Meditation
Divine Grace is Essential for Meditation

Meditation: Get rid of thoughts

D.: Should I remain as if in sleep and be watchful at the same time?
M.: Yes. Watchfulness is the waking state. Therefore the state will not be one of sleep, but sleepless sleep. If you go the way of your thoughts you will be carried away by them and you will find yourself in an endless maze.

D.: So, then, I must go back tracing the source of thoughts.
M.: Quite so; in that way the thoughts will disappear and the Self alone will remain. In fact there is no inside or outside for the Self. They are also projections of the ego. The Self is pure and absolute.

Talks with Ramana Maharshi
Talk 13.

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D.: If we think “I am the real,” will it do?
M.: All thoughts are inconsistent with realization. The correct state is to exclude thoughts of ourselves and all other thoughts. Thought is one thing and realization is quite another.

Talks with Ramana Maharshi
Talk 30.

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Lady: Let me have true knowledge by Sri Bhagavan’s Grace.
M.: Get rid of the ‘I-thought’. So long as ‘I’ is alive, there is grief. When ‘I’ ceases to exist, there is no grief. Consider the state of sleep!

Lady: Yes. But when I take to the ‘I-thought’, other thoughts arise and disturb me.
M.: See whose thoughts they are. They will vanish. They have their root in the single ‘I-thought’. Hold to it and they will disappear.

Talks with Ramana Maharshi
Talk 276.

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D.: Miseries appear in jagrat. Why should they appear.
M.: If you see your Self they will not appear.

D.: If I turn to look who I am, I do not find anything.
M.: How did you remain in your sleep? There was no ‘I-thought’ there and you were happy. Whereas there are thoughts flowering in the wake of the root-thought ‘I’ in the jagrat and these hide the inherent happiness. Get rid of these thoughts which are the obstacles to happiness. Your natural state is one of happiness as was evident in your sleep.

Talks with Ramana Maharshi
Talk 321

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D.: Is concentration of mind one of the sadhanas?
M.: Concentration is not thinking one thing. It is, on the other hand, putting off all other thoughts which obstruct the vision of our true nature.

All our efforts are only directed to lifting the veil of ignorance. Now it appears difficult to quell the thoughts. In the regenerate state it will be found more difficult to call in thoughts. For are there things to think of? There is only the Self. Thoughts can function only if there are objects. But there are no objects. How can thoughts arise at all?

The habit makes us believe that it is difficult to cease thinking. If the error is found out, one would not be fool enough to exert oneself unnecessarily by way of thinking.

Talks with Ramana Maharshi
Talk 398.

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D.: I fell ill. I could not meditate and so I felt depressed.
M.: This thought, ‘I am not able to concentrate,’ is itself an obstacle. Why should the thought arise?

D.: Can one remain without thoughts rising all the 24 hours of the day? Should I remain without meditation?
M.: What is ‘hours’ again? It is a concept. Each question of yours is prompted by a thought.

Your nature is Peace and Happiness. Thoughts are the obstacles to realisation. One’s meditation or concentration is meant to get rid of obstacles and not to gain the Self. Does anyone remain apart from the Self? No! The true nature of the Self is declared to be Peace. If the same peace is not found, the non-finding is only a thought which is alien to the Self. One practises meditation only to get rid of these alien fancies. So, then, a thought must be quelled as soon as it rises. Whenever a thought arises, do not be carried away by it. You become aware of the body when you forget the Self. But can you forget the Self? Being the Self how can you forget it? There must be two selves for one to forget the other. It is absurd.

So the Self is not depressed; it is not imperfect: it is ever happy. The contrary feeling is a mere thought which has actually no stamina in it. Be rid of thoughts. Why should one attempt meditation? Being the Self one remains always realised, only be free from thoughts.

You think that your health does not permit your meditation. This depression must be traced to its origin. The origin is the wrong identification of the body with the Self. The disease is not of the Self. It is of the body. But the body does not come and tell you that it is possessed by the disease. It is you who say it. Why? Because you have wrongly identified yourself with the body.
The body itself is a thought. Be as you really are. There is no reason to be depressed.

Talks with Ramana Maharshi
Talk 462.

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D.: I am a business man. How shall I get on with business and get peace of mind also?
M.: This is also a thought. Give up this thought also and remain as your true Self.
D.: It is said: Do your duty without any expectation of results. How shall I get that frame of mind?
M.: You need not aspire for or get any new state. Get rid of your present thoughts, that is all.
D.: How shall I get the bhakti necessary for it?
M.: It is bhakti to get rid of thoughts which are only alien to you (i.e. the Self).

