You Are Eternal

“The birth of the ‘I-thought’ is one’s own birth, its death is the person’s death. After the ‘I-thought’ has arisen, the wrong identity with the body arises. Thinking yourself the body, you give false values to others and identify them with bodies. Just as your body has been born, grows, and will perish, so also you think the other was born, grew up, and died. Did you think of your son before his birth? The thought came after his birth and persists even after his death. Inasmuch as you are thinking of him, he is your son. Where has he gone? He has gone to the source from which he sprang. He is one with you. So long as you are, he is there too. If you cease to identify yourself with the body, but see the real Self, this confusion will vanish. You are eternal. The others also will similarly be found to be eternal. Until this truth is realized, there will always be this grief due to false values arising from wrong knowledge and wrong identity.”

~ Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi

• Maharshi, Sri Ramana (2006). Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi. Tiruvannamalai: Sriramanasasram

What Is There To Realize?

“It is false to speak of realization. What is there to realize? The real is as it is always. We are not creating anything new or achieving something which we did not have before. The illustration given in books is this. We dig a well and create a huge pit. The space in the pit or well has not been created by us. We have just removed the earth which was filling the space there. The space was there then and is also there now. Similarly, we have simply to throw out all the age-long Saṃskāras which are inside us. When all of them have been given up, the Self will shine alone.”

~ Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi

• Abide as the Self: The Essential Teachings of Ramana Maharshi (1998)

What Is The Truth Of My Existence?

Atheism

1082. Will not only he who mistakes himself to be that which does not exist (i.e., to be the body, which is in truth non-existent) declare You (God) to be non-existent? How can he who knows his own reality as it is (that is, as the mere existence-consciousness ‘I am’) deny You, who are that same reality, saying that You are non-existent?

A note in the Tamil text states that this verse is addressed to God, and that it concerns the belief of the atheist who believes God does not exist. ‘Asattu’ means that which does not exist. ‘Mey’ means the reality. That is to say, ‘How can one who knows that he exists say that God, who is not different from that existence or reality, does not exist?’

Sadhu Om: Sri Bhagavan concludes verse 20 of Ulladu Narpadu by saying, “...because Self is not other than God.” Accordingly, the atheist who denies the existence of God is thereby denying the existence of his own Self. Since no one can truly deny his own existence, those who wish to deny the existence of God should first try to enquire and know the true nature of their own existence, ‘What is the truth of my existence? Who am I?’ If they do so, they will automatically come to know the truth of God’s existence. Therefore, we should understand that those who realize their own existence as it is, will never deny the existence of God, and that since no one can truly deny his own existence, no one is really an atheist. But who is the real theist will be explained in verse 1084.

Theism

1083. For those who say that He (God) does exist, He exists in their heart as consciousness. But in the venomous mind of those who do not believe in Him, He will never exist (that is, He will never shine or be known). If, by purifying the venomous mind, one sees without delusion, He will shine triumphantly and unalloyed as Self.

1084. Know that the Buddha (the Sage or Ātma-Jñāni), who has experienced the pure reality (Self), having clearly known ‘This is the nature of consciousness,’ alone is truly worthy of the name ‘theist’ (Astika).

Sadhu Om: Since the world, soul, and God all appear, exist, and disappear simultaneously, they all have the same degree of reality [Sama-Satya] as each other. Therefore, if one accepts one’s own existence as a soul or Jīva, it amounts to one’s accepting the existence of the other two entities, the world and God. That is why it is concluded in the note to verse 1082 that no one is truly an atheist. Yet who is the real theist? All who say that God exists are not real theists. Only the Jñāni, who has realized himself to be the supreme Self, having given up the wrong knowledge that he is an individual or Jīva, is fit to be called a real theist [Astika]. Thus, the beauty of verse 1082 and 1084 lies in their final conclusion, namely that anyone who cannot deny his own existence is not an atheist, and that anyone who has not realized Self is not a theist.

• Sri Muruganar (2013). Guru Vachaka Kovai (The Garland of Guru's Sayings) Translation and Commentary by Sri Sadhu Om and Michael James. Tiruvannamalai: ArunachalaRamana Book Trust

What Is It That Rises As “I”?

