Science of Knowledge & Wisdom

From Mahabharata, Vana Parva .   The Brahmana again enquired : O thou most eminent in virtue and constant in the performance of the religious obligations, you talk of senses. What are they? How may they be subdued? What is the good of subduing them and how does a creature reap the fruits thereof? O pious man, I beg to acquaint myself with the truth of this matter . Markendeya continued : Hear. O king Yudhishthira what the virtuous fowler, thus interrogated by that Brahmana, said to him in reply. The fowler said : Men’s minds are at first bent on the acquisition of knowledge. That acquired, O good Brahmana, they indulge in their passions and desires, and for that end, they labour and set about tasks of great magnitude and indulge in much-desired pleasures of beauty, flavour, etc. Then follows fondness, then envy, then avarice and then extinction of all spiritual light. And men are thus influenced by avarice, and overcome by envy and fondness, their intellect ceases to be g

The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi, Edited by David Godman The lower self is your enemy,  The higher Self is your friend .  The Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 6, Verse 5 . Let a man lift himself by his own Self alone; let him not lower himself, for this self alone is the friend of oneself and this self alone is the enemy of oneself. Gita, 6 – 5 .  Self-enquiry- Theory:  Sri Ramana Maharshi maintained that Self-realisation could be brought about merely by giving up the idea that there is an individual self, which functions through the body and the mind. A few of his advanced devotees were able to do this quickly and easily, but the others found it virtually impossible to discard the ingrained habits of a lifetime without undertaking some form of spiritual practice. Sri Ramana Maharshi sympathised with their predicament and whenever he was asked to prescribe a spiritual practice which would facilitate Self-awareness he would recommend a technique he called self-enquiry.