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Your duty is to be, and not to be this or that. I Am That I Am sums up the whole truth; the method is summarized in Be Still.
Ramana Maharshi
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Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote emphasizes being true to oneself rather than conforming to external expectations or identities.

Ramana Maharshi's quote invites individuals to embrace their true nature rather than getting caught up in societal roles or labels. 'I Am That I Am' signifies the essence of self-realization, while 'Be Still' suggests finding peace and stillness within oneself to connect with this fundamental truth. It inspires us to find our inner self beyond the constraints of identity and societal expectations.

Themes

SelfTruthBeingAwarenessStillness

In practice

Example use cases

During a meditation retreat, this quote might inspire participants to focus on their true selves rather than distractions.

More from Ramana Maharshi

Like the practice of breath control, meditation on the forms of God, repetition of mantras, food restrictions, etc., are but aids for rendering the mind quiescent.
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Think of God; attachments will gradually drop away. If you wait till all desires disappear before starting your devotion and prayer, you will have to wait for a very long time indeed.
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The mind of one meditating on a single object becomes one-pointed. And one-pointedness of mind leads to abidance in the self. Real attainment is to be fully conscious, to be aware of surroundings and the people around, to move among them all, but not to merge consciousness in the environment. One should remain in inner independent awareness.
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You need not aspire for or get any new state. Get rid of your present thoughts, that is all.
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Realisation is not acquisition of anything new nor is it a new faculty. It is only removal of all camouflage
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Bliss is a thing which is always there and is not something which comes and goes. That which comes and goes is a creation of the mind.
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