The Gospel of Thomas in the Light of Ramana Maharshi

	The Gospel of Thomas in the Light of Ramana Maharshi
Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi Sri Ramana Maharshi's Life Sri Ramana Maharshi's Teaching Devotees of Sri Ramana Maharshi Books by and about Sri Ramana Maharshi Home	The aim of this page is to compare the words of Ramana Maharshi with sayings from the 'secret' Gospel of Thomas. The similarities revealed are striking, all the more so when we remember that the Gospel was not made public until after Ramana's death. It should be noted that this compilation was originally assembled for personal use. The Gospel of Thomas, in particular, has been extensively edited and rephrased, besides being rearranged into categories. There are many more literal translations of Thomas available, and anyone not already acquainted with the text is strongly urged to read them first. This supplementary version is presented purely to underline the status of Jesus as a Maharshi and of Ramana as the Christ. ॐ These are the mystic words spoken by the living Jesus and preserved by Didymos Judas Thomas. He said: Whoever comprehends the Mystery of these words becomes immortal. ॐ Conduct The disciples said: Do you want us to fast? How should we pray? Shall we give alms? Are there any foods we shouldn’t eat? Jesus answered: Fasting is a sin, praying is wrong and donating to charity is an evil. And if people welcome you, eat whatever food they offer and heal their sick. What goes into your mouth can’t pollute you, but what comes out of it can. A questioner asked: Should I not try to help the suffering world? Ramana answered: The power that created you has created the world as well. If It can take care of you, It can similarly take care of the world also … If God has created the world it is His business to look after it, not yours. As for prayer for the sake of others, it looks so unselfish on the surface of it. But analyse the feeling and you will detect selfishness there also. You desire others' happiness so that you may be happy. Or you want the credit for having interceded on others' behalf. God does not require an intermediary. Mind your own business and all will be well. ॐ They said: Let us pray and fast today. Jesus replied: What sin have I committed and to what have I succumbed? When the groom comes out of the bridal chamber, then let them fast and pray. Ramana said: They pray to God and finish with "Thy Will be done!" If His Will be done why do they pray at all? It is true that the Divine Will prevails at all times and under all circumstances. The individuals cannot act of their own accord. Recognise the force of the Divine Will and keep quiet. ॐ Jesus said: You will never enter heaven unless you fast from the world. Unless you keep the whole week as a Sabbath, you will never see God. Ramana said: If all the activities of the senses are given up, the mind becomes single-pointed. When such a mind gets concentrated on God, that is real fasting. ॐ Jesus said: Woe to the flesh that depends on flesh, and to the soul that depends upon these two. Ramana said: For those who have undertaken the task of abolishing the dominion of the ego, which is rooted in the fleshy body, fattening flesh by eating flesh is improper. ॐ Jesus said: Don’t constantly worry about what you’re going to eat and wear. Ramana said: Once you have realised that Providence meets all your bodily needs, you will never feel anxious again. Whether you desire it or not, those needs will be met. ॐ Jesus said: Why do you wash the outside of the cup? Don’t you realise that he who created the outside also created the inside? Ramana said: After I came to this place, I had no bath for four months … Shaving was also like that. The shave I had on the day I came here has been recorded; the second was after a year and a half. The hair had got matted and woven like a basket. Small stones and dust had settled down in it and the head used to feel heavy. I had also long nails, and a frightful appearance. ॐ Jesus said: The scribes and the Pharisees have lost the keys to the Kingdom, so that they can’t enter, and nor can anybody else. But you, you must be as sly as snakes and as innocent as doves. Ramana said: The ultimate Truth is so simple. It is nothing more than being in the pristine state. This is all that need be said. Still, it is a wonder that to teach this simple Truth there should come into being so many religions, creeds, methods and disputes among them and so on! Oh the pity! Oh the pity! ॐ Jesus said: The Pharisees are like a dog lying in the manger of oxen. He can’t eat there, and prevents the oxen from doing so. Ramana said: Mother, what are you going to eat? Today they have brought only drumsticks and onions. If you eat them will you not encounter forests of drumsticks and mountains of onions on the way to Heaven? ॐ Jesus said: Love your brother like your soul and guard him like your eyes. Ramana said: There are no