Talks with Ramana Maharshi
Talk 472.

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D.: So we must rid ourselves of lust (kama), anger, (krodha), etc.
M.: Give up thoughts. You need not give up anything else. You must be there to see anything. It is the Self. Self is ever-conscious.

M.: Know the doubter. If the doubter be held, the doubts will not arise.

D.: What is the method?
M.: ‘Who am I?’ is the investigation.

D.: May we perform japa?
M.: Why should you think I am this? Investigate and the thoughts cease. What is, namely the Self, will be revealed as the inescapable residue.

Talks with Ramana Maharshi
Talk 41.

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D.: Can we think without the mind?
M.: Thoughts may be like any other activities, not disturbing to the Supreme consciousness.

Talks with Ramana Maharshi
Talk 43.

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M.: Realise your pure Be-ing. Let there be no confusion with the body. The body is the result of thoughts. The thoughts will play as usual, but you will not be affected. You were not concerned with the body when asleep; so you can always remain.

Mr. Ekanatha Rao: How can anyone reconcile such activity with the wage-earning which is a necessity for worldly people?

M.: Actions form no bondage. Bondage is only the false notion. “I am the doer.” Leave off such thoughts and let the body and senses play their role, unimpeded by your interference.

Talks with Ramana Maharshi
Talk 46.

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M.: Discover to whom the thoughts arise. If the present ‘I’-ness vanishes, the discovery is complete. What remains over is the pure Self.

The Pandit remarked that thoughts are so persistent that the aham cannot be reached.

The Master said: The Brahmaakara vritti (thought), helps to turn the mind away from other thoughts. Either some such practice is necessary or association with sadhus should be made. The sadhu has already overcome the mind and remains in Peace. His proximity helps to bring about such condition in others. Otherwise there is no meaning in seeking a sadhu’s company.

Talks with Ramana Maharshi
Talk 54.

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Lady: What is the difference between meditation and distraction?
M.: No difference. When there are thoughts, it is distraction: when there are no thoughts, it is meditation. However, meditation is only practice (as distinguished from the real state of Peace.)

Lady: How to practice meditation?
M.: Keep off thoughts.

Talks with Ramana Maharshi
Talk 68.

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Let the sensible man consider if he knew his body in deep sleep. Why does he feel it in the waking state? But, although the body was not felt in sleep, did not the Self exist then? How was he in deep sleep? How is he when awake? What is the difference? Ego rises up and that is waking. Simultaneously thoughts arise. Let him nd out to whom are the thoughts. Wherefrom do they arise? They must spring up from the conscious Self. Apprehending it even vaguely helps the extinction of the ego. Thereafter the realisation of the one In nite Existence becomes possible. In that state there are no individuals other than the Eternal Existence. Hence there is no thought of death or wailing.

Find wherefrom thoughts emerge. Then you will abide in the ever-present inmost Self and be free from the idea of birth or the fear of death.”

A disciple asked how to do it.

M.: The thoughts are only vasanas (predispositions), accumulated in innumerable births before. Their annihilation is the aim. The state free from vasanas is the primal state and eternal state of purity.

Talks with Ramana Maharshi
Talk 80.

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D.: When I sit down to think of God, thoughts wander away to other objects. I want to control those thoughts.
M.: In the Bhagavad Gita it is said that it is the nature of the mind to wander. One must bring one’s thoughts to bear on God. By long practice the mind is controlled and made steady.

The wavering of the mind is a weakness arising from the dissipation of its energy in the shape of thoughts. When one makes the mind stick to one thought the energy is conserved, and the mind becomes stronger.

D.: What is the meaning of the strength of the mind?
M.: Its ability to concentrate on one thought without being distracted.

Talks with Ramana Maharshi
Talk 91.

 

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D.: Is solitude helpful for practice?
M.: What do you mean by solitude?

D.: To keep away from others.
M.: Why should it be done? It is actuated only by fear. Even in solitude there is the fear of intrusion by others and of solitude being spoilt. Moreover, how are thoughts to be erased in solitude? Should it not be done in the present environment?

D.: But the mind is distracted now.
M.: Why do you let go the mind? Solitude amounts to making the mind still. This can be done in a crowd too. Solitude cannot efface one’s thoughts. Practice does it. The same practice can be made here too.

