Talks with Shri Ramana Maharshi

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Talks with Shri Ramana Maharshi on meditation:

 

 

Question: Should I meditate with the eyes open or closed?Bhagavan: You can meditate with the eyes open or shut, whichever suits youbest. It differs with different people. Seeing is when the mind looksthrough the eyes, but if it is not looking because it is focused within, itdoes not see even if the eyes are open. It is the same with sounds. Ifyou pay attention to them, you will hear them, but if you persistentlyfocus only on the Self within, you won't hear them.The point is that the mind must be introverted and kept active in itspursuit. Sometimes when the eyes are closed, latent thoughts rush forthwith great vigor. It may also be difficult to introvert the mind with theeyes open, as that requires strength of mind. When the mind takes inobjects it is contaminated. The main factor is to resist all otherthoughts and keep the mind on its own pursuit, without taking in externalimpressions or thinking of other matters.

 

Question: Which posture is best?Bhagavan: Any posture, possibly sukha asana (the half-lotus position). But posture is immaterial for the jnana path. Posture really meanssteadfast location in the Self. It is internal.There are different postures according to the different grades. The bestposture is to be in the Self. All these questions of posture and hathayoga arise only to those who have body-consciousness and think, "I am thebody." However, the yogis say, "Adopt the posture in which meditation iseasiest for you." But you may not necessarily have to adopt a yoga postureat all. If you find sitting in a chair or walking easier for you topractice meditation, then these are the right postures for you. Hatha yogais for beginners. Find the Self and remain in it, and you will not beconcerned about postures.The best posture is to plant the guru firmly in your Heart.

 

Question: When we fall from the path what should we do?Bhagavan: All will be well in the end. There is a steady determinationthat gets you on your feet again after a fall or break. Gradually theobstacles get weaker and your current gets stronger. Everything comesright in the end. Steady determination is what is required. A devotee was feeling despondent.Bhagavan: The question must be put, "Who is despondent?" It is thephantom of the ego which falls prey to such thoughts. In sleep the personis not afflicted. The sleep state is the normal one. Inquire and findout. Does one not find some kind of peace in meditation? That is a signof progress; that peace will be deeper and more prolonged with continuedpractice. It will also lead to the goal.Inasmuch as you say that you are ignorant, you are wise, and it makes yourway easier for the removal of ignorance. Is he a mad man who says that heis mad?The control of desire and meditation are interdependent. They must go handin hand. Abhyasa (practice) and vairagya (dispassion, non-attachment)bring about the result. Vairagya is to restrain the mind from projectingoutwards and abhyasa is to keep it turned inward. There is a constantstruggle within between control and meditation. Meditation will eventuallybe successful.If you seek God with your whole heart, then you may be assured that theGrace of God is also seeking you. Question: Is concentration one of the sadhanas (spiritual practices)?Bhagavan: Concentration is not thinking of one thing only. Rather, it isthe putting off of all other thoughts which obstruct the vision of our truenature. All our efforts are only directed towards lifting the veil ofignorance. Now it appears difficult to quell the thoughts, but in theregenerated state, it will be found more difficult to activate them! Whyshould we think of these things? There is the Self alone. Thoughts canfunction only if there are objects ­ but if there are no objects, how canthoughts arise at all? Habit makes us believe that it is difficult tocease thinking. If this error were discovered, one would not be so foolishas to exert oneself unnecessarily. Bhagavan: When attention is directed towards objects and intellect, themind is aware only of these things. That is our present state. But whenwe attend to the Self within, we become conscious of It alone. It istherefore all a matter of attention. Our mind has been attending toexternal things for so long, that the latter have enslaved it and drag ithither and thither.If the mind wanders, we must at once realize we are not the body andinquire, "Who am I?" and the mind must be brought back to realize the Self. Thus all evils are destroyed and happiness is realized.

Question: I cannot bring my mind to meditate.Bhagavan: When an elephant is free, it moves its trunk around and looksrestless, but if it is given a chain to hold, its trunk stays still. Similarly, without an aim, the mind is restless. If an aim is fixed, it isrestful. Concentration is impossible as long as there are samskaras(tendencies). Bhakti (devotion) is also obstructed. Practice anddispassion are necessary. Dispassion is the absence of diffused thoughts,and practice is concentration on one thought only. Firm perseverance isalso necessary. The one is positive and the other is a negative aspect ofmeditation.

Question: But how can I control the thoughts?Bhagavan: The wavering of the mind is because of its weakness due todissipation of its energy in the shape of thoughts. When we can get themind to stick to one thought, the energy is conserved and the mind becomesstronger. Strength of mind is gained by practice, as the Gita points out. At first, the mind reverts to the search only at long intervals; withcontinued practice it reverts at shorter intervals until finally it doesnot wander at all. It is then that the dormant shakti (divine power)manifests and the mind resolves itself into the life-current.

