Pure and Impure Mind

Sri Ramana Maharshi

Q: What is the authority for saying that the entire moving and unmoving worlds depend upon oneself?

M: The Self means the embodied being. It is only after the energy, which was latent in the state of deep sleep, emerges with the idea of 'I' that all objects are experienced. The Self is present in all perceptions as the perceiver. There are no objects to be seen when the 'I' is absent. For all these reasons it may undoubtedly be said that everything comes out of the Self and goes back to the Self.

Q: As the bodies and the selves animating them are everywhere actually observed to be

innumerable how can it be said that the Self is only one?

M: If the idea 'I am the body' is accepted, the selves are multiple. The state in which this idea vanishes is the Self since in that state there are no other objects. It is for this reason that the Self is regarded as one only.

Q: What is the authority for saying that Brahman can be apprehended by the mind and at the same time that it cannot be apprehended by the mind?

M: It cannot be apprehended by the impure mind but can be apprehended by the pure mind.

Q: What is pure and impure mind?

M: When the indefinable power of brahman separates itself from brahman and, in union with the reflection of consciousness (chidabhasa) assumes various forms, it is called the impure mind. When it becomes free from the reflection of consciousness (abhasa), through discrimination, it is called the pure mind. Its state of union with the brahman is its apprehension of brahman. The energy which is accompanied by the reflection of consciousness is called the impure mind and its separation from brahman is its non-apprehension of brahman.