Quiet The Mind By Holding On To Your Sense of “I”

According to Sri Ramana Maharshi, all habits of mind and ego can be controlled and quieted by consciously managing your “I-thought.”

Sri Ramana Maharshi is a Hindu sage who renounced the worldly life very young, after having the experience of waking up to his “Self.” From then on, he spent most of his time in one holy place teaching people through silent meditation and answering their questions.

Maharshi had a name for the particular brand of spiritual path that he recommended to others: Self-enquiry. That means investigating oneself through questions meant to cut through the ego and reveal one’s true self as the consciousness which does the questioning.

He advises us that, when disturbed by a thought, we should ask ourselves: “To whom does this thought arise to?” Plot twist, your mind and your thoughts belong to you. Reminding yourself constantly and viscerally of this is what takes back control.

Here’s what Maharshi has to say about it:

“The mind is nothing other than the ‘I’-thought. The mind and the ego are one and the same. The other mental faculties such as the intellect and memory are only this. Mind, intellect, the storehouse of mental tendencies, and ego; all…