“Actions such as ‘going’ and ‘coming’ belong only to the body. And so, when one says, ‘I went, I came’, it amounts to saying that the body is ‘I’. But, can the body be said to be the consciousness ‘I’, since the body was not before it was born, is made up of the five elements, is non-existent in the state of deep sleep, and becomes a corpse when dead? Can this body which is inert like a log of wood be said to shine as ‘I-I’? Therefore, the ‘I-consciousness’ which at first arises in respect of the body is referred to variously as self-conceit (Tarbodham), egoity (Ahaṅkāra), nescience (Avidyā), Māyā, impurity (Mala), and individual soul (Jīva). Can we remain without enquiring into this? Is it not for our redemption through enquiry that all the scriptures declare that the destruction of ‘self-conceit’ is release (Mukti)? Therefore, making the corpse-body remain as a corpse, and not even uttering the word ‘I’, one should enquire keenly thus: “Now, what is it that rises as ‘I’?” Then, there would shine in the Heart a kind of wordless illumination of the form ‘I-I’. That is, there would shine of its own accord the pure consciousness which is unlimited and one, the limited and the many thoughts having disappeared. If one remains quiescent without abandoning that (experience), the egoity, the individual sense, of the form ‘I am the body’ will be totally destroyed, and at the end the final thought, viz., the ‘I-form’ also will be quenched like the fire that burns camphor. The great sages and scriptures declare that this alone is release.”

~ Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi

• Osborne, Arthur (1997). The Collected Works of Ramana Maharshi. Red Wheel Weiser

To Whom Do Thoughts Arise?

Question:

“What is the means for constantly holding on to the thought ‘Who am I?’”

Ramana Maharshi:

“When other thoughts arise, one should not pursue them, but should inquire ‘To whom do they arise?’ It does not matter how many thoughts arise. As each thought arises, one should inquire with diligence, ‘To whom has this thought arisen?’. The answer that would emerge would be ‘To me’. Thereupon if one inquires, ‘Who am I?’, the mind will go back to its source; and the thought that arose will become quiescent. With repeated practice in this manner, the mind will develop the skill to stay in its source. When the mind that is subtle goes out through the brain and the sense-organs, the gross names and forms appear; when it stays in the Heart, the names and forms disappear. Not letting the mind go out, but retaining it in the Heart is what is called ‘inwardness’ (Antarmukha). Letting the mind go out of the Heart is known as ‘externalisation’ (Bahirmukha). Thus, when the mind stays in the Heart, the ‘I’ which is the source of all thoughts will go, and the Self which ever exists will shine. Whatever one does, one should do without the egoity ‘I’. If one acts in that way, all will appear as of the nature of Śiva (God).”

~ Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi

• Osborne, Arthur (1997). The Collected Works of Ramana Maharshi. Red Wheel Weiser

The Work Allotted To You

“Even if you try not to do your duty you will be perforce obliged to do it. Let the body complete the task for which it came into being. Sri Krishna also says in the Gita, whether Arjuna liked it or not, he would be forced to fight. When there is work to be done by you, you cannot keep away; nor can you continue to do a thing when you are not required to do it, that is to say, when the work allotted to you has been done. In short, the work will go on and you must take your share in it—the share which is allotted to you.”

[Question: How can it be done?]

“Like an actor playing his part in a drama: free from duality.”

~ Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi

• Abide as the Self: The Essential Teachings of Ramana Maharshi (1998)

The Self Is Bodiless

“Did you not exist in sleep? Were you aware of any form then? Were you with form in your sleep? You existed all the same. The ‘I’ which was in sleep is also now present. You were not the body according to your sleep-experience. You are the same now—that is without body. Being without the body you were happy too in sleep. You are the same now too. That which is enduring must alone be the real nature. There was no body but only experience of happiness in sleep. That endures now too. The Self is bodiless.”

~ Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi

• Maharshi, Sri Ramana (2006). Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi. Tiruvannamalai: Sriramanasasram

The Real and Perfect Knowledge

“All other knowledge are only petty and trivial knowledge; the experience of silence alone is the real and perfect knowledge.”

~ Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi

• Sri Ramana Maharshi (1985). Be As You Are: The spiritual teachings and wisdom of Sri Ramana Maharshi (Compiled by David Godman). Tiruvannamalai: Sriramanasasram

The Kingdom of Heaven

“To see wrong in another is one’s own wrong projected. The discrimination between right and wrong is the origin of the sin. One’s own sin is reflected outside and the individual in ignorance superimposes it on another. The best course is to reach the state in which such discrimination does not arise. Do you see wrong or right in your sleep? Be asleep even in the wakeful state, abide as the Self and remain uncontaminated by what goes on around. Your silence will have more effect than your words and deeds. That is the development of will-power. Then the world becomes the Kingdom of Heaven, which is within you.”

~ Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi

• Rajeshwarananda, Swami (1974). Erase the Ego. Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. p. 32.

Stay Quiet

“In accordance with the Prarabdha of each, the One whose function it is to ordain makes each to act. What will not happen will never happen, whatever effort one may put forth. And what will happen will not fail to happen, however much one may seek to prevent it. This is certain. The part of wisdom, therefore, is to stay quiet.”

~ Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi

• Abide as the Self: The Essential Teachings of Ramana Maharshi (1998)

On Death and Grieving

A very devoted and simple devotee had lost his only son, a child of three. The next day, he arrived at the Asramam with his family. Referring to them, Bhagavan (Ramana Maharshi) said:

“Training of mind helps one to bear sorrows and bereavements with courage; but the loss of one’s children is said to be the worst of all griefs. Grief only exists as long as one considers oneself to have a definite form; if the form is transcended, one knows the One Self to be eternal. There is neither death nor birth. What is born is only the body and this is the creation of the ego. But the ego is not ordinarily perceived without the body and so is identified with it. It is thought that matters. Let the sensible man consider whether he knew his body while in deep sleep. Why, then, does he feel it in the waking state? Although the body was not felt in sleep, did not the Self exist? What was his state when in deep sleep and what is it now when awake? What is the difference? The ego rises up and that is waking. Simultaneously, thoughts arise. Find out who has the thoughts. Where do they come from? They must arise from the conscious self. Apprehending this even vaguely helps towards the extinction of the ego. The realization of the One Infinite Existence becomes possible. In that state there are no individuals but only Eternal Being. Hence, there is no thought of death or grieving.”

~ Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi

• Osborne, Arthur (2002). The Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi in His Own Words. Tiruvannamalai: Sriramanasasram

I Am That I Am

“The essence of the mind is only awareness or consciousness. However, when the ego overclouds it, it functions as reasoning, thinking, or perceiving. The universal mind, not being limited by the ego, has nothing outside itself and is therefore only aware. This is what the Bible means by 'I am that I am.'”

~ Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi

• Osborne, Arthur (2002). The Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi in His Own Words. Tiruvannamalai: Sriramanasasram

God's Grace

“Let one not doubt whether God’s Grace, the great support, has been bestowed on one or not, for the fact that one’s mind is much interested in enquiry, having a great liking for release from bondage, is itself sufficient proof that God’s Grace has been bestowed.”

~ Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi, Guru Vachaka Kovai, Verse 727

• Sri Muruganar (2013). Guru Vachaka Kovai (The Garland of Guru's Sayings) Translation and Commentary by Sri Sadhu Om and Michael James. Tiruvannamalai: ArunachalaRamana Book Trust

Fearlessness

“Because of the ignorance of the mind experiencing a sense of difference (Bheda-Buddhi) in Self, even great devas are disturbed by fear. Therefore, it is wise to remain without fear in the supreme state of non-duality, having attained the reality, one’s own Self, through negation of the non-Self.”

~ Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi, Guru Vachaka Kovai (Verse 1078)

Commentary by Sadhu Om:

“The nature of Jīva is to think that fear will be removed only when there is some other person with him. But this idea is foolish. How can there be cause for fear in the state of Self, where no other thing exists? Only in a state where there exists something other than oneself is it possible for one either to have desire for that thing or to have fear of it. Therefore, true fearlessness can be attained only in the non-dual state of Self, where no other thing exists.

