Sri Ramana Maharshi
From Sri Annamalai Swam's Diary Extracts
Q: I am trying to follow the path of virtue but I am finding it impossible. My purva samskaras are preventing me. When will they disappear?
Bhagavan (B): Ask yourself 'Who am I?' Your purva samskaras will disappear when you find out who has them.
Q: When I meditate, sleep overpowers me. I cannot avoid it. What should I do?
B: If I say 'I awoke' it follows that 'I slept'. When waking comes we must be in the state that we were in when we were asleep. When sleep comes we must awake. That is the state of awakened sleep.
Q: That is not possible for me.
B: The greatest obstacle is the thought, 'It is not possible for me.'
Q: What to do when this thought catches hold of us and shakes us.
B: The thought does not catch hold of us and shake us. The thought catching hold of us shakes itself.
Q: If this is so, how can I control the mind?
B: Controlling the mind implies the need of a second mind to control the first. Trying to control the mind is like someone attempting the impossible task of measuring the length of his own shadow by himself.
How were we in sleep? We are now the same 'I' that we were when we were asleep. Our first mistake is to leave that state and take the body to be 'I'.
Q: Ajnana must be destroyed. Am I right?
B: It will be sufficient if you investigate the one whose ajnana must be destroyed.
From Sri Annamalai Swam's Diary Extracts
Q: I am trying to follow the path of virtue but I am finding it impossible. My purva samskaras are preventing me. When will they disappear?
Bhagavan (B): Ask yourself 'Who am I?' Your purva samskaras will disappear when you find out who has them.
Q: When I meditate, sleep overpowers me. I cannot avoid it. What should I do?
B: If I say 'I awoke' it follows that 'I slept'. When waking comes we must be in the state that we were in when we were asleep. When sleep comes we must awake. That is the state of awakened sleep.
Q: That is not possible for me.
B: The greatest obstacle is the thought, 'It is not possible for me.'
Q: What to do when this thought catches hold of us and shakes us.
B: The thought does not catch hold of us and shake us. The thought catching hold of us shakes itself.
Q: If this is so, how can I control the mind?
B: Controlling the mind implies the need of a second mind to control the first. Trying to control the mind is like someone attempting the impossible task of measuring the length of his own shadow by himself.
How were we in sleep? We are now the same 'I' that we were when we were asleep. Our first mistake is to leave that state and take the body to be 'I'.
Q: Ajnana must be destroyed. Am I right?
B: It will be sufficient if you investigate the one whose ajnana must be destroyed.
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