The Mind - From Ramana Maharishi
Q: How can the mind be made to go?
M: No attempt should be made to destroy it. To think or wish is in
itself a thought. If the thinker is sought, the thoughts will
disappear.
Q: Will they disappear by themselves? It seems so difficult.
M: They will disappear because they are unreal. The idea of difficulty
is itself an obstacle to realization. It must be overcome. To remain
as the Self is not difficult. This thought of difficulty is the chief
obstacle.
A little practice in discovering the source of ‘I’ will make you think
differently. Absolute freedom from thoughts is the state conducive to
such recognition of the Self. Mind is but an aggregate of thoughts.
Q: I begin to ask myself ‘Who am I?’ and eliminate the body as not
‘I’, the prana as not ‘I’, the mind as not ‘I’ and I am not able to
proceed further.
M: Well, that is as far as the intellect goes. Your process is only
intellectual. Indeed all the scriptures mention the process only to
guide the seeker to know the truth.
The truth cannot be directly pointed out, hence this intellectual
process. You see, the one who eliminates all the ‘not-I’ cannot
eliminate the ‘I’. To say ‘I am not this,’ or ‘I am that’, there must
be the ‘I’. This ‘I’ is only the ego or the ‘I’- thought.
Once the ‘I’-thought has arisen, all other thoughts follow. The
‘I’-thought is therefore the root-thought. If the root is eliminated
all others are uprooted. Ask yourself ‘Who am I?’
Find its source. Then all these will vanish and the pure Self will
remain. The ‘I’ is always there - there is always the feeling of ‘I’,
otherwise could you deny your existence?
The reality of yourself cannot be questioned. The Self is the primal
reality. The ordinary person unconsciously takes reality to be their
true inner reality plus everything which has come into their
consciousness as pertaining to themselves - body, etc. This they have
to unlearn.
--
Thanks and best regards
J.Suresh
New No.3, Old No.7,
Chamiers road - 1st Lane,
Alwarpet,
Chennai - 600018
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