Sri Ramana ..The Atma and mental tendencies

[Guest guest]

"You say that I am in the Atma, but where exactly is that Atma," the questioner

persisted. "If you abide in the heart and search patiently you will find it.

"The questioner still seemed unsatisfied and made the rather curious objection

that there was no room in his heart for him to stay in it. Bhagavan turned to

one of the devotees sitting there and said, smiling "Look how he worries about

where Atma is! What can I tell him? What is Atma? It is all-pervading. When I

tell him that it is called 'Heart' he says there is no room in it for him to

stay. What can I do? To say that there is no room in the heart after filling it

full of vasanas (inherent tendencies and cravings) is like grumbling that there

is no room to sit down in a house as big as Ceylon. If all the junk is thrown

out won't there be room? The body itself is junk. These people are like someone

who fills all the rooms of his house chock-full of junk which is not necessary

for his body, and then complains that there is no room for his body in it. In

the same way they fill the mind with all sorts of vasanas and then say there is

no room for the Self in it. If all the vasanas are swept away and thrown out

there will be plenty of room and it will all be Atma. Then there will be no such

thing as a separate 'I', so what need then for room, or who would occupy the

room? Instead of seeking the Self they say 'no room! no room!', just like

shutting your eyes and saying there is no sun. What can be done?"

 

The official Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi website - The Mountain Path January

1964 - Nagamma