“Jnana is given neither from outside nor from another person. It can be realised by each and everyone in his own Heart. The jnana Guru of everyone is only the Supreme Self that is always revealing its own truth in every Heart through the being-conciousness 'I am, I am.' The granting of true knowledge by him is initiation into jnana. The grace of the Guru is only that Self-awareness that is one's own true nature. It is the inner conciousness by which he is unceasingly revealing his existence. This divine upadesa is always going on naturally in everyone.”

HeartPersonsSelfGivenExistenceGraceAwarenessDivineSelf AwarenessSupremeRevealingGuruRealisedTrue NatureInitiationTrue Knowledge
Author:Ramana Maharshi
Create image

“Willpower should be understood to be the strength of the mind, which makes it capable of meeting success or failure with equanimity. It is not synonymous with certain success. Why should one's attempts always be attended by success? Success breeds arrogance and man's spiritual progress is thus arrested. Failure, on the other hand, is beneficial, inasmuch as it opens his eyes to his limitations and prepares him to surrender himself. Self surrender is synonymous with eternal happiness.”

MenShouldMindSelfHandsEyeSpiritualCertainProgressEternalCapableUnderstoodMeetingsSurrenderLimitationArroganceHis EyesWillpowerBeneficialArrestedEquanimitySuccess Or FailureEternal HappinessSpiritual Progress
Author:Ramana Maharshi
Create image

“If one wants to abide in the thought-free state, a struggle is inevitable. One must fight one's way through before regaining one's original primal state. If one succeeds in the fight and reaches the goal, the enemy, namely the thoughts, will all subside in the Self and disappear entirely.”

IfsThinkingWayWantSelfStatesFightingGoalEnemyStruggleSucceedOriginalsDisappearInevitablePrimalFree State
Book:Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi
Create image

“Keep the remembrance of your real nature alive, even while working, and avoid haste which causes you to forget. Be deliberate. Practice meditation to still the mind and cause it to become aware of its true relationship to the Self which supports it. Do not imagine that it is you who are doing the work. Think that is the underlying current which is doing it. Identify yourself with the current.”

ThinkingMindStillsRealSelfInspirationCausesForgetPracticeSupportMeditationAliveImagineCurrentsImagine ThatRemembranceDeliberateHasteDeliberate PracticeTrue Relationship
Author:Ramana Maharshi
Create image

“Happiness is your real nature. You identify with yourself with the body and mind, feel it's limitations, and suffer. Realize your true self in order to open the store of happiness. That true self is the reality, the Supreme Truth, which is the self of all the world you now see, the self of all the selves, the One real, the Supreme, the Eternal self - as distinct from the ego or the bodily idea for the self.”

WorldFeelsMindIdeasRealSelfBodyRealitySufferingOrderRealizingEgoEternalStoresSupremeLimitationTrue SelfMind And Body
Author:Ramana Maharshi
Create image