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
Eating, bathing, going to the toilet, talking, thinking, and many other activities related to the body are all work. How is it that the performance of one particular act is alone (considered) work? To be still is to be always engaged in work. To be silent is to be always talking.
Interpretation
What this quote means
All activities of life, including rest, can be viewed as forms of work or engagement.
In this quote, Ramana Maharshi highlights the idea that every action we perform, from basic bodily functions to deep reflection, constitutes work or engagement in life. He challenges the conventional notion of what work truly is, suggesting that even stillness and silence involve a form of activity, urging us to reconsider our understanding of labor and existence.
Themes
WorkEngagementLifeSilenceThought
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture about mindfulness, one might use this quote to emphasize that all actions, including rest, are valuable.
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.
Ramana MaharshiRead
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.
Ramana MaharshiRead
You need not aspire for or get any new state. Get rid of your present thoughts, that is all.
Ramana MaharshiRead
Realisation is not acquisition of anything new nor is it a new faculty. It is only removal of all camouflage
Ramana MaharshiRead
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.
Ramana MaharshiRead
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