Ramana Maharshi Quotes

“If the mind falls asleep, awaken it. Then if it starts wandering, make it quiet. If you reach the state where there is neither sleep nor movement of mind, stay still in that, the natural (real) state.”

— Ramana Maharshi

“Realisation is not acquisition of anything new nor is it a new faculty. It is only removal of all camouflage”

— Ramana Maharshi

“Remain still, with the conviction that the Self shines as everything yet nothing, within, without, and everywhere.”

— Ramana Maharshi

“Let come what comes, let go what goes. See what remains.”

— Ramana Maharshi

“Actions yield result by the ordinance of God as He wills.”

— Ramana Maharshi

“You need not aspire for or get any new state. Get rid of your present thoughts, that is all.”

— Ramana Maharshi

“If there is anything besides the Self there is reason to fear? Who sees the second? First, the ego arises and sees objects as external. If the ego does not rise, the Self alone exists and there is no second.”

— Ramana Maharshi

“I have never said that there is no need for a guru. All depends on what you call guru. He need not be in a human form.”

— Ramana Maharshi

“To perform one's duty is the greatest service to God.”

— Ramana Maharshi

“Although the modes of meditation may appear to be different from one another, in the end all of them become one. There is no need to doubt this. One may adopt that path which suits the maturity of one's mind.”

— Ramana Maharshi

“How is breath control the means for mind control? M: There is no doubt that breath control is the means for mind control, because the mind, like breath, is a part of air, because the nature of mobility is common to both, because the place of origin is the same for both, and because when one of them is controlled the other gets controlled.”

— Ramana Maharshi

Enlightened enquiry alone leads to liberation. Supernatural powers are all illusory appearances created by the power of maya (mayashakti). Self-realization which is permanent is the only true accomplishment (siddhi). Accomplishments which appear and disappear, being the effect of maya, cannot be real. They are accomplished with the object of enjoying fame, pleasures, etc. They come unsought to some persons through their karma. Know that union with Brahman is the real aim of all accomplishments. This is also the state of liberation (aikya mukti) known as union (sayujya).

— Ramana Maharshi

It is every intelligent man's experience that evildoing recoils on the doer sooner or later.

— Ramana Maharshi

“Suffering turns men towards their creator.”

— Ramana Maharshi

“Doubts never end. If one doubt is removed, another takes its place. It is like removing the leaves of a tree one by one. Even if all the leaves are clipped off, new ones grow. The tree itself must be uprooted.”

— Ramana Maharshi

Experiences such as, 'I went; I came; I was; I did,' come naturally to everyone. From these experiences, does it not appear that the consciousness 'I' is the subject of those various acts? Enquiry into the true nature of that consciousness, and remaining as oneself, is the way to understand, through enquiry, one's true nature.

— Ramana Maharshi

“The greatest error of a man is to think that he is weak by nature, evil by nature. Every man is divine and strong in his real nature. What are weak and evil are his habits, his desires and thoughts, but not himself.”

— Ramana Maharshi

Who am I? Not the body, because it is decaying; not the mind, because the brain will decay with the body; not the personality, nor the emotions, for these also will vanish with death.

— Ramana Maharshi

“Why should you trouble yourself about the future? You do not even properly know about the present. Take care of the present, the future will take care of itself.”

— Ramana Maharshi

“Of all the thoughts that rise in the mind, the thought 'I' is the first thought.”

— Ramana Maharshi

“If one's mind has peace, the whole world will appear peaceful.”

— Ramana Maharshi

“Turn your vision inward and the whole world will be full of supreme spirit.”

— Ramana Maharshi

“It is not enough that one surrenders oneself. Surrender is to give oneself up to the original cause of one's being. Do not delude yourself by imagining such a source to be some God outside you. One's source is within oneself. Give yourself up to it. That means that you should seek the source and merge in it.”

