Behind My Hand

Read a sample of B. K. S. Iyengar's Light on Life online here .

"The strict aloofness which appeared to me at first as sheer callousness on the part of the Maharshi, standing against the traditional concern said to be shown by the gurus to promote the spiritual advancement of their disciples, turned out across the years to be more potent in its action to purify, reform, guide and mature the disciples’ consciousness than the guru’s conscious interference. Without this detachment the guru is bound to grow partial and discriminative, which is fatal to the intention of help, for it ends by dissipating the special concentrated power inherent for the purpose in him." - S. S. Cohen in Guru Ramana; p. 165

Essence of Bhagavad Gita  - an English translation of the 42 verses selected by Ramana Maharshi and which he felt contained the essence of the text. Available for free.

Take a firm stand that the mind cannot interpret you. What the mind says is not you, don't be dictated by the mind, you are not the mind. The mind takes you for a ride, you feel you are going for a ride, your mind-inclinations want to enjoy; you say I want to enjoy.  - Nisargadatta in I AM UNBORN (Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj)

Q: How can the mind be made to go? M: No attempt should be made to destroy it. To think or wish is in itself a thought. If the thinker is sought, the thoughts will disappear. Q: Will they disappear by themselves? It seems so difficult. M: They will disappear because they are unreal. The idea of difficulty is itself an obstacle to realization. It must be overcome. To remain as the Self is not difficult. This thought of difficulty is the chief obstacle. A little practice in discovering the source of ‘I’ will make you think differently. Absolute freedom from thoughts is the state conducive to such recognition of the Self. Mind is but an aggregate of thoughts. Q: I begin to ask myself ‘Who am I?’ and eliminate the body as not ‘I’, the prana as not ‘I’, the mind as not ‘I’ and I am not able to proceed further. M: Well, that is as far as the intellect goes. Your process is only intellectual. Indeed all the scriptures mention the process only to guide the seeker to know the truth. T

It is the universe in its diversity which is generally spoken of as reality. The pairs of opposites (dvandvas) vie for our attention. Good/bad, hot/cold, rich/poor, spiritual/material etc., we give our attention to all of these in order to make judgements on their relative merits. They are the all important opposites. All important because without them the universe as we 'know' it would collapse into Unity. The task is simple. There is no mystery. Ramana Maharshi appeals to us to sacrifice everything for Truth. It is not that the mind of the jnani (Sage) and the mind of the ajnani (one who 'believes' enlightenment has yet to come) are different. This is simply thought. The sum and substance of Ramana Maharshi's enquiry (vichara) "Who am I?" is "...to remain still." The wrong identification of Self with body and senses etc. is solved with this enquiry. This state of equilibrium is not unknown to us. To think it is, is again just thought. sam