others. ॐ Jesus said: Remove the beam from your own eye, and you will see to remove the mote from your brother’s. Ramana said: Correcting oneself is correcting the whole world. The sun is simply bright. It does not correct anyone. Because it shines the whole world is full of light. Transforming yourself is a means of giving light to the whole world. ॐ Jesus said: Don’t lie or do what you hate. Nothing can remain hidden. Ramana said: If I started punishing people, not even a crow would be able to rest in the ashram. ॐ Jesus said: I reveal my mysteries to those who are worthy of them. Don’t let your left hand know what your right is doing. Ramana said: He is a good devotee, but he does not show his devotion externally. The devotion is all inside. He hides it so well that most people think that he is not a good devotee. I like this kind of devotion very much. ॐ Jesus said: If the blind lead the blind, both fall into a pit. Ramana said: Only he who has himself won salvation can lead others to salvation. ॐ Jesus said: What you hear in your ear, preach from the rooftops. Who lights a lamp to hide it away? Ramana said: A radio transmission is done from one point but its effect can be felt all over the world. ॐ Jesus said: A city on a hill can neither fall nor be hidden. Ramana said: What more miraculous power is there than that of the Sage, who by merely sitting on his couch, attracts thousands of people from the four corners of the earth, hundreds of whom change their old modes of life, and some of whom even attain Godhood. ॐ Jesus said: You can’t expect grapes from thorns or figs from thistles. A man produces fruit according to the good or evil in his heart. Ramana said: Those who have realised the Truth are alone the possessors of faultless virtues. Apart from these, everyone else is only base of nature. ॐ Jesus said: Blasphemy against the Father and the Son will be forgiven, but never blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Ramana said: Those who have experienced this do not talk about it. Those who talk about it have not experienced it. ॐ Jesus said: Pass by. Ramana said: Be still. ॐ Suffering and the World Jesus said: If you know the world, you find a corpse, and if you find a corpse the world is not worthy of you. Ramana said: Since the world ceases to appear when the body is absent, the world is not other than the body. ॐ Jesus said: Blissful are they who are troubled, for they shall find life. Ramana said: Why should one's attempts be always attended with success? Success develops arrogance and one's spiritual progress is thereby arrested. Failures on the other hand are beneficial, inasmuch as they open one's eyes to one's limitations and prepare him to surrender himself. ॐ Jesus said: Blissful are you when they persecute you, but find no spot in the place where they did it. Ramana said: What they are abusing is your body, isn’t it? What greater enemy is there than this body which is the abode of anger and similar feelings? It is necessary that we ourselves should hate it. ॐ Jesus said: Blissful are they who have been persecuted in their hearts, for they have known the Father. And truly blissful are the hungry, for they shall be filled. Ramana said: Those who abuse us should be looked upon as our friends. It is good for us to be among such people. If you are among people who praise you, you get deceived. ॐ Jesus said: Blissful are the poor. Enlightenment belongs to them. Ramana said: For true devotees, the only benefit worth attaining is the blissful wealth of Grace. All other kinds of wealth are of no consequence. ॐ Jesus said: Whoever has become rich, let him become king; and whoever has power, let him abdicate. Ramana said: You will know in due course that your glory lies where you cease to exist. ॐ Jesus said: Why did you come out into the field? To see a reed in the wind? And to see a man in fine clothes? Your kings and men of power are in fine clothes, and they do not know the Truth. Ramana said: What a wonder! The sadhu who has a majestic mind and who moves about with no possessions, feeling ‘I do not want anything,’ confounds the understanding of a king, who deserves to be much pitied because of the anxieties that whirl his mind. ॐ Jesus said: If you have found the world and become rich, renounce the world. Ramana said: After surrendering your body, possessions and soul to the Guru, to regard any of them as ‘I’ or ‘mine’ is to commit the sin of stealing back what has been given away as a gift. ॐ Jesus said: If you have money, don’t lend it at interest, but give it to someone you know won’t pay it back. Ramana said: I am a mendicant. ॐ Jesus said: A man was holding a dinner, but everyone he invited had some business to attend to, so in the end he just fed passers-by. No businessman will enter the places of my Father. Ramana said: Rich people have food on silver plates with gold flowers inlaid in them. Why are such things required when we have hands