Questioner: Acharya Ji, pranam. Ramana Maharshi says, “Since the self is free from the notions of knowledge and ignorance, how can it be said to pervade the entire body in the shape of sentience or to impart sentience to the senses.”
“Wise men say that there is a connection between… read_more
Question: Sir, there is one statement here, ‘Sushupti does exists in your waking state’. Normally, in deep sleep, we don’t know we are there.
Acharya Prashant: When Maharishi is saying that Sushupti exists in your waking state also, he is using Sushupti to refer to Turiya . Classically, Sushupti … read_more
Question: Sir, Ramana Maharshi has talked about the ‘I’. He has always asked the seekers to observe this ‘I’, and this has always been the basis of his teachings. What exactly does Ramana Maharshi mean, when he asks us to constantly observe this ‘I’? How does one witness this ‘I’?… read_more
Questioner: The reading has this quote that,
‘Solitude is in the mind of a man, that it is an attitude of the mind.
A man attached to things of life cannot get solitude wherever he may be.
A detached man is always in solitude.”
So it doesn’t depend on the… read_more
Question: Sir, at one point Ramana Maharishi says, “When the praarabdh is exhausted, the ego is completely dissolved without leaving any trace behind.” And at another point he says, “You can experience the Self right now.” So how will this *praarab*dh change or break at a certain moment? How can… read_more
Speaker: So, this morning we are here, trying to look at what is Religion. It would be easy to go into this deeply researched and heavily documented topic as just another objective topic, but I wonder, whether we ask ourselves some very subjective, very personal, very intimate questions. I wonder,… read_more
Questioner (Q): How to live my daily life regardless of my family, job, financial situation, mood or body, and reach the Truth? Ramana Maharshi says, “One’s duty is to practice continuous self-enquiry.” The mind is so used to its tendencies that this is hard for me; it hijacks my attention… read_more
“'I' is the root of all thoughts because, in the end, very thought occurs to the ‘I’. So, first try to get hold of who this ‘I’ is, which will lead the enquirer to dissolve and merge in the source.” ~ Sri Raman Maharishi
Questioner: Acharya Ji, Pranaam! I want… read_more
Questioner (Q): (Referring to a text) Sir, it is written here, “Silence is ever speaking. It is the perennial flow of language.” How is ‘Silence’, a perennial flow of language?
Acharya Prashant (AP): What is language?
Q: Language is a medium of communication.
AP: Communication. What is the use of… read_more
“Silence is of four kinds: silence of speech, silence of the eye, silence of the ear, and silence of the mind.
Only the last is pure silence, and is the most important.”
~ Sri Raman Maharishi
Questioner: Acharya Ji, what does Ramana Maharshi mean by these lines? What is silence… read_more
“What is samaadhi?”
*“It is the complete merging of the mind in God-Consciousness. The jnani experiences jada samaadhi, in which no trace of ‘I’ is left. The samaadh i attained through the path of bhakti is called ‘chaitanya samaadhi’.” *
“In this samaadhi there remains the consciousness of ‘I’ … read_more
Somebody asks Raman Maharishi, “It is an established rule that so long as there is the least idea of ‘I am the doer’, self-knowledge cannot be attained. But is it possible for an aspirant who is a householder, to discharge his duties properly without this sense?”
Sri Raman Maharishi says: … read_more
Question (Q): Acharya Ji, on being asked, can Karma ever come to an end? Ramana Maharshi says, "Karmas carry the seed of their own destruction in themselves." Dear Acharya Ji, please help me understand, how Karmas carry the seed of their own destruction?
Acharya Prashant (AP): Karma is action. We… read_more
Question: Acharya Ji, what is ‘elimination of false knowledge’ that Ramana Maharishi talks of when he says, “The individual is miserable because he confounds the mind and the body with the Self. This confusion is due to wrong knowledge. Elimination of wrong knowledge is alone needed. Such elimination results in… read_more
“All the texts say that in order to gain release one should render the mind quiescent; therefore their conclusive teaching is that the mind should be rendered quiescent. Once this has been understood, there is no need for endless reading.”
“In order to quieten the mind, one has only to … read_more
Ramana Maharshi also said,
“That which you take to be as your normal state is on the contrary, an abnormal state. Do you have to search for a long time before finding this ‘I’ which is none other than yourself?
This is what I mean when we declare that no … read_more
Questioner (Q): Acharya Ji, how do I live my daily life regardless of my family, job, financial situation, mood, or body to reach the Truth? Ramana Maharshi says,
“One’s duty is to practice continuous self-inquiry.”
I am not able to practice continuous self-inquiry due to mind’s tendencies. Please help and… read_more
Questioner (Q): You always mention how qualifications like dispassion and abandonment of action are necessary for enquiry to take place, while Ramana Maharshi says, “Even a great sinner can do enquiry.” How can this be reconciled? Also, you speak about renunciation, but Ramana Maharshi says, “All events in our lives… read_more
One must be free to do as one pleases and should not be served by others.‘No want’ is the greatest bliss. It can be realized only by experience. ~ Sri Raman Maharishi
Questioner: Acharya Ji, Pranaam ! Please elaborate on the above, especially with regard to what it means that… read_more
All the people in the world can be put under four categories:
The Guru’s disciples, bhaktas, those who are indifferent to Him and those who are hostile to Him.
All these will be benefited by the existence of the Jnani
Each in his own way and to various degrees.
Sri … read_more
All that one gives to others, one gives to one’s self. If this truth is understood, who will not give to others? ~ Sri Raman Maharshi
Questioner: In this statement, Raman Maharshi is saying that giving to others is giving to oneself, but the mind discriminates between ‘I’ and ‘the… read_more
Questioner (Q): I want to know the source of thought. I remember Ramana Maharshi’s words: “‘I’ is the root of all the thoughts because in the end, every thought occurs to the ‘I’. So, first try to get hold of who this ‘I’ is, which will lead the enquirer to… read_more
Question: There are two things which I hold very tightly. Raman Maharishi has written only these two pieces himself. One is – ‘Who am I?’ And the other one is – ‘Self Inquiry’.
I go through only these, because these are from a young man who was not conditioned, who… read_more
In deep sleep mind is merged and not destroyed. That which merges reappears. It may happen in meditation also. But the mind which is destroyed cannot reappear. The yogi’s aim must be to destroy it and not to sink in ‘laya’ (merging). In the peace of dhyana (meditation), laya ensues … read_more
Questioner (Q): Acharya Ji, pranam. Raman Maharishi talks about three states: waking state, dreaming state and deep sleep. Thoughts appear in the dreaming and waking state. For the realized one, there are no differences between these three states because they can consciously sleep, consciously dream and are conscious during their… read_more
Question:
“How do the triple factors, that is – the knower, the known, and knowledge, which are absent in deep sleep, Samadhi, etc., manifest themselves in the self, in the state of waking and dreaming?”
Sri Raman Maharshi:
“From the Self there arise in succession:
(i) Chidabhasa (reflected consciousness), which … read_more
Questioner (Q): Acharya Ji, Ramana Maharshi talks about ‘transcending and turning inwards'. Who is transcending and who is turning inwards?
Acharya Prashant (AP): The Ego, the I tendency. Whatever advice is given, is always given to the “I” tendency. Because at the center of everything lies this “I” tendency that… read_more
