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Ramana Maharshi on Realization while doing Worldly
Duties
Question : I have a good mind to resign from service
and remain constantly with Sri Bhagavan.
Ramana Maharshi : Bhagavan is always with you, in you, and you are
yourself Bhagavan. To realize this it is neither necessary to resign
your job nor run away from home. Renunciation does not imply apparent
divesting of costumes, family ties, home, etc., but renunciation of
desires, affection and attachment. There is no need to resign your job,
only resign yourself to God, the bearer of the burden of all.
One who renounces desires actually merges in the world and expands his
love to the whole universe. Expansion of love and affection would be a
far better term for a true devotee of God than renunciation, for one who
renounces the immediate ties actually extends the bonds of affection and
love to a wider world beyond the borders of caste, creed and race.
A sannyasi who apparently casts away his clothes and leaves his home
does not do so out of aversion to his immediate relations but because of
the expansion of his love to others around him. When this expansion
comes, one does not feel that one is running away from home, instead one
drops from it like a ripe fruit from a tree. Till then it would be folly
to leave one's home or job.
Question : How does a grihastha [householder] fare in the scheme of
moksha [liberation]? Should he not necessarily become a mendicant in
order to attain liberation?
Ramana Maharshi : Why do you think you are a grihastha? Similar thoughts
that you are a sannyasi [wandering monk] will haunt you, even if you go
out as a sannyasi. Whether you continue in the household or renounce it
and go to the forest, your mind haunts you. The ego is the source of
thought. It creates the body and the world and it makes you think of
being the grihastha. If you renounce, it will only substitute the
thought of sannyasa for that of grihastha and the environment of the
forest for that of the household.
But the mental obstacles are always there for you. They even increase
greatly in the new surroundings. It is no help to change the
environment. The one obstacle is the mind and it must be overcome
whether in the home or in the forest. If you can do it in the forest,
why not in the home? Therefore, why change the environment? Your efforts
can be made even now, whatever the environment.
Question : Is it possible to enjoy samadhi [awareness of reality] while
busy in worldly work?
Ramana Maharshi : The feeling `I work' is the hindrance. Ask yourself
`Who works?' Remember who you are. Then the work will not bind you, it
will go on automatically. Make no effort either to work or to renounce;
it is your effort which is the bondage. What is destined to happen will
happen. If you are destined not to work, work cannot be had even if you
hunt for it. If you are destined to work, you will not be able to avoid
it and you will be forced to engage yourself in it. So, leave it to the
higher power; you cannot renounce or retain as you choose.
Question : Bhagavan said yesterday that while one is engaged in search
of God 'within', `outer' work would go on automatically. In the life of
Sri Chaitanya it is said that during his lectures to students he was
really seeking Krishna within and he forgot all about his body and went
on talking of Krishna only. This raises a doubt as to whether work can
safely be left to itself. Should one keep part of one's attention on the
physical work?
Ramana Maharshi : The Self is all. Are you apart from the Self ? Or can
the work go on without the Self ? The Self is universal so all actions
will go on whether you strain yourself to be engaged in them or not. The
work will go on of itself. Thus Krishna told Arjuna that he need not
trouble to kill the Kauravas because they were already slain by God. It
was not for him to resolve to work and worry himself about it, but to
allow his own nature to carry out the will of the higher power.
Related Ramana Maharshi Talks:
Ramana Maharshi Biography
Ramana Maharshi on
Meditation Experiences
Why do I never
remember that I am the Self
Ramana Maharshi Self Inquiry
Meditation method
Ramana Maharshi
"Who am I" Meditation Method
Ramana Maharshi taught through
Silence - Mauna
Ramana Maharshi on Searching the Source
of 'I' Thought
Is Self-experience
possible for mind, whose nature is constant change?
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