Without a Mind, All will be well

Sri Ramana Maharshi

31-12-1946

A visitor asked Bhagavan, “What is the right conception of life?” 

Bhagavan: If you know who wants to have this cleared, i.e., who puts this question, then all will be solved. What is meant by life, by right conception, and who are you? 

Visitor: I am a man. I want to know what is the right conception of life so that I may live accordingly. 

Bhagavan: Life of man is what is. That which is, is. All the trouble arises by having a conception of it. Mind comes in. It has a conception. All trouble follows. If you are as you are, without a mind and its conceptions about various things, all will be well with you. If you seek the source of the mind, then alone all questions will be solved. 

Another visitor asked Bhagavan, “Will not right conduct be enough to secure salvation?” 

Bhagavan: Salvation for whom? Who wants salvation? And what is right conduct? What is conduct? And what is right? Who is to judge what is right and what is wrong? According to previous samskaras, each one regards something or other as right. It is only when the reality is known, what is right can be known. The best course is to find out who wants this salvation, and in tracing this ‘who’ or ego to its original source consists all right conduct. 

This answer did not satisfy the visitor, and he kept on asking whether doing nitya karmas and sat karmas will not lead to salvation, as mentioned in books. Thereupon Bhagavan said, “It is said so in books. Who denies that good conduct is good or that it will eventually lead you to the goal? Good conduct or sat karma purifies the chitta or mind and gives you chitta suddhi. The pure mind attains jnana, which is what is meant by salvation. So, eventually jnana must be reached, i.e., the ego must be traced to its source. But to those to whom this does not appeal, we have to say sat karmas lead to chitta suddhi, and chitta suddhi will lead to right knowledge or jnana, and that in its turn gives salvation.”