This page includes some of my favorite quotes from Ramana Maharshi. They are organized by the book in which they are found.
Who Am I? by Ramana Maharshi
“Whatever one does, one should do without the egoity ‘I’. If one acts in that way, all will appear as of the nature of Siva (God).”
– Ramana Maharshi, Who Am I?, answer 11
“What exists in truth is the Self alone. The world, the individual soul and God are appearances in it.”
– Ramana Maharshi, Who Am I?, answer 16
“All that one gives to others one gives to one’s self.”
– Ramana Maharshi, Who am I?, answer 14
“The thought ‘Who am I?’ will destroy all other thoughts, and like the stick used for stirring the burning pyre, it will itself in the end get destroyed. Then, there will arise Self-realization.”
– Ramana Maharshi, Who Am I?, answer 10
“When the world which is what-is-seen has been removed, there will be realization of the Self which is the seer.”
– Ramana Maharshi, Who Am I?, answer 4
Be As You Are by David Godman
“Renunciation is always in the mind, not in going to forests or solitary places or giving up one’s duties. The main thing is to see that the mind does not turn outward but inward.”
– Ramana Maharshi, Be As You Are, p198
“The state of Self-realization, as we call it, is not attaining something new or reaching some goal which is far away, but simply being that which you always are and which you always have been. All that is needed is that you give up your realization of the not-true as true.”
– Ramana Maharshi, Be As You Are, p18
Day by Day with Bhagavan by Devaraja Mudaliar
“The trouble with all of us is that we want to know the past, what we were, and also what we will be in the future. We know nothing about the past or the future. We do know the present and that we exist now. Both yesterday and tomorrow are only with reference to today. Yesterday was called ‘today’ in its time, and tomorrow will be called ‘today’ by us tomorrow. Today is ever present. What is ever present is pure existence. It has no past or future. Why not try and find out the real nature of the present and ever-present existence?”
– Ramana Maharshi, Day by Day with Bhagavan, 3-1-1946
“They have all taught the same truth but from different standpoints. Such differences were necessary to meet the needs of different minds differently constituted, but they all reveal the same truth.”
– Ramana Maharshi, Day by Day with Bhagavan, 3-7-1946
“You speak of paths as if you were somewhere and the Self somewhere else and you had to go and reach it. But in fact the Self is here and now and you are that always.”
– Ramana Maharshi, Day by Day with Bhagavan, 3-7-1946
“The state we call realization is simply being oneself, not knowing anything or becoming anything. If one has realized, he is that which alone is and which alone has always been. He cannot describe that state. He can only be that.”
– Ramana Maharshi, Day by Day with Bhagavan, 22-3-1946
“Of course, we loosely talk of Selfrealization, for want of a better term. How to ‘real-ize’ or make real that which alone is real? What we are all doing is, we ‘realized’ or regard as real that which is unreal. This habit of ours has to be given up. All sadhana under all systems of thought is meant only for this end. When we give up regarding the unreal as real, then the reality alone will remain and we will be that.”
– Ramana Maharshi, Day by Day with Bhagavan, 22-3-1946
“When we give up regarding the unreal as real, then the reality alone will remain and we will be that.”
– Ramana Maharshi, Day by Day with Bhagavan, 22-3-1946
“Each should be allowed to go his own way, the way for which he alone may be built. It will not do to convert him to another path by violence. The Guru will go with the disciple along his own path and then gradually turn him into the supreme path when the time is right.”
– Ramana Maharshi, Day by Day with Bhagavan, 2-11-1945
“All these viewpoints are only to suit the capacity of the learner. The absolute can be only one”
– Ramana Maharshi, Day by Day with Bhagavan, 15-3-1946
“Those who have not the mental strength to concentrate or control their mind and direct it on the quest are advised to watch their breathing, since such watching will naturally and as a matter of course lead to cessation of thought and bring the mind under control.”
– Ramana Maharshi, Day by Day with Bhagavan, 1-12-1945
“There is only one state, that of consciousness or awareness or existence. The three states of waking, dream and sleep cannot be real. They simply come and go. The real will always exist. The `I’ or existence that alone persists in all the three states is real. The other three are not real and so it is not possible to say they have such and such a degree of reality. We may roughly put it like this. Existence or consciousness is the only reality. Consciousness plus waking, we call waking. Consciousness plus sleep, we call sleep. Consciousness plus dream, we call dream. Consciousness is the screen on which all the pictures come and go. The screen is real, the pictures are mere shadows on it. Because by long habit we have been regarding these three states as real, we call the state of mere awareness or consciousness the fourth. There is however no fourth state, but only one state.”
