' What is there to Realize ?'...

It is false to speak of realization.

What is
there to realize?

The real is as it is always.

We are not creating anything new or achieving
something which we did not have before.

The
illustration given in books is this.

We dig a
well and create a huge pit.

The space in the
pit or well has not been created by us.

We
have just removed the earth which was filling
the space there.

The space was there then and
is also there now.

Similarly we have simply
to throw out all the age-long samskaras [innate
tendencies] which are inside us.

When all of
them have been given up, the Self will shine alone.


- Sri Ramana Maharshi

"Be As You Are"
The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi
Edited by David Godman
Arkana, 1985