Top 15 Ramana Maharshi Quotes

The Self itself is God.

The place where even the slightest trace of the 'I' does not exist, alone is Self.

Knowledge itself is 'I'. The nature of (this) knowledge is existence-consciousness-bliss.

If other thoughts rise, one should, without attempting to complete them, enquire, 'To whom did they arise?', it will be known 'To me'. If one then enquires 'Who am I?', the mind (power of attention) will turn back to its source. By repeatedly practising thus, the power of the mind to abide in its source increases.

The mind will subside only by means of the enquiry 'Who am I?'. The thought 'Who am I?', destroying all other thoughts, will itself finally be destroyed like the stick used for stirring the funeral pyre.

That which rises in this body as 'I' is the mind. If one enquires 'In which place in the body does the thought 'I' rise first?', it will be known to be in the heart [spiritual heart is 'two digits to the right from the centre of the chest']. Even if one incessantly thinks 'I', 'I', it will lead to that place (Self).

What is called mind is a wondrous power existing in Self. It projects all thoughts. If we set aside all thoughts and see, there will be no such thing as mind remaining separate; therefore, thought itself is the form of the mind. Other than thoughts, there is no such thing as the mind.

Of all the thoughts that rise in the mind, the thought 'I' is the first thought.

The booklet Nan Yar? (Who am I?) elaborates on the "I" and Self-enquiry:

40. True Liberation has no form, and destroys the very ego which distinguishes between one kind of it and another.

39. Bondage and Liberation are mere notions in the mind: they cease when he who is bound is inquired into and realized.

38. The sense of doership reaps the fruits of action (karma): karma ends when the doer realizes his true nature.

Peace is for the purification of one's mind. Power is for the growth of the community. Having established the community with power, one should then establish supreme peace.

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

[A member of the community] should conduct himself always by word, mind and body in such a fashion that it results in help to the society. He should also make his own men understand this.