Tranquil Mind

Ramana Maharshi

oi-Staff

By Staff

Monday, January 5, 2009, 12:18

Until there is the 'I'-thought there can be no other thought. When other thoughts arise, ask "To whom? To me? Where does this 'I' arise?" Thus diving inwards, if one traces the source of the mind and reaches the Heart, one becomes the Sovereign Lord of the Universe. There is no more dreaming of such as in and out, right and wrong, birth and death, pleasure and pain, light and darkness, O boundless ocean of Grace and Light, Arunachala dancing the dance of stillness in the dancing Hall of the Heart.

Bhagavan Ramana

Only the enlightened one is truly powerful. For he is abiding in the Self always. And the Self is the source of all power. It is the fullness of consciousness, the centre from which the mind and the body derive their strength. Such a one is fearless. For he is ever fulfilled, neither seeking nor desiring. What can add to the overflowing cup of joy of such a person? All other sources of power like the power of an emperor, a billionaire, or an erudite scholar are brittle and pass away. There is no stamp of permanence to them. Hence there will always be a nagging fear of losing the thing possessed. To be dispossessed is on the cards and often round the corner.

Therefore the compassionate Ramana is placing before us in the verse quoted at the beginning a way to become Self -aware, and that too steadily. He has put in a nutshell the technique of self-enquiry. One has to dive into the source of one's mind, the Heart, by focusing one's attention on the mind's centre, the 'I'-thought. When thoughts are warded off by 'clinging' to the 'I' by paying exclusive attention to it, it automatically gets merged into its source. For it partakes the same nature, consciousness. When exposed to the fullness of consciousness, the Heart or the Self, the separate 'I' merges naturally into the whole, the true import of the 'I'. The analogy generally given is that of a salt doll which will evaporate if it goes near the sea.

Then the dualistic mind, with all its judgements, fears and elations ends and is replaced by the pure mind which functions from the Heart centre.

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