Talks with Ramana Maharshi
Talk 156.

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Another American asked about thought-forms.

M.: Trace the source of thoughts, they will disappear.

D.: Thoughts materialise.

M.: If there be thoughts they will materialise. If they disappear there is nothing to materialise. Moreover if you are physical the world is physical and so on. Find out if you are physical.

D.: How shall I be useful to God’s world?

M.: Find out if ‘I’ is different from the divine part of the world. Not being able to help yourself yet you are seeking the divine part of it to help you to help the world. The divinity is directing and controlling you. Where do you go in deep sleep? Wherefrom do you come out?

D.: I have been in uenced by deeds and thoughts.

M.: Thoughts and deeds are the same.

Talks with Ramana Maharshi
Talk 164.

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The ego-ridden mind has its strength sapped and is too weak to resist the torturing thoughts. The egoless mind is happy in deep, dreamless sleep. Clearly therefore Bliss and misery are only modes of mind; but the weak mode is not easily interchangeable with the strong mode. Activity is weakness and consequently miserable; passivity is strength and therefore blissful. The dormant strength is not apparent and therefore not availed of.

The cosmic mind, manifesting in some rare being, is able to effect the linkage in others of the individual (weak) mind with the universal (strong) mind of the inner recess. Such a rare being is called the GURU or God in manifestation.

Talks with Ramana Maharshi
Talk 188.

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D.: How to destroy the mind?
M.: Seek the mind. On being sought, it will disappear. D.: I do not understand.

M.: The mind is only a bundle of thoughts. The thoughts arise because there is the thinker. The thinker is the ego. The ego, if sought, will vanish automatically. The ego and the mind are the same. The ego is the root-thought from which all other thoughts arise.

D.: How to seek the mind?
M.: Dive within. You are now aware that the mind rises up from within. So sink within and seek.

Talks with Ramana Maharshi
Talk 195.

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M.: The mind is only a bundle of thoughts. The thoughts have their root in the ‘I-thought’. He quoted; “Whoever investigates the origin of the ‘I-thought’, for him the ego perishes. This is the true investigation.” The true “I” is then found shining by itself.

D.: This ‘I-thought’ rises from me. But I do not know the Self.
M.: All these are only mental concepts. You are now identifying yourself with a wrong ‘I’, which is the ‘I-thought’. This ‘I-thought’ rises and sinks, whereas the true significance of ‘I’ is beyond both. There cannot be a break in your being. You, who slept, are also now awake. There was not unhappiness in your deep sleep. Whereas it exists now. What is it that has happened now so that this difference is experienced? There was no ‘I-thought’ in your sleep, whereas it is present now. The true ‘I’ is not apparent and the false ‘I’ is parading itself. This false ‘I’ is the obstacle to your right knowledge. Find out wherefrom this false ‘I’ arises. Then it will disappear. You will be only what you are – i.e., absolute Being.

D.: How to do it? I have not succeeded so far.
M.: Search for the source of the ‘I-thought’. That is all that one has to do. The universe exists on account of the ‘I-thought’. If that ends there is an end of misery also. The false ‘I’ will end only when its source is sought.

Talks with Ramana Maharshi
Talk 222.

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M.: The sense of body is a thought; the thought is of the mind, the mind rises after the ‘I-thought’, the ‘I-thought’ is the root thought. If that is held, the other thoughts will disappear. There will then be no body, no mind, not even the ego.

D.: What will remain then?
M.: The Self in its purity.

D.: How can the mind be made to vanish?

M.: If the thinker is sought, the thoughts will disappear.

D.: It looks easy to think of God in the external world, whereas it looks difficult to remain without thoughts.
M.: That is absurd; to look at other things is easy and to look within is difficult! It must be contrariwise.

D.: But I do not understand. It is difficult.
M.: This thought of difficulty is the chief obstacle. A little practice will make you think differently.

D.: What is the practice?
M.: To find out the source of ‘I’.

Talks with Ramana Maharshi
Talk 244.

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Divine Grace is Essential for Meditation
Meditation: Get rid of thoughts
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2 thoughts on “Meditation: Get rid of thoughts

  • March 21, 2018 at 2:42 am
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    Wow!!! 🙏🙏🙏💓💓💓
    I drank it completely, my respects to the lotus feet of Sadguru 🙏🙏🙏

    Reply
  • June 13, 2018 at 11:46 am
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    It is very very useful.

    Reply

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