given by God? When I was on the hill someone got a leaf plate made of silver and requested me to eat from it. I sent it back saying that I did not require it. When the food can be eaten out of the hands, why silver and gold? For a long time I did not eat food from a leaf. If anybody brought food, I used to stretch out the palms of my hands and when the food was put in them I used to eat it. It is only of late that I have begun eating food served on a leaf. ॐ Jesus said: The foxes have their dens and the birds their nests, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head and rest. Ramana said: I wonder how we ever lived in those places which were then all rocks, stones and thorns. But in those days we were quite comfortable and at home. ॐ Jesus said: It may be hard to see how the world could have sprung from the spirit, yet it is impossible to imagine the spirit springing from the world. Indeed, I am amazed that such wealth can even remain amidst such poverty. Ramana said: There is no doubt whatsoever that the universe is the merest illusion. ॐ Commitment Jesus said: You can’t serve two masters any more than you can ride two horses or draw two bows. You don’t drink old wine then immediately ask for new. You don’t put old wine into new wineskins, because it bursts them, or patch an old garment with new cloth, because it will tear. Ramana said: Persist in the enquiry throughout your waking hours. That would be quite enough. If you keep on making the enquiry till you fall asleep, the enquiry will go on during sleep also. Take up the enquiry again as soon as you wake up. ॐ Jesus said: The Kingdom is like a shepherd who left his flock and searched everywhere to recover his largest sheep. When he found it, he said, ‘I love you more than all the others.’ Ramana said: Grace will not combine with a bat-like mentality. Stick with intensity to one path. ॐ Jesus said: A wise fisherman threw all his small fish back into the sea, being interested only in the one huge fish. If you have ears, then listen! Ramana said: He who seeks the essence is satisfied if he finds one good thing among a hundred. He rejects the ninety-nine and accepts the one that is good, feeling satisfied that with that one thing he could conquer the world. His eye will always be on that single good thing. ॐ Jesus said: The Kingdom is like a trader who found a pearl in a consignment of goods. Being wise, he dumped the whole consignment and kept the pearl. So must you seek the treasure that never decays. Ramana said: All that you have to do is give up being aware of other things, that is, of the not-Self. Then pure awareness alone remains, and that is the Self. ॐ Jesus said: Unless you hate your brothers and sisters, and take up your cross in my way, you are not worthy of me. Whoever does not hate his father and his mother in my way cannot be my disciple; and whoever does not love his father and his mother in my way cannot be my disciple. For my mother begot my body, but my true Mother gave me the Life. Ramana said: What is there in the family life? See, your father has ten children, but they are not helping him. What is the use? I am always here with you. ॐ Jesus said: He who acknowledges father and mother will be called the son of a harlot. Ramana said: Renunciation does not imply apparent divesting of costumes, family ties, home etc., but renunciation of desires, affection and attachment. ॐ The disciples said: Your mother and brothers are outside. He replied: Those who do the will of my Father are my mother and my brothers, and they will enter the Kingdom of my Father. A devotee sang: Thou art my father, thou art my mother, thou art my relations, my possessions and all. Ramana said: Yes, yes, thou art this, that and everything except `I'. Why not say `I am Thou' and finish it? ॐ A woman in the crowd cried: Blessed is she who gave you birth! Jesus replied: Blissful are they who have listened to the word of the Father, and kept their minds on Him. One day you will say, ‘Blessed is she who has never given birth!’ Ramana said: Peace of mind, which is desired by everyone, is not attained by anyone, anywhere, through any means except through the grace of the Guru. Therefore, those who want peace should continuously enquire and seek alone that grace in the Heart, with their whole mind. ॐ They showed Jesus a coin and said: Caesar demands taxes from us. Jesus said: Give Caesar what is Caesar’s, give God what is God’s, and give me what is mine. Ramana said: However many duties one may have, at all the other times not meant for performing duties, one must perform only self-enquiry. ॐ Practice and attainment Jesus said: If you want to burgle a strong man’s house, you must tie him up first. Ramana said: You should destroy the mind in such a way that it remains still, like a completely crippled man who remains totally paralysed, incapable of the slightest movement. ॐ Jesus said: Lucky is he who knows when the thieves are coming, so that he may barricade his dwelling against them. Ramana said: Protect your mind by all possible means so that harmful cravings for the sense objects of the world do not cling to it. ॐ Jesus said: A just man had a vineyard which he allowed tenants to work. When he sent his servant to collect the produce, the tenants beat him to within an inch of his life. Thinking the servant hadn’t been recognised, he sent another, but he was beaten, too. So he sent his son, thinking the tenants would surely respect him. But, realising that he was the heir to the vineyard, they immediately killed him. If you have ears, then listen! Ramana said: The proliferation of desires in life results from the spread of worldly attachments, which is in turn the devastating consequence of forgetting one’s own true nature. ॐ His disciples said: When will you appear to us? Jesus answered: When you strip naked with no shame and trample your clothes like little children, then you will see the son of the Living One, and you will not be afraid. Ramana said: The true form of the Guru can only be known if one realises, through the Grace of the Guru, one's own real form. ॐ Jesus said: From Adam to John the Baptist, nobody has been greater than John. But if you become like little children, you will know the Kingdom, and you will be even greater than John. Ramana said: Enlightenment is perpetual babyhood. ॐ Jesus said: The angels and prophets will give you what you already have, and you also will offer them what you have and say to yourself: ‘When will they come and take what is theirs?’ Ramana said: If you renounce, and give up everything, what remains is only heaven. What is there for others to give you? It is there always. That is. ॐ The disciples said: What is enlightenment like? Jesus replied: A mustard seed, the smallest of them all, which in good soil grows into a mighty tree where flocks of birds may live. Ramana said: The Guru's Grace is extraordinary. ॐ Jesus said: Liberation is like a man who wanted to kill a strong enemy. At home, he tested the strength of his arm by driving his sword into the wall. Then he went out and killed him. Ramana said: In deep sleep mind is merged and not destroyed. That which merges reappears. It may happen in meditation also. But the mind which is destroyed cannot reappear. ॐ Jesus said: Enlightenment is like a woman walking home with a jar of meal, not realising that the jar was broken and the meal was spilling out behind her. When she got home, the jar was empty. Ramana said: The non-dual experience will only be attained by those who have completely given up desires. For those with desires, it is far, far away. ॐ Jesus said: The Kingdom is like a woman who put a little leaven into dough and made large loaves. If you have ears, then listen! Ramana said: If one Jnani exists in the world, His influence will be felt by or benefit all people in the world, and not simply His immediate disciples. ॐ Jesus said: If you know the entire universe, but lack self-knowledge, you lack everything. Ramana said: There are men of giant intellects who spend their lives gathering knowledge about many things. Ask these men if they have solved the mystery of man, if they have conquered themselves, and they will hang their heads in shame. What is the use of knowing about everything else when you do not yet know who you are? ॐ Jesus said: Search relentlessly until you find. Once you have found, you will marvel; having marvelled, you will reign over the universe; reigning you will rest. Ramana said: He who pursues this closely, questioning `What is the origin of the I?' and diving inwards, reaches the seat of the mind within the Heart and there becomes the sovereign Lord of the Universe. ॐ The Chosen Few Jesus said: Imagine a man sowing seed. Some is eaten by birds; some falls onto rock or among thorns; but some falls on good earth and produces a great yield. A devotee said: The Upanishads say, I am told, that he alone knows the Atman whom the Atman chooses. Why should the Atman choose at all? If it chooses, why some particular person? Ramana replied: When the sun rises, some buds alone blossom, not all. Do you blame the sun for that? Nor can the bud blossom of itself, it requires the sunlight to do it. ॐ Jesus said: Blissful are the chosen, who abide as the One. They came from the Kingdom, and to the Kingdom they return. Ramana said: My devotees have the qualifications to rejoice abundantly, like children of an emperor. ॐ Jesus said: If you seek you will find, and if you are called, you will be let in. Ramana said: The very fact that you are possessed of the quest for the Self is a manifestation of the Divine Grace. ॐ Jesus said: If you have plenty, you will be given still more; but if you have only a little, even that will be taken away from you. A visitor asked: Can you give me whatever it is you have? Ramana said: I can give, but can you take? ॐ Jesus said: The harvest is great but the labourers are few, so pray the Lord send more. Ramana said: The Grace of the Guru is like an ocean. If you come with a cup you will get only a cupful. ॐ Jesus said: I became incarnate and appeared among mankind, but I found them all drunk. My soul ached for them, because none of them was thirsting. These blind ones came empty into the world and are preparing to go empty out of it. But when they sober up, they will have a change of heart. Ramana said: Of all difficult tasks, the most difficult is to explain to those who are intoxicated with the pleasures of the senses the real cause of their joy. ॐ Jesus said: I will choose them, one from a thousand and two from ten thousand, and they will abide as the One. Ramana said: What is very difficult for the many is extremely easy for the very few. ॐ Jesus said: Many are standing around the well, but nobody is in the well. Ramana said: Surrender is not an easy thing. Killing the ego is not an easy thing. It is only when God Himself by His grace draws the mind inwards that complete surrender can be achieved. ॐ Jesus said: Many are at the door, but only those who abide as the One will enter the marriage chamber. Ramana said: He who remains separate from God has not surrendered. ॐ Here and Now His disciples said: Twenty-four prophets spoke in Israel, and all of them spoke of you. Jesus said: You have ignored the Living One in your presence and spoken of the dead. Ramana said: Because people want something elaborate and attractive and puzzling, so many religions have come into existence and each of them is so complex and each creed in each religion has its own adherents and antagonists. For example, an ordinary Christian will not be satisfied unless he is told that God is somewhere in the far-off Heavens not to be reached by us unaided. Christ alone knew Him and Christ alone can guide us. Worship Christ and be saved. If told the simple truth - "The Kingdom of Heaven is within you" - he is not satisfied and will read complex and far-fetched meanings in such statements. ॐ Jesus said: If they tell you that Heaven is up in the sky, then the birds are already there. If they said it was down in the sea, the fish would have beaten you to it! But Heaven is within you and all around. When you know yourselves, you will be known, and you will realise that you are the children of the Living One. But if you fail to know yourselves, then you are impoverished, and you are poverty itself. Ramana said: When a man knows his true Self for the first time, something else arises from the depths of his being and takes possession of him. That something is behind the mind; it is infinite, divine, eternal. Some people call it the Kingdom of Heaven, others call it the soul, still others name it Nirvana, and we Hindus call it Liberation; you may give it what name you wish. When this happens, a man has not really lost himself; rather, he has found himself. ॐ The disciples said: When will the Kingdom come? Jesus answered: It is not an object to be observed. You can’t say, ‘Look, it’s over there!’ or ‘Look, it’s over here!’ For Heaven is already spread out on the earth, and you fail to comprehend it. Ramana said: The notion that the world of Siva exists far, far away arises on account of the ego, the ‘I-am-the-body’ idea. Be firmly convinced that the immaculate world of Siva, which one should reach, does not exist anywhere else except in one’s own heart. ॐ They said to him: Tell us who you are so that we may believe in you. Jesus replied: You test the face of Heaven and earth, but you don’t recognise what is in your presence or know how to read this very moment. Ramana said: You are spirit in truth. However that spirit is wrongly identifying itself with the gross body. The body has been projected by the mind; the mind itself has originated from the spirit. If the wrong identification ceases, there will be peace and permanent untellable bliss. ॐ His disciples said: When is the new world coming? Jesus answered: What you seek is already here, but you don’t see it. Ramana said: That which is to be in the future is to be understood as impermanent. Learn to understand properly what you have now so that there will be no need of thinking about the future. ॐ Jesus said: If you want to comprehend the Mystery, examine what is in under your nose. There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed. A questioner asked: How is God to be seen? Ramana answered: Within. If the mind is turned inwards, God manifests as inner consciousness. ॐ Jesus said: The Kingdom is like a man who didn’t know he had a treasure buried in his field. His son inherited the field, and sold it, for he didn’t know about the treasure either. But the new owner dug, found the treasure, and became a wealthy man. Ramana said: Your search to attain me is like searching all over the world, ceaselessly straining to find the necklace around your own neck. ॐ Jesus said: Show me the stone the builders rejected. It is the cornerstone. Ramana said: Those who ask, ‘Where is God? He is not visible,’ should enquire, ‘Who am I? Where am I?’ and meet God where the answer is found. ॐ The One Jesus said: Two will lie on a bed. One will die, the other will live. Ramana said: Kill the ego: there is no fear of recurring death for what is once dead. The Self remains even after the death of the ego. That is Bliss - that is Immortality. ॐ Jesus said: When you give birth to the One inside you, that One will save you; but if you do not have that One, the lack of it will kill you. Ramana said: When the mind turns inward seeking `Who am I?' and merges in the Heart, then the `I' hangs down his head in shame and the One `I' appears as Itself. ॐ Jesus said: Blissful is the lion which is eaten by a human being, so that it becomes human; but tormented is the human being who is eaten by a lion, and lets the lion become human that way. Ramana said: To be food to Him, that is indeed to see Him. ॐ Jesus said: Where there are three, they are without God. In the One you shall find me. Ramana said: There is only one sentient object. ॐ Jesus saw some babies being breast-fed. He said: These babies are like those who enter the Kingdom. His disciples said: So do we have to become babies? Jesus said to them: When you make the two into One, the inside into the outside and the top into the bottom; when you make the man and the woman into One, so that the woman is no longer female and the man no longer male; when you make eyes in the place of eyes, a foot in the place of a foot and an image in the place of an image, then you will enter the Kingdom. Ramana said: For whom is the inside or outside? Those can exist only so long as there are the subject and object. For whom are these two again? On investigation you will find that they resolve into the subject only. So who is the subject? This enquiry leads you to pure Consciousness beyond the subject. ॐ Simon Peter said to them: Let Mariam be sent away from us, for women are not worthy of the Life. But Jesus said: I will guide her and show her how to be a man, so that she will be a living spirit like you men. For any female who can make herself male will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Ramana said: Everyone can be a devotee. Spiritual fare is common to all and never denied to anyone - be the person old or young, male or female. ॐ Salome said: Who are you? Jesus replied: I am He who comes from the One. Some of the things of my Father have been given to me. She said: I am your disciple. Jesus answered: In that case, I tell you this: Whoever is destroyed will be full of light, but whoever is divided will be full of darkness. Ramana said: It is in the mind that birth and death, pleasure and pain, in short, the world and ego exist. If the mind is destroyed, all these are destroyed, too. Note that it should be annihilated, not just made latent. ॐ Jesus said: I will destroy this house, and nobody will be able to rebuild it. Ramana said: Submit to me and I will strike down the mind. ॐ Jesus said: If two make peace under one roof, they will tell the mountain to move, and it will move. Ramana said: Peace and power are not different. ॐ Immortality and Death Jesus said: There was a rich man who made detailed plans so that his future should be secure, but that night he died. If you have ears, then listen! Ramana said: Your plans are of no avail. ॐ Jesus said: Turn towards the Living One now, lest you look for Him in dying and lack the strength to find Him. Ramana said: It is necessary to experience Reality now, in this life, in order to experience it at death. Consider whether this present moment is any different from the last one at death and try to be in the desired state. ॐ Jesus said: Woe to the flesh that depends on the soul, and to the soul that depends on the flesh. Ramana said: To think of knowing the Self whilst cherishing the body, which is bound for destruction, is like seizing a crocodile as a raft to cross a river. ॐ They saw a Samaritan carrying a lamb into Judea. Jesus said: Why is he carrying the lamb? His disciples answered: So that he may kill it and eat it. Jesus said: As long as it lives, he cannot eat it. So should you find a place of refuge in the Stillness, lest you become corpses and be devoured. Ramana said: Only those whose minds are dead are truly alive. Those who have a living mind, which is a delusion, are those who are truly dead. ॐ The disciples said: What will our end be like? Jesus said: Do you understand the beginning that you ask about the end? The beginning and the end are one. Blissful is he who reaches the end through the beginning, for he will never die. Ramana said: Go back the way you came. ॐ Jesus said: An old man who asks a seven-day-old baby about the source of life will gain immortality. For many of the first shall be last, and they shall abide as the One. A devotee asked: What is Liberation? Ramana answered: Liberation is to know that you were not born. ॐ Jesus said: When you see the unborn, fall on your face and worship him. He is your Father. Ramana said: Consciousness is not born at any time, it remains eternal. But ego is born; so also the other thoughts. Associated with the absolute consciousness they shine forth; not otherwise. ॐ Jesus said: Blissful the One who was before he came into being. Ramana said: From time immemorial you have been existing only as That which you are struggling hard to know. ॐ Jesus said: Adam came into being from a great power and wealth, but if he had been worthy of you he would not have tasted death. Ramana said: Whatever is born must die; whatever is acquired must be lost; but were you born? You are eternally existent. ॐ Mariam said to Jesus: Describe your disciples. Jesus said: They are like children in a field. When the farmer comes, he will say, ‘Get out of my field!’ They will take off their clothes and surrender the field to him. When a homeowner knows robbers are coming, he keeps watch to stop them breaking in. You too must be strong and on your guard. Let at least one of you understand! When the grain was ripe, he hurried there with his sickle in his hand and reaped it. If you have ears, then listen! Ramana said: The Beyond will take care of itself. You are helpless there. No effort can reach it. ॐ Jesus said: The sky above our heads will vanish, and the very universe beyond it will dissolve. The dead are not alive and the living cannot die. When you used to eat what was dead, you made it alive. But when you come into the light, what will you do? Having started as One, you divided yourself in two. Being divided, what will you do? Ramana said: You now think that you are an individual; outside you there is the universe and beyond the universe is God. So there is the idea of separateness. The idea must go. For God is not separate from you or the cosmos. ॐ Jesus said: Heaven and earth will be rolled up before your eyes, but if you live in the Living One, you will experience neither fear nor death. Because Jesus states that if you have found yourself, the world is not worthy of you. Ramana said: The landscape in front of me disappeared as a bright white curtain was drawn across my vision and shut it out. I could distinctly see the gradual process. There was a stage when I could still see a part of the landscape clearly while the rest was covered by the advancing curtain ...The third time it happened I felt it safer to sit, so I sat down near the rock. Then the bright white curtain completely shut off my vision, my head was swimming and my circulation and breathing stopped ... My usual current of awareness still continued in that state also. I was not in the least afraid and felt no sadness at the condition of the body. ॐ Jesus said: A vine planted outside the Father will be pulled up and destroyed. Ramana said: Immortality is only for those in whom the ego has been destroyed. ॐ Jesus said: A man allowed weeds to grow on his land, for fear the gardeners might uproot his crops as well. He knew that on the day of the harvest it would be easy to separate and burn the weeds. A devotee said: I am afraid if I continue like this I shall go to Hell. And Ramana replied: If you do, I will go after you and bring you back. ॐ Christ’s nature and mission Jesus said: No prophet is welcome in his own land; no doctor heals his family and friends. Ramana said: Through the light of a lamp, the darkness that exists a long distance away departs, but the darkness that is present at the foot of the lamp-post is not removed. ॐ Jesus said: What I’m giving you has never before been seen, heard or touched, and has never entered the mind of man. Ramana said: I have betrayed Thy secret workings. Be not offended. Show me Thy Grace now openly and save me, O Arunachala! ॐ Jesus said: Seek and you will find. But what you asked me about in those days, I did not tell you then. Now I am telling you, but you are not interested. Do not give what is holy to the dogs, lest they cast it on the dung heap, nor cast your pearls before swine, lest … Ramana said: If the highest truth is taught to the unworthy, it is bound to be perverted and abused. ॐ Jesus said: You’ve often longed to hear the things I’m telling you now, and had nobody to hear them from. One day, you will look for me and not find me. They asked: What are the marks of the Guru's Grace? Ramana replied: It is beyond words and thought. ॐ A man said to him: Tell my brothers to divide our father’s belongings with me. Jesus said: Who told you I was a divider? He turned to his disciples and said: Am I a divider? Ramana said: When you are of two opinions, why do you come to me and ask me which I like the better? What I like is to know who I am and to remain as I am. ॐ Jesus said: People think I came to bring peace. In fact, I bring division, fire, sword and war. Even within households there will be civil war, father against son and son against father. And they will stand alone. Ramana said: The references made by all mahatmas to ‘I’ are to God and not to the body. ॐ Jesus said: Come to me, for my burden is fair and my lordship gentle, and you will find rest. Ramana said: So, through all the vicissitudes of good and evil, be like me. And whenever you are prone to depression or melancholy, remember me. ॐ His disciples said: Who are you to say these words to us? Jesus answered: I am my words. But you are like the Jews, who love the fruit and hate the tree, or hate the fruit and love the tree. Ramana said: See! The radio sings and gives speeches. It even announces the names of the performers. But there is nobody inside the radio. In the same way, my existence is also like the sky. Though the body may appear to speak, like a radio it has no individual person inside. There is only God. ॐ Jesus said: I have set fire to the world and now I’m tending it until it blazes. Ramana said: The spark of spiritual knowledge (Jnana) will consume all creation like a mountain-heap of cotton. ॐ Jesus said: If you are close to me, you are close to the fire; but if you are far from me, you are far from the Kingdom. Ramana said: When the disciple matures, the Guru will give him one glance. At that time, all others will disappear as if burnt by fire. The Guru will keep such a matured disciple with him as his equal. ॐ Jesus said to them: What do you think I am? Simon Peter said: You are a good angel. Matthew said: You are a great philosopher. But Thomas said: Lord, no words of mine are worthy to describe you. Jesus said: I have measured out from a bubbling spring, and its waters have made you drunk. I am no longer your lord. Then he took Thomas aside and said three words to him. When Thomas returned, the disciples asked what Jesus had told him. But he replied: If I repeated one of those words, you would try to stone me, and a fire would leap from the stones and burn you up. Ramana led Muruganar deep into the forest. At one place Ramana sat down on a log and asked Muruganar to sit beside him. Muruganar sat, but no words were exchanged. Ramana looked directly into his eyes and Muruganar felt the power of Ramana’s grace flowing through him like an electric current. He lost all perceptions of time and space and experienced a joy beyond description. Immersed in this state of bliss, Muruganar was oblivious to the passage of time; it was only when he regained his senses that he realised that he must have remained in this state of bliss for hours together. ॐ The Light His disciples said: How can we reach you? Jesus answered: If you have ears, then listen! There is a light in a man of light and it illuminates the universe. If you do not become light, you are darkness. Ramana said: You are the all-pervading light. That light creates not only the space for the existence of the world but also reveals and illuminates it through its wonderful power. To shine as this light is truly to realise that the Kingdom of God is within you. ॐ Jesus said: If they ask where you are from, say: ‘We have come from the light which created itself and stood in their image.’ If they say: ‘Are you the light?’ say: ‘We are his sons. We were chosen by the Living One.’ If they ask to know the sign of your Father in you, say: ‘It is peace in action.’ They asked: Is not everything the work of God? Ramana answered: Without desire, resolve or effort, the sun rises; and in its mere presence the sunstone emits fire, the lotus blooms, water evaporates, people perform their various functions and then rest. ॐ Jesus said: Now you look at your resemblance and rejoice. But when you look at your images, which came into being with you and which neither die nor appear, how much will you bear? Ramana said: When the sun has risen, no one needs the moon, although the pale disc of the moon is visible in the sky. So it is with the mind and the Heart. ॐ Jesus said: The images are revealed to man, and the light in them is hidden in the image of the light of the Father. He will be revealed, and his image hidden in his light. Ramana said: If daylight floods a cinema, the scenes on the screen will disappear. If the mind is merged in the light of pure consciousness, the eternal reality, then the universe itself will vanish forever. ॐ Jesus said: I am the Light which is above them all; I am the universe. From me the universe is projected, and into me it is dissolved. Cleave wood and you will find me there. Lift stone, and there I am. Ramana said: One’s real nature, being-consciousness, is the light that outshines all other lights. If you remain firmly established in the Heart as that being-consciousness, you and the universe will become one. ॐ Jesus said: Whoever drinks at my mouth will be consumed by me. Then I myself will be transformed into that person, and he will comprehend the Mystery. Ramana said: I came to feed on you, but you have fed on me. Now there is peace, O Arunachala! ॐ
	Sri Ramanarpanamastu