— Ramana Maharshi

“That which rises and sinks is made up of what it rises from. The finality of the universe is the God Arunachala. Meditating on Him or on the seer, the Self, there is a mental vibration 'I' to which all are reduced. Tracing the source of 'I', the primal 'I-I' alone remains over, and it is inexpressible. The seat of Realisation is within and the seeker cannot find it as an object outside him. That seat is bliss and is the core of all beings. Hence it is called the Heart. The only useful purpose of the present birth is to turn within and realise it. There is nothing else to do.”

— Ramana Maharshi

“If you make the thief the policeman there will be lots of investigation but no arrests will ever be made.”

— Ramana Maharshi

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.

— Ramana Maharshi

“Beyond the belief that something can be lost, there is nothing to lose.”

— Ramana Maharshi

“The normal self is the mind. The mind is with limitations. But pure Consciousness is beyond limitations, and is reached by investigation into the "I."”

— Ramana Maharshi

“Meditation depends upon the strength of mind. It must be unceasing even when one is engaged in work. Particular time for it is meant for novices.”

— Ramana Maharshi

“Silence is never-ending speech. Vocal speech obstructs the other speech of silence. In silence one is in intimate contact with the surroundings. Language is only a medium for communicating one's thoughts to another. Silence is ever speaking.”

— Ramana Maharshi

“The very fact that we wish for liberation shows that freedom from all bondage is our real nature. It is not to be freshly acquired. All that is necessary is to get rid of the false notion that we are bound.”

— Ramana Maharshi

“If you observe awareness steadily, this awareness itself becomes the Guru that will reveal the Truth.”

— Ramana Maharshi

“When we turn the mind inwards, God manifests as the inner consciousness.”

— Ramana Maharshi

“You do not like to suffer yourself. How can you inflict suffering on others?”

— Ramana Maharshi

“The Seeker himself becomes the knower. The thing to be known is already there. There is nothing to be known afresh. More-over there are no two things. There is only the seer, the knower.”

— Ramana Maharshi

“See who is in the subject. The investigation leads you to pure consciousness beyond the subject.”

— Ramana Maharshi

“We loosely talk of Self-realization, for lack of a better term. But how can one realize that which alone is real? All we need to do is to give up our habit of regarding as real that which is unreal. All religious practices are meant solely to help us do this.”

— Ramana Maharshi

We are so engrossed with the objects,
or appearances revealed by the light,
that we pay no attention to the light.

— Ramana Maharshi

“That is the ego which rises and sinks periodically. But you exist always. That which lies beyond the ego is consciousness - the Self.”

— Ramana Maharshi

“The world is illusory, Only Brahman is real, Brahman is the world”

— Ramana Maharshi

If the ego rises, all else will also rise; if it subsides, all else will also subside.

— Ramana Maharshi

“You are already That which you seek.”

— Ramana Maharshi

“Realisation is nothing new to be acquired. It is already there, but obstructed by a screen of thoughts. All our attempts are directed to lifting this screen and then realisation is revealed.”

— Ramana Maharshi

There is no reaching the Self. If Self were to be reached, it would mean that the Self is not here and now but that it is yet to be obtained. What is got afresh will also be lost. So it will be impermanent. What is not permanent is not worth striving for. So I say the Self is not reached. You are the Self; you are already That.

— Ramana Maharshi

“Yogas chitta vritti nirodhah - (Yoga is to check the mind from changing) - which is acceptable to all. That is also the goal of all. The method is chosen according to one's own fitness. The goal for all is the same. Yet different names are given to the goal only to suit the process preliminary to reaching the goal. Bhakti, Yoga, Jnana are all the same.”

— Ramana Maharshi

“Truth burns up all karma and frees you from all births.”

— Ramana Maharshi

“An unawakened person sees only his mind, which is merely a reflection of the light of pure consciousness arising from the Heart.”

— Ramana Maharshi

“The world is not outside you.”

— Ramana Maharshi

There are no impediments to meditation. The very thought of such obstacles is the greatest impediment.

— Ramana Maharshi

He who has realized the Self in the Heart has transcended the dualities and is never perplexed.

— Ramana Maharshi