To illustrate how fearlessness can be attained only when one attains the state of Self, Sri Bhagavan used to narrate the following story: After Lord Vishnu had killed Hiranya, Hiranya’s son Prahlada was happily ruling the kingdom. But after some time, a fear arose in Prahlada. “Because Lord Vishnu is kind to me, I am living safely. But if one day He becomes angry with me, He will kill me just as He killed my father,” thought Prahlada. Being a great devotee of Lord Vishnu, Prahlada had no one else to turn to, so he prayed to Him. The Lord immediately appeared before Prahlada, who then explained his fear and prayed for the state of fearlessness. “Yes,” said Lord Vishnu, “You are correct. By seeing me like this in name and form, you cannot be free from fear. You must see me within yourself. Only when you thus realize me to be not different from yourself, will you attain the state of fearlessness”. Then the Lord taught him the path of Self-enquiry. When Prahlada followed the Lord’s instructions and realized Self, he attained the state of fearlessness. This story thus illustrates that even God cannot serve as permanent refuge from fear so long as one retains the sense of difference [Bhedabuddhi]. Only by attaining the non-dual Self can one become truly and permanently free from fear.”

• Sri Muruganar (2013). Guru Vachaka Kovai (The Garland of Guru's Sayings) Translation and Commentary by Sri Sadhu Om and Michael James. Tiruvannamalai: ArunachalaRamana Book Trust

Being Is Not Lost In Death

“Just as in dreams, you wake up after several new experiences, so after death another body is found. Just as rivers lose their individuality when they discharge their waters into the ocean, and yet the waters evaporate and return as rain on the hills and back again through the rivers to the ocean, so also individuals lose their individuality when they go to sleep but return again according to their previous innate tendencies. Similarly, in death also, being is not lost.”

“How can that be?”

“See how a tree grows again when its branches are cut off. So long as the life source is not destroyed, it will grow. Similarly, latent potentialities withdraw into the heart at death but do not perish. That is how beings are re-born.”

~ Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi

• Osborne, Arthur (2002). The Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi in His Own Words. Tiruvannamalai: Sriramanasasram

Attend To Oneself Alone

“If we scrutinize what the method is to end forever the movements of the wavering mind or ego, which is like a reflection in wavy water, we will discover that the method is for one to remain silently attending to oneself alone, and not for one to attend to that (the wavering mind), which will make one slip down from the state of Self.”

~ Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi, Guru Vachaka Kovai (Verse 1192)

• Sri Muruganar (2013). Guru Vachaka Kovai (The Garland of Guru's Sayings) Translation and Commentary by Sri Sadhu Om and Michael James. Tiruvannamalai: ArunachalaRamana Book Trust

Advaita Is Without End

“Among the six doctrines declared to be without beginning, that non-duality (Advaita) alone is without end, whereas the other five doctrines have an end. Bearing this in mind, know it clearly.”

~ Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi, Guru Vachaka Kovai (Verse 1233)

Commentary by Sadhu Om:

“The six doctrines mentioned in this verse are the Ṣaḍ-Darśana, the six orthodox schools of Indian philosophy, namely the Nyāya school of Gautama, the Vaiśeṣika school of Kanada, the Sāṅkhya school of Kapila, the Yoga school of Patanjali, the Pūrva Mīmāṃsā school of Jaimini, and the Vedānta school of Vyasa. The doctrine referred to in this verse as Advaita is the doctrine of Vedānta, whose final conclusion is that the non-dual Self or Brahman, which transcends Māyā, alone is the ever-existing reality, which has neither beginning nor end. On the other hand, the conclusions of the other five schools are all concerned with what is within the range of Māyā’s play. Therefore, just as Māyā is said to have no beginning but have an end, these five schools of philosophy are also said to have no beginning but to have an end, since they cannot remain when the truth (Self) is realized and when Māyā thereby comes to an end. Since all doctrines other than Advaita are thus invalidated when Self-knowledge dawns, Advaita alone is the truth which exists and shines forever without either beginning or end.”

• Sri Muruganar (2013). Guru Vachaka Kovai (The Garland of Guru's Sayings) Translation and Commentary by Sri Sadhu Om and Michael James. Tiruvannamalai: ArunachalaRamana Book Trust

A Dialogue with the Maharshi

A Dialogue with the Maharshi – III

By B.R. Narasimha Swami
From The Mountain Path Vol. 20, No. 1 (January 1983)

Devotee: Who am I?

