Daily Reflections for August 2007 - Sri Ramana Maharshi

The readers are advised to read one thought a day and then deeply reflect on it. Think about it. Live that idea. Apply it in daily life.

August 1: Mind is consciousness, which has limitations. We are originally unlimited and perfect. Later on, we take on limitations and become the mind.

August 2: Meditation depends upon the strength of mind. It must be unceasing even when one is engaged in work. Particular time for it is meant for novices.

August 3: When one makes the mind stick to one thought, the mind becomes rock-steady and the energy is conserved.

August 4: The mind is only a bundle of thoughts. The thoughts have their root in the I-thought. Whoever investigates the True "I" enjoys the stillness of bliss.

August 5: When the mind is left without anything to cling to, it becomes still.

August 6: The inquiry "Who am I" turns the mind introvert and makes it calm.

August 7: There is no mind to control if you realize the Self. The mind having vanished, the Self shines forth. In the realized man, the mind may be active or inactive, the Self remains for him.

August 8: Meditation helps concentration of the mind. Then the mind is free from thoughts and is in the meditated form.

August 9: Meditation is sticking to one thought. That single thought keeps away other thoughts; distraction of mind is a sign of its weakness; by constant meditation it gains strength.

August 10: When we turn the mind inwards, God manifests as the inner consciousness.

August 11: See who is the doubter, who is the thinker. It is the ego. Hold it; the other thoughts will die away – the ego will be left pure. See the source from where the ego arises and abide in it. That is pure consciousness.

August 12: The "I" thought is said to be the sum total of all thoughts. The source of the "I" thought has to be enquired into.

August 13: The mind of one meditating on a single object becomes one-pointed. And one-pointedness of mind leads to abidance in the Self.

August 14: Real attainment is to be fully conscious, to be aware of surroundings and the people around, to move among them all, but not to merge consciousness in the environment. One should remain in inner independent awareness.

August 15: Once the current of awareness of the Self is set afoot, it becomes everlasting and continuous by intensification.

August 16: Realization is to get rid of the relusion that you have not realized.

August 17: Good thoughts keep off bad thoughts. They must themselves disappear before the state of realization.

August 18: Realization is our true nature. It is nothing new to be gained. What is new cannot be eternal. Therefore, there is no need to be doubting whether we would gain or loss the Self.

August 19: A realized one sends out waves of spiritual influence in his aura, which draw many people towards him. Yet he may sit in a cave and maintain complete silence.

August 20: Turn the mind inward and cease thinking of yourself as the body; thereby you will come to know that the Self is ever happy. Neither grief nor misery is experienced in this state.

August 21: When we see our Self, there is no world; and when we lose sight of the Self, we get ourselves bound in the world.

August 22: The Self is like a pearl. To find it you must dive deep down into silence, deeper and ever deeper until it is reached.

August 23: The Self is pure knowledge, pure delight where there is no duality.

August 24: The illuminated one who is happy in the peace of the Self, without thought of the past and the future, and is like a mere witness of the present, has his knots of bondage cut.

August 25: He alone who has realized the Self in the heart has known the Truth. Having transcended the dualities, he is never perplexed.

August 26: The Self cannot be found in books. You have to find it for yourself, within yourself.

August 27: A self-realized man remains happy without being affected by false appearances, whereas the ignorant man is miserable.

August 28: Seek the source of the ego, abide there for ever in the source and find yourself in bliss.

August 29: That pure consciousness which is the reality, and which shines without a break, as "I AM" when the mind becomes calm, is the supreme bliss.

August 30: The enlightened one that has become one with the unchanging supreme consciousness, like a river that has become one with the ocean, takes birth no more in a body.

August 31: All actions, past, present and future, become extinct in the case of a liberated one, because his sense of being the doer is gone; it was lost along with the ego, who alone was the doer.

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