Behind My Hand

  Sri Ramakrishna: "Meditate in your mind, in the forest, or in a quiet corner." The meaning of this is that all Sadhana must be done in strict privacy, that others may not come to know of it. If you steadily practise like this even for a little time, you will find what great joy and bliss will come to you. Swami Brahmananda in Spiritual Talks (1933), p. 227

  D.: So it is a great game of pretending?  M.:Yes. In Yoga Vasishtha it is said, “What is Real is hidden from us, but what is false, is revealed as true.” We are actually experiencing the Reality only; still, we do not know it. Is it not a wonder of wonders? The quest “Who am I?” is the axe with which to cut off the ego. - Ramana Maharshi in Talk 146

  Mr. P. Brunton: Why do religions speak of Gods, heaven, hell, etc.? M.: Only to make the people realise that they are on a par with this world and that the Self alone is real. The religions are according to the view-point of the seeker.  - from Talk 145

  Dr. Paul Brunton : What is the mystery of this Hill (Arunachala)? Maharshi : Just as you have said in Secret Egypt, “The mystery of the pyramid is the mystery of the Self,” so also the mystery of this Hill is the mystery of the Self. - from Talk 143

  21-11-45 Dr. Srinivasa Rao asked Bhagavan, “When we enquire within ‘who am I?’ what is that?” Bhagavan: It is the ego. It is only that which makes the vichara also. The Self has no vichara. That which makes the enquiry is the ego. The ‘I’ about which the enquiry is made is also the ego. As the result of the enquiry the ego ceases to exist and only the Self is found to exist. Ramana Maharshi in “Day by Day with Bhagavan”

  D.: In deep sleep I do not seem to exist. M.: You say so when awake. It is the mind which speaks now. You exist in deep sleep beyond mind.   - Ramana Maharshi in Talk 126

  mayy eva mana ādhatsva mayi buddhiṁ niveśaya | nivasiṣyasi mayy eva ata ūrdhvaṁ na saṁśayaḥ || Fix the mind on me alone, place the thought process in me. Hereafter, without doubt, you will abide in me alone.  (Bhagavad Gita 12.8, - Trans. MWright) Note: the thought process arises from “me”. Trace the source. Remain there.  The above Verse from Bhagavad Gita verse is a concise description of vicāra (Self-enquiry).  —- “Atma Vichara leads to the source of the ego. There the ego disappears. Remaining as that source the ego no longer arises.” (Excerpt From Talks on Self Enquiry, Miles Wright & Gabriele Ebert)  https://books.apple.com/gb/book/talks-on-self-enquiry/id1078197373)