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The greatest error of a man is to think that he is weak by nature, evil by nature. Every man is divine and strong in his real nature. What are weak and evil are his habits, his desires and thoughts, but not himself.
Ramana Maharshi
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Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote emphasizes that a person's true nature is inherently strong and divine, not defined by their weaknesses or negative traits.

Ramana Maharshi's quote serves to remind us that every individual possesses an intrinsic strength and divinity that is often overshadowed by their negative habits, desires, and thoughts. It encourages a deeper understanding of oneself, suggesting that recognizing and transforming these negative aspects can lead to a realization of one's true, powerful nature.

Themes

StrengthDivinitySelfNatureHabitsThoughtsDesires

In practice

Example use cases

In a motivational speech about self-empowerment.

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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