Bhagavan: What is your first impression on that matter?

Devotee: I am the person now sitting here talking and listening.

Bhagavan: It is the body that sits here with a voice organ and a sense of hearing. Are you the body then?

Devotee: Am I not?

Bhagavan: What does your body consists of but hands, legs, eyes, nose, and so on. Are you your hands? Can you not exist without hands?

Devotee: I can exist without hands, so I am not my hands.

Bhagavan: For some reason, you are not the legs, nose, eyes, and so on.

Devotee: How does that follow?

Bhagavan: What belongs to you and is your property is not yourself. Is that not so?

Devotee: It appears so.

Bhagavan: “My body” you spoke of. The body is your property, is not that so?

Devotee: It seems, though I cannot see who the “I” is who owns the body.

Bhagavan: Then the owner, yourself, must be invisible. Are there no invisible entities in existence?

Devotee: Yes, there are such as ghosts, spirits, and so on.

Bhagavan: Then you may be spirit, may you not?

Devotee: How can a living man be spirit?

Bhagavan: When can he be a spirit?

Devotee: After his death?

Bhagavan: Where was that spirit during life?

Devotee: It must have been connected with residing in the living body.

Bhagavan: What is the distinction in nature between the spirit and the body, living or dead?

Devotee: I suppose the fact that the spirit is subtle while the body is gross and material, and that the spirit acts upon the body.

Bhagavan: Then neither the body, nor the sense, nor Prāṇa (the breath and other vital functions) constitute spirit, which is yourself, your “I”.

Devotee: No, they are not “I”.

Bhagavan: When you think or talk of “I”, what else do you feel is a part of you or your spirit?

Devotee: People say that we have both a body and mind. If I am not the body, it follows that I am the mind.

Bhagavan: What is that mind? What constitute the mind?

Devotee: I cannot say.

Bhagavan: When you refer to your mind, what idea do you have at the back of your mind? The mind is not a trunk with limbs, head, and voice, is it?

Devotee: No.

Bhagavan: You have something more subtle than the gross body which you express with your voice. Why do you talk now?

Devotee: To express the thoughts and ideas which are in my mind.

Bhagavan: Then thoughts and ideas are the contents of the mind, and together constitute the mind.

Devotee: Yes.

Bhagavan: Are thoughts and ideas all of the same sort, or are they the basis of each other?

Devotee: I do not understand.

Bhagavan: When you see a person, what thoughts have you?

Devotee: I think I see a figure with some qualities such as brightness or shortness?

Bhagavan: How do you know that it is brightness or shortness?

Devotee: I have known them previously.

Bhagavan: So you have the primary sensations, and then you compare with a previous stock of such impressions. Is not this power of memory, comparison, and judgment of similarity or dissimilarity, a power higher than mere receptivity to impressions?

Devotee: Yes.

Bhagavan: It is the secondary function that is called the intellect or Buddhi. Which of these two: (1) sensations or thoughts, and (2) intellect, is superior?

Devotee: It is the intellect that guides, arranges, and controls the thoughts. So the intellect (Buddhi) is superior to the thoughts (Manas).

Bhagavan: So the intellect (Buddhi) may be regarded as an inner sheath, a sort of core, for this mind (Manas). Can you discover any further inner core to which this Buddhi is an outer sheath?

Devotee: My mind cannot penetrate into such mysterious region.

Bhagavan: Why, even now you have penetrated, since you said “my mind”! You include your thoughts and your intellect in the term “my mind”, do you not?

Devotee: Yes.

Bhagavan: Do you have no powers besides the intellect? Why do you not see if you have?

Devotee: Where or what am I to see?

Bhagavan: See within yourself, see yourself.

Devotee: How can I see what is not visible?

Bhagavan: You cannot see with these physical eyes.

Devotee: What other eyes do I have?

Bhagavan: You have your “I”. See with it and enquire, “Who am I?”

Devotee: How can I see my “I”?

Bhagavan: When you talk of “I”, are you not conscious of something?

Devotee: Yes.

Bhagavan: That consciousness is not a consciousness of objects, so it must be a consciousness of something else, must it not?

