Like the practice of breath control, meditation on the forms of God, repetition of mantras, food restrictions, etc., are but aids for rendering the mind quiescent.
Ramana MaharshiRead
Even as one and the same person is called by different names according to the different functions he performs, so also one and the same mind is called by the different names: mind, intellect, memory, and egoity, on account of the difference in the modes - and not because of any real difference.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The mind is multifaceted and labeled differently based on its functions, yet it remains fundamentally the same.
Ramana Maharshi's quote illustrates the concept that while we may refer to various aspects of the mind—such as mind, intellect, memory, and ego—these labels merely represent different functions rather than true distinctions. The underlying essence of a single consciousness remains unchanged, despite the myriad roles it plays in our experience of reality.
Themes
MindIntellectFunctionEgoPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
In a philosophy class discussing the nature of consciousness.
More from Ramana Maharshi
All quotes →Think of God; attachments will gradually drop away. If you wait till all desires disappear before starting your devotion and prayer, you will have to wait for a very long time indeed.
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The mind of one meditating on a single object becomes one-pointed. And one-pointedness of mind leads to abidance in the self. 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.
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You need not aspire for or get any new state. Get rid of your present thoughts, that is all.
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Realisation is not acquisition of anything new nor is it a new faculty. It is only removal of all camouflage
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Bliss is a thing which is always there and is not something which comes and goes. That which comes and goes is a creation of the mind.
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