Pure Existence: Ever Present

Sri Ramana Maharshi

You want to know the past, what you were , and also what you will be in the future. You do not know the present and you exist now. Both yesterday and tomorrow are only with reference to today. Yesterday was called 'today' in its time and tomorrow will be called 'today' by you tomorrow. Today is ever present. What is ever present is pure existence. It has no past or future. Why not try and find out the real nature of the present and ever present existence?

There is no difference between jivanmukti and videhamukti. For those who ask, it is said, 'A jnani with a body is a jivanmukta and he attains videhamukti when he drops off his body.' But this difference is only for the onlooker, not for the jnani. His state is the same before and after the body is dropped. We think of the jnani as a human form or as being in that form. But the jnani knows he is the Self, the only Reality which is both inside and outside, and which is not bound by any form or shape.

From Thus Spake Ramana