– Ramana Maharshi, Day by Day with Bhagavan, 11-1-1946
“There is no difference between dream and the waking state except that the dream is short and the waking long. Both are the result of the mind. Because the waking state is long, we imagine that it is our real state. But, as a matter of fact, our real state is turiya or the fourth state which is always as it is and knows nothing of the three states of waking, dream or sleep.”
– Ramana Maharshi, Day by Day with Bhagavan, 5-1-1946
“You may continue in your present method. When the japa becomes continuous, all other thoughts cease and one is in one’s real nature, which is japa or dhyana. We turn our mind outwards on things of the world and are therefore not aware of our real nature being always japa. When by conscious effort or japa or dhyana as we call it, we prevent our mind from thinking of other things, then what remains is our real nature, which is japa.
So long as you think you are name and form, you can’t escape name and form in japa also. When you realize you are not name and form, then name and form will drop off themselves. No other effort is necessary. Japa or dhyana will naturally and as a matter of course lead to it. What is now regarded as the means, japa, will then be found to be the goal. Name and God are not different.”
– Ramana Maharshi, Day by Day with Bhagavan, 9-3-1946
Guru Ramana by S. S. Cohen
“There is neither past nor future. There is only the present. Yesterday was the present to you when you experienced it, and tomorrow will be also the present when you experience it. Therefore experience takes place only in the present, and beyond experience nothing exists.”
– Ramana Maharahi, Guru Ramana, p44
Maha Yoga by K. Lakshmana Sarma
“The Sage helps the world merely by being the real Self. The best way for one to serve the world is to win the Egoless State.”
– Ramana Maharshi, Maha Yoga, p230
Talks With Ramana Maharshi by by Munagala S. Venkataramiah
“It depends upon the temperament of the individual. Every person is born with the samskaras [karma] of past lives. One of the methods will be found easy for one person and another method for another. There is no definiteness about it.”
– Ramana Maharshi, Talks with Ramana Maharshi, Talk 580
“Divine Grace is essential for Realization. It leads one to God-realization. But such Grace is vouchsafed only to him who is a true devotee or a yogi, who has striven hard and ceaselessly on the path towards freedom.”
– Ramana Maharshi, Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, p34
“The Self [Source] is not reached. You are the Self. You are already That. The fact is that you are ignorant of your blissful state. Ignorance supervenes and draws a veil over the pure Bliss. Attempts are directed only to remove this ignorance. This ignorance consists in wrong knowledge. The wrong knowledge consists in the false identification of the Self with the body, the mind, etc. This false identity must go and there remains the Self.”
– Ramana Maharshi, Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talk 251
“Surrender to Him and abide by His will whether he appears or vanishes; await His pleasure. If you ask Him to do as you please, it is not surrender but command to Him. You cannot have Him obey you and yet think that you have surrendered. He knows what is best and when and how to do it. Leave everything entirely to Him. His is the burden: you have no longer any cares. All your cares are His. Such is surrender. This is bhakti.”
– Ramana Maharshi, Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talk 450
“Love is not different from the Self. Love of an object is of an inferior order and cannot endure. Whereas the Self is Love, in other words, God is Love.”
– Ramana Maharshi, Talks with Ramana Maharshi, Talk 433
“Even one who is still practicing the path of Wisdom (jnana) can practice while engaged in work. It may be difficult in the earlier stages for a beginner, but after some practice it will soon be effective and the work will not be found a hindrance to meditation.”
– Ramana Maharshi, Talks With Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talk 17
“When women walk with water pots on their heads and chat with their companions they remain very careful, their thoughts concentrated on the loads on their heads. Similarly when a sage engages in activities, these do not disturb him because his mind abides in Brahman.”
– Ramana Maharshi, Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talk 231
“It is to be done by controlling the breath. If you practice it by yourself without other help, then the mind is controlled. Otherwise the mind comes under control spontaneously in the presence of a superior power. Such is the greatness of association with the wise (satsanga).”
– Ramana Maharshi, Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talk 10
“Uncertainties, doubts and fears are natural to everyone until the Self is realized. They are inseparable from the ego, rather they are the ego.”
