Ramana Maharshi says only obstacle is mind and not the environment

[Guest guest]

Disciple: What is the highest goal of spiritual experience for man?Maharshi: Self-realization.D: Should I not renounce my home?M: If that had been your destiny the question would not have arisen.

D: How does a grihastha fare in the scheme of moksha? Should he not necessarily become a mendicant in order to attain liberation? M: Why do you think you are a grihastha? Similar thoughts that you are a sannyasin will haunt you,even if you go out as a sannyasin. Whether you continue in the household or renounce it and go to the forest, your mind haunts you. The ego is the source of thought. It creates the body and the world,and it makes you think of being the grihastha. If you renounce, it will only substitute the thought of sannyasa for that of grihastha, and the environment of the forest for that of the household. But the mental obstacles are always there for you. They even increase greatly in the new surroundings. It is no help to change the environment. The one obstacle is the mind; it must be got over whether in the home or in the forest. If you can do it in the forest, why not in the home? Therefore, why change the environment? Your efforts can be made even now, whatever be the environment.

Source: Maharshi’s Gospel BOOKS 1 & II

-- Om namo Bhagavate Sri Ramanaya

Prasanth Jalasutram