Ramana Maharshi Quotes
Ramana Maharshi was an Indian Hindu sage and one of the most influential teachers of Advaita Vedanta in the twentieth century. At sixteen he experienced a spontaneous identification with what he called the Self and travelled south to the holy mountain of Arunachala, where he lived for the rest of his life in silence and later in dialogue with disciples and visitors from around the world. The quotes below are attributed to Ramana Maharshi, organized by topic.
Browse Ramana Maharshi by topic
Ramana Maharshi on Death
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“Forgetfulness of your real nature is true death; remembrance of it is rebirth”
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Ramana Maharshi on Happiness
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Attributed to Ramana Maharshi:
“Happiness is your nature. It is not wrong to desire it.”
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“Unless one is happy, one cannot bestow happiness on others.”
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Ramana Maharshi on Knowledge
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“Your duty is to be, and not to be this or that. I Am That I Am sums up the whole truth; the method is summarized in Be Still .”
Interview ( c. 1945) in The Spiritual Teachings of Ramana Maharshi (1972), p. 75 -
“Reality is simply the loss of ego. Destroy the ego by seeking its identity. Because the ego is no entity it will automatically vanish and reality will shine forth by itself.”
Be As You Are, The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi (1985) -
“Be As You Are, The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi (1985)”
Reality is simply the loss of ego. Destroy the ego by seeking its identity. Because the ego is no entity it will automatically vanish and reality will shine forth by itself. -
“There is no greater mystery than this: being Reality ourselves, we seek to gain Reality.”
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“I want you to dive consciously into the Self , i.e., into the Heart.”
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“We see only the script and not the paper on which the script is written. The paper is there, whether the script is on it or not. To those who look upon the script as real, you have to say that it is unreal--an illusion--since it rests upon paper. The wise person looks upon both paper and script as one.”
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“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.”
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Ramana Maharshi on Life
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“Your duty is to be, and not to be this or that.”
Interview ( c. 1945) in The Spiritual Teachings of Ramana Maharshi (1972), p. 75
Ramana Maharshi on Mind
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Attributed to Ramana Maharshi:
“All that is required to realize the Self is to be still.”
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“Who am I?”
Self-Inquiry
Ramana Maharshi on Time
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Attributed to Ramana Maharshi:
“There is neither past nor future. There is only the present.”
Ramana Maharshi on Truth
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Attributed to Ramana Maharshi:
“Silence is the highest form of teaching.”
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“True silence is really endless speech.”
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