Time, Place Do Not Exist

Sri Ramana Maharshi

21-11-1945 Afternoon

A lady visitor from Sri Aurobindo's Ashram asked Bhagavan, "When I concentrate, all sorts of thoughts rise and disturb me. The more I try, the more thoughts rise up. What should I do?"

B: Yes, it will be so. All that is inside will try to come out. There is no other way except to pull up the mind each time it wants to go astray and to fix it on the Self. Bhagavan quoted the Bhagavad Gita which says that as often as the wavering mind goes after anything, it should be drawn away and fixed in the Self.

Siva Mohan Lal asked B, "When I concentrate here in Bhagavan's Presence, I am able to fix my thought on the Self easily. But in my place it takes a long time and much trouble to do so. Now why should it be so, especially as I feel convinced that B is everywhere and is my antaryami?" I said, "It must of course be so. Though we are told that God is immanent everywhere, are we not also told that he is more manifest in some objects or places than in others, e.g., temples and images or avatars?" B said, "Ask Muruganar who is here. He has sung a song where he says Ramanasramam is not simply here for him, but everywhere." Thereupon Muruganar read out the following stanza from Ramana Devamalai:

ஆண்டெனவே யாண்டு மடங்கிமன நிற்றலால்

ஈண்டுபுனல் சூழுலக  மேங்கணுமே-வேண்டி

அமரர் பலருமடியும் பெரிய

ரமணதே வாச்சி ரமம்.

This means, "Because (by His Grace) the mind has attained quiescence and remains calm everywhere as it used to remain at Ramanasramam, wherever I may go it is to me Ramanasramam, to which even devas go with keen desire." In other words, Ramanasramam is chidakasa which is everywhere and to which we gain access by killing the mind. Bhagavan added, "Time and place really do not exist. Even in the radio we have a hint of this truth. We have Hyderabad here. What is sung there, we hear at the same time as it is sung there. Where is time and place?"