Understanding
Knowing it in the center or understanding is what there is to know about it. Reading about it only sharpens the edges.
Worldliness
The world appears to us in forgetfulness. Let the actors act. What shines as the ‘I’? Does a lightbulb shine by its own nature?
From Ramana Maharshi
What is knowledge? Knowledge is that tranquil state of existence consciousness which is experienced by the aspirant and which is like the waveless ocean.
From Ramana Maharshi
What is happiness? Happiness is the very nature of the Self; happiness and the Self are not different. There is no happiness in any object in the world. We imagine through our ignorance that we derive happiness from objects. When the mind goes out, it experiences misery. In truth, when its desires are fulfilled, it returns to its own place and enjoys the happiness that is the Self.
From Sri Ramakrishna
“The world consists of illusory duality of knowledge and ignorance. It contains knowledge and devotion, and also attachment to ‘woman and gold’; righteousness and unrighteousness; good and evil. But Brahman is unattached to these. Good and evil apply to the jiva, the individual soul, as do righteousness and unrighteousness, but Brahman is not at all affected by them.
One man may read the Bhagavad Gita by the light of the lamp, and another may commit a forgery by that very light; but the lamp is unaffected. The sun sheds its light on the wicked as well as on the virtous.”
Simple Life
The simpler the life you have—all things being equal—the less opportunity for telling lies. It’s not that masters don’t have the capacity to lie, it’s that they understand humans have a proclivity to do so, and the more complex life you live, the more opportunities you have to tell a lie.
That’s why masters stress the importance of living as simple a life you can, as best you can, under the circumstances of your environment.