there is nothing else to do

[Guest guest]

Ramakrishna Swami, a long-resident disciple, asked Maharshi the meaning of Twaiyarunachala Sarvam, a stanza in The Five Hymns.

Maharshi explained it in detail, saying that the universe is like a painting on a screen - the screen being the Red Hill, Arunachala. 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.

Disciple: How is annihilation of predispositions to be accomplished?

M.: You are in that condition in realisation.

D.: Does it mean that, holding on to the Self, the tendencies should be scorched as they begin to emerge?

M.: They will themselves be scorched if only you remain as you truly are.

Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi