Quotes from Ramana Maharshi

Silence is ever speaking; it is the perennial flow of language.

Every moment there is creation, every moment destruction. There is no absolute creation, no absolute destruction. Both are movement, and that is eternal.

Without seeing the origin of light, the true form of one's Self, the ordinary man sees by the mind different things and is deluded.

There is no mind to control if you realise the self. The mind having vanished, the self shines forth. In the realised man, the mind may be active or inactive, the self remains for him.

The man who has the sense of the body being himself cannot possibly worship God as formless; whatever worship he makes will be worship in form alone, not otherwise.

I have never said that there is no need for a guru. All depends on what you call guru. He need not be in a human form.

Mind is consciousness which has put on limitations. You are originally unlimited and perfect. Later you take on limitations and become the mind.

Doubts never end. If one doubt is removed, another takes its place. It is like removing the leaves of a tree one by one. Even if all the leaves are clipped off, new ones grow. The tree itself must be uprooted.

Your true nature is that of infinite spirit. The feeling of limitation is the work of the mind.

Meditation depends upon the strength of mind. It must be unceasing even when one is engaged in work. Particular time for it is meant for novices.

Calmness is the criterion of spiritual progress. Plunge the purified mind into the Heart. Then the work is over.

One must realise his Self in order to open the store of unalloyed happiness.

By whatever path you go, you will have to lose yourself in the one. Surrender is complete only when you reach the stage 'Thou art all' and 'Thy will be done'.

Society is the body; individuals are its members, its limbs. Just as the various limbs help and co-operate with one another and thus are happy, so each must unite with others in being helpful to all in thought, speech and action... One may see to the good of one's own group, i.e., the group that is immediate to him, and then proceed to others.

Experiences such as, 'I went; I came; I was; I did,' come naturally to everyone. From these experiences, does it not appear that the consciousness 'I' is the subject of those various acts? Enquiry into the true nature of that consciousness, and remaining as oneself, is the way to understand, through enquiry, one's true nature.

You are already That which you seek.

Grace is not something outside or you.. In fact, your very desire for grace is due to grace that is already working in you.

Our identification with the mind and body is the chief reason for our failure to know our self as we truly are.

Having set one's family in consonance with the community, he should make his family prosperous to ensure the prosperity of the community.

Food affects the mind. For the practice of any kind of yoga, vegetarianism is absolutely necessary since it makes the mind more pure and harmonious.

Why should you trouble yourself about the future? You do not even properly know about the present. Take care of the present, the future will take care of itself.

Engage yourself in the living present. The future will take care of itself.

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.

Self-inquiry is the process and the goal also. 'I am' is the goal and the final reality. To hold to it with effort is self-inquiry. When spontaneous and natural it is realization.