For everything that happens, who is the doer? It is the Lord. If you think that the Lord is the doer, there won’t be any misery. There is no need for any spiritual practice to get rid of misery. If you think you are the doer, then misery arises but if you think that God is the doer, nothing will remain to feel unhappy about.

In God’s creation there is no misery. The individual creates misery but that is also to turn you towards God. We feel God is punishing us but how can Grace punish? It is in order to correct the mistakes in us and to teach discipline, that He reprimands us. In this way punishment is for protection.

Every creature has taken birth to gain certain experiences and without completing them the body won’t perish. After completing the experiences even if we want we can’t retain the body.

When Jarasandha chased Krishna, he ran away. Ignorant people might think, ‘How can God run away?’ It isn’t that he can’t kill Jarasandha. It was because Jarasandha’s death was to be at Bhima’s hands, so to respect the divine law Krishna ran away. Ramana Maharshi told a lie while coming to Arunachala. He told them at home that he was going to school - Arunachala made Him tell the lie.

If we first see ourselves (introspect) and then see the world, it won’t pain us. Any problem in the world arises due to anger, desire and selfishness, even if we do penance for a million years, if we don’t get rid of these three we can’t attain self-realisation.

A person told Bhagavan, ‘I am not getting rid of restlessness. Bhagavan said, ‘Don’t think, "I am grown up", think "I am a child," and you will get peace.’ Someone came to Bhagavan and said, ‘I committed theft. I wasn’t caught but the pain of committing the crime isn’t leaving me.’ Bhagavan replied, ‘I stole is a thought. Leave that and there is no misery.’ But to leave the thought, dedication is necessary. ‘Bhagavan, I am frightened of death.’ ‘He who is born will die. Why are you bothered? You are the Self. There is no question of the Self dying. That which isn’t born can’t be killed.’

There is no misery during sleep. When you are awake you get misery. We identify ourself with the body that is born and that is why we are unhappy. But we are that which isn’t born and our bodies are like shadows that come and go. Happiness is in the Self not in the world and even if you search for millions of years you will never find happiness in the world! The Guru is the one who turns our gaze, telling us that happiness is in the Self.

Even when you are suffering then also you are the Self but because you don’t know that, you get misery. You aren’t separate from the Self. It is only a thought that you are separate from the Self. Self is immovable. Body is movable. As we identify with the movable, we feel we are at Hyderabad or at Arunachala. We should use the body that dies to attain the true essence that is deathless the body is useful until that is attained!

• Misery and happiness are both just thoughts.

• Man proposes but God disposes. We wanted to stay at Kodaikanal till the end of this month but according to God’s wish we are at Arunachala.