– Ramana Maharshi, Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talk 162
“Surrender is to give oneself up to the original cause of one’s being. Do not delude yourself by imagining such source to be some God outside you. One’s source is within yourself. Give yourself up to it.”
– Ramana Maharshi, Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talk 208
“Reality is simply the loss of the ego. Destroy the ego by seeking its identity. Because the ego is no entity it will automatically vanish and Reality will shine forth by itself. This is the direct method. Whereas all other methods are done, only retaining the ego. In those paths there arise so many doubts and the eternal question remains to be tackled finally. But in this method the final question is the only one and it is raised from the very beginning. No sadhanas are necessary for engaging in this quest.”
– Ramana Maharshi, Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talk 146
“There is nothing to realize. It is nitya suddha buddha mukta (the Eternal, pure, aware and liberated) state. It is natural and eternal. There is nothing new to gain. On the other hand a man must loose his ignorance. That is all.”
– Ramana Maharshi, Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talk 104
“That which lies beyond the ego is consciousness – the Self.”
– Ramana Maharshi, Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talk 76
“The mind is a bundle of thoughts. The thoughts arise because there is the thinker. The thinker is the ego. The ego, if sought, will automatically vanish. The ego and the mind are the same. The ego is the root-thought from which all other thoughts arise.”
– Ramana Maharshi, Talks with Ramana Maharshi, Talk 347
“The realization is the result of the Master’s grace more than teachings, lectures, meditation, etc. They are only secondary aids, whereas the former is the primary cause.”
– Ramana Maharshi, Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talk 13
“Dhyana is concentration on an object. It fulfills the purpose of keeping away diverse thoughts and fixing the mind on a single thought, which must also disappear before Realization.”
– Ramana Maharshi, Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talk 63
“Upasana [meditation] helps concentration of mind. Then the mind is free from other thoughts and is full of the meditated form. The mind becomes it — and thus quite pure.”
– Ramana Maharshi, Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talk 390
“The mind is only a projection from the Self, appearing in the waking state. In deep sleep, you do not say whose son you are and so on. As soon as you wake up you say you are so and so, and recognize the world and so on. The world is only lokah, lokah (what is perceived is the world). That which is seen is lokah or the world. Which is the eye that sees it? That is the ego which rises and sinks periodically. But you exist always. Therefore That which lies beyond the ego is consciousness — the Self.
In deep sleep mind is merged and not destroyed. That which merges reappears.”
– Ramana Maharshi, Talks with Ramana Maharshi, Talk 76
“The jiva is said to remain in the Heart in deep sleep; and in the brain in the waking state.”
– Ramana Maharshi, Talks with Ramana Maharshi, Talk 29
“The same truth has to be experienced in different ways to suit the capacity of the hearer.”
– Ramana Maharshi, Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi, p142
The Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi in His Own Words by Arthur Osborne
“All religions postulate the three fundamentals: the world, the soul and God; but it is the One Reality that manifests itself as these three.”
– Ramana Maharshi, Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi, p36
Ulladu Narpadu by Ramana Maharshi
Since we know the world, we must concede for both a common Source, single but with the power of seeming many. The picture of names and forms, the onlooker, the screen, the light that illumines — all these are verily He.
– Ramana Maharshi, Ulladu Narpadu, verse 1
On three entities — the individual, God and the world — every creed is based. That ‘the One becomes the three’ and that ‘always the three are three’, are said only while the ego lasts. To lose the ‘I’ and in the Self to stay is the State Supreme.
– Ramana Maharshi, Ulladu Narpadu, verse 2
Guru Vachaka Kovai by Muruganar
Only he who has himself won salvation can lead others to salvation. As for the rest, they are like the blind leading the blind.
— Ramana Maharshi, Guru Vachaka Kovai, Bhagavan 15
Padamalai by Muruganar
“Humility and self-restraint are the marks of those transformed and radiant beings who embody the quality of virtue.”
– Ramana Maharshi, Padamali, verse 26
“To whatever extent mind-consciousness dives within, to that same extent will the bliss of the Self spring forth and reveal itself.”
– Ramana Maharshi, Padamali, verse 26
“The many different religions are appropriate to the maturity of each individual, and all of them are acceptable to reality.”
– Ramana Maharshi, Padamali, verse 4
