Month: September 2021

The following is an excerpt from Ramanananda Swarnagiri’s Crumbs from his Table (2017; 10th edition), p. 42. It is a satsang between the writer and Sri Ramana Maharshi:

D[isciple]: I have a good mind to resign from service and remain constantly with Sri Bhagavan [Ramana Maharshi]

B [Ramana]: Bhagavan is always with you, in you, and you are yourself Bhagavan. To realize this it is neither necessary to resign your job nor run away from home. Renunciation does not imply apparent divesting of costumes, family ties, home, etc., but renunciation of desires, affection and attachment. There is no need to resign your job, but resign yourself to Him, the bearer of the burden of all. One who renounces desires, etc., actually merges in the world and expands his love to the whole universe. Expansion of love and affection would be a far better term for a true devotee of God than renunciation, for one who renounces the immediate ties actually extends the bonds of affection and love to a wider world beyond the borders of caste, creed and race. A sannyasi, who apparently casts away his clothes and leaves his home[,] does not do so out of aversion to his immediate relations but because of the expansion of his love to others around him. When this expansion comes, one does not feel that one is running away from home, but drops from it like ripe fruit from a tree; till then t would be folly to leave one’s home or his job.

A wonderful, powerful excerpt from Maharshi’s Gospel: The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi, p. 24. Could Ramana Maharshi be more beautiful?

D[isciple]: Does my Realization help others?

M[aharshi]: Yes, and it is the best help tat you can possibly render to others. Those who have discovered great truths have done so in the still depths of the Self. But really there are no ‘others’ to be helped. For, the Realized Being sees only the Self, just as te goldsmith sees only the gold while valuing it in various jewels made of gold. When you identify yourself with te body, name and form are there. But when you transcend the body-consciousness, the ‘others’ also disappear. The Realized one does not see the world as different from Himself.

D: Would it not be better if the saint [were to] mix with others?

M: There are no ‘others’ to mix with. The Self is the only Reality.