Mind Turned Inward Becomes Self

Sri Ramana Maharshi
8-11-1945 Morning

Bhagavan said, "To ask the mind to kill the mind is like making the thief the policeman. He will go with you and pretend to catch the thief, but nothing will be gained. So you turn inward and see where the mind rises from and then it will cease to exist." In reference to this answer, Mr. Thambi Thorai of Jaffna asked me whether asking the mind to turn inward and seek its source is not also employing the mind. So I put this doubt before Bhagavan and He said, "Of course we are employing the mind. It is well known and admitted that only with the help of the mind the mind has to be killed. But instead of setting about saying there is a mind and I want to kill it, you begin to seek the source of the mind, and you find the mind does not exist at all. The mind, turned inwards, it becomes itself the Self. Such a mind is sometimes called arupa manas or suddha manas."