 

Question: Why can't the mind be turned inwards despite repeated attempts?Bhagavan: It is done by abhyasa (practice) and vairagya (dispassion) andsucceeds only slowly. The mind has been used to going outwards for solong, it is not easily turned inwards. A cow accustomed to grazing onothers' estates is not easily confined to its shed. However, its keepertempts it with luscious grass and fine fodder. It refuses the first time;then it takes a bit, but its innate tendency to stray asserts itself and itslips away. On being repeatedly tempted by the owner, it accustoms itselfto the stall. Finally, even if let loose, it would not stray. Similarlywith the mind. If once it finds its happiness within, it will not strayoutwards. Bhagavan: We all have to return to our source. Every human being isseeking their source and must one day come to it. We came from the Within;we have gone outward and now we must turn inward. What is meditation? Itis our natural Self. We have covered ourselves over with thoughts andpassions. To throw them off we must concentrate on one thought: the Self.The Self is like a powerful magnet hidden within us. It draws us graduallyto Itself, though we imagine we are going to It of our own accord. When weare near enough, It puts an end to our other activities, makes us still,and then swallows up our own personal current, thus killing ourpersonality. It overwhelms the intellect and floods the whole being. Wethink we are meditating upon It and developing towards It, whereas thetruth is that we are like iron-filings and It is the Atman-magnet that ispulling us towards Itself. Thus the process of finding Self is a form ofdivine magnetism.Bhagavan: It is necessary to practice meditation frequently and regularlyuntil the condition induced becomes habitual and permanent throughout theday. Therefore, meditate!You lost sight of the Bliss because your meditative attitude had not becomenatural and because of the recurrence of vasanas (latent tendencies of themind). When you become habitually reflective, the enjoyment of spiritualbeatitude becomes a matter of natural experience. It is not by the singlerealization of "I am not the body" that the goal of Atman is reached. Dowe become royalty by seeing a king once? One must constantly enter samadhi(absorption in the Self) and realize one's Self, and completely blot outthe old vasanas (tendencies) and the mind, before one becomes the Self.Bhagavan: If you keep to the thought of the Self, and intently watch forIt, then even that one thought which is used as a focus in concentrationwill disappear and you will simply BE, i.e. the true Self with no "I" orego.Meditation on the Self is our natural state. It is only because we find ithard that we imagine it to be an arbitrary and extraordinary state. We areall unnatural. The mind resting in the Self is its natural condition, butinstead of that, our minds are resting on outward objects. Question: There is nothing to be seen in the Real.Bhagavan: Because you are accustomed to identifying yourself with thebody, and sight with the eyes, you say you do not see anything. What isthere to be seen? Who is there to see? How do you see? There is only oneConsciousness, which manifests as the "I"-thought, identifies itself withthe body, projects itself through the eyes and sees the objects around. The individual is limited in the waking state and expects to see somethingdifferent. The evidence of his senses will be the seal of authority. Buthe will not admit that the seer, the seen and the sight are allmanifestations of the same Consciousness.Meditation helps to remove the illusion that the Self must be seen. How doyou see the "I" now? Do you hold a mirror in front of yourself to knowyour own being? The awareness is the "I." Realize that: it is the truth. Question: Why is it that sometimes I find concentration on the Self soeasy, and at other times hopelessly difficult?Bhagavan: Because of vasanas (latent tendencies of the mind). But really,it is easy, since we are the Self. All we have to do is to remember that. We keep on forgetting it, and thus think we are this body, or this ego. Ifthe will and desire to remember the Self are strong enough, they willeventually overcome vasanas. There must be a great battle going oninwardly all the time until the Self is realized. This battle issymbolically spoken of in scriptural writings as the fight between God andSatan. In our texts, it is the Mahabharata, in which the asuras (demons)represent our bad thoughts and the devas (gods) our elevated ones.Bhagavan: The final obstacle to meditation is ecstasy; when you feel greatbliss and happiness, the tendency is to stay in that ecstasy. Do not yieldto this, but pass onto the sixth stage, which is great calm. The calm ishigher than ecstasy and it merges into samadhi (absorption in the Self). Successful samadhi causes a waking sleep state to encompass you, when youare always Consciousness, for Consciousness is your nature. Hence a personis always in samadhi, only they do not know it. All one has to do is toremove the obstacles I have just mentioned.

 

Question: How can we restrain the mind?Bhagavan: Will a thief hand over a thief? Will the mind find itself? Themind cannot seek the mind. You have ignored what is real and are holdingonto the mind which is unreal, and are also trying to find out what it is. Was the mind there in your sleep? It was not, but it is here now. Themind is therefore impermanent. Can you find the mind? The mind is notyou. You think you are the mind, and therefore you ask me how it can berestrained. If it is there, it can be checked. But it is not. Understandthis truth by your own search. You will discover that searching forunreality is useless ­ so seek the Reality, i.e. the Self. That is the wayto control the mind. Question: The difficulty is to remain in the thoughtless state, and yetcarry out the thinking necessary for fulfilling our duties.Bhagavan: The one that thinks is yourself. Let action occur of its ownaccord. Why associate yourself with the difficulty? When you have to gooutdoors you just lift your feet and go without thinking about it. Likethis, the state becomes automatic, and when necessary, thinking arises anddisappears of its own accord. Intuition works when there is no thought,and intuition will guide you. Those who have made big discoveries, havemade them not when they were anxious about them, but in the stillness, byintuition rather than by thinking.

 

Gurubhakti M