Devotee: How does that follow?

Bhagavan: When you think of an object, you are absorbed into that object. At that time you are not thinking of “I” but of the object, are you not?

Devotee: Just so.

Bhagavan: Now if you drop the object, what remains?

Devotee: Nothing remains.

Bhagavan: But when you perceived the object, there was both the object perceived (the Dṛśya) and yourself, the perceiver (the Dṛk).

Devotee: Yes

Bhagavan: If of these two you remove the first mentioned, namely the Dṛśya or object, what should remain? When you say “my intellect”, what is the relationship between you and the intellect? Is it not that of an owner and his property?

Devotee: It may be so, but the matter is not clear to my intellect.

Bhagavan: Is the intellect the same thing to you at all times or to you and to all others?

Devotee: No, my own intellect varies at times, and it differs from that of others, especially when I do not agree with them.

Bhagavan: Do all men have the same degree or quality of intellect, whatever their age, education, health, and so on?

Devotee: No, babies have little of it. Older and educated people have more of it. Sick people have little of it. Geniuses have much of it. Fools, drunkards, and insane people have little or none of it.

Bhagavan: In insane people, where is the intellect?

Devotee: It is clouded or destroyed.

Bhagavan: Do they never recover it?

Devotee: Some do.

Bhagavan: Just as you recover stolen property, so the intellect is your property, capable of improvement, subject to variation, liable to destruction, and capable of being again restored to you, the possessor. Is it not so?

Devotee: Yes.

Bhagavan: Then the intellect or Buddhi is only your property; it is not you.

Devotee: Just so.

Bhagavan: Then what are you?

Devotee: I cannot find out what I am.

Bhagavan: You mean your intellect does not show you who you are.

Devotee: Yes, that is what I meant. Logically or mathematically speaking, the Dṛk or subject “I” should remain. But in point of fact, I do not find it remaining. When I stop thinking of objects, all thoughts ceases. The “I” does not remain alone.

Bhagavan: You are partly right. The intellectual and relative concept of “I” as subject does not exist apart from the similar concept, the object. The subject and object appear together and disappear together. The first person, second person, and third person all jump into and jump out of consciousness together. But is there no consciousness apart from these intellectual concepts?

Devotee: I see none.

Bhagavan: Did you have your intellect in deep sleep? That is, were you then perceiving, comparing and contrasting, remembering and judging things or objects?

Devotee: No, there were no objects to think of and no intellectual play at that time.

Bhagavan: Yet as you already admitted, you felt happy, did you not?

Devotee: Yes.

Bhagavan: What is the general feeling, this happiness unrelated to any object or thought, this feeling or consciousness in which the intellect has no part? You have already found that the nature of “I”, the Self, is to be happy, and here you find happiness when you transcend the intellect. Can you therefore conclude that “I”, “Self” and “happiness” are one and the same thing, felt as one, though not intellectually perceived as one?

Devotee: I am convinced that it must be so, but I do not yet feel it clearly. I do not feel this unrelated or absolute happiness transcending the intellect.

Bhagavan: That is because of the fact that it has long been your habit to think of and identify yourself with other objects and that you have never faced your “I” in the above manner. You have always been exercising your intellect and never your intuition. If you reverse your course and take to inward vision, shutting out all external images and falling back on intuitive feeling, in that dark chamber of your mind you will catch the true picture of yourself. This is the real, the realization, the realizer or the Self – the One which words cannot describe and the mind cannot reach, and which is merely suggested by the term often used for describing it, namely Sat-Cit-Ānanda, that is, existence or reality, consciousness or illumination, and bliss.

“I” Is The Name Of God

“No learning or knowledge of scriptures is necessary to know the Self, as no man requires a mirror to know that he is himself. All knowledge is acquired only to be given up eventually as not-Self. Nor is household work or care of children necessarily an obstacle. If you can do nothing more, at least continue saying ‘I’ ‘I’ to yourself mentally all the time, whatever work you may be doing and whether you are sitting, standing, or walking. ‘I’ is the name of God. It is the first and greatest of all mantras. Even OM is second to it.”

~ Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi

• Rajeshwarananda, Swami (1974). Erase the Ego. Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan