'NEVER MIND THE MIND' It is the nature of the mind to wander. You are not the mind.

 

'NEVER MIND THE MIND'

Devotee: Mind always wanders. I cannot control it.

Ramana Maharishi: It is the nature of the mind to wander. You are not the mind. The mind springs up and sinks down. It is impermanent, transitory, whereas you are eternal. There is nothing but the Self. To inhere in the Self is the thing. Never mind the mind. If its source is sought, it will vanish leaving the Self unaffected.

Devotee: So one need not seek to control the mind?

Ramana Maharishi: There is no mind to control if you realise the Self. The mind vanishing, the Self shines forth. In the realised man the mind may be active or inactive, the Self alone remains for him. For the mind, the body and the world are not separate from the Self. They rise from and sink into the Self. They do not remain apart from the Self. Can they be different from the Self? Only be aware of the Self. Why worry about these shadows? How do they affect the Self?