Ramana Maharshi - Digital Painting, by Juergen Puetz (Palmyrart)
ॐ
Just like prāṇāyāma [breath-restraint], mūrti-dhyāna [meditation upon a form of God], mantra-japa [repetition of sacred words such as a name of God] and āhāra-niyama [restriction of diet, particularly the restriction of consuming only vegetarian food] are only aids that restrain the mind [but will not bring about its annihilation].
By both mūrti-dhyāna and mantra-japa the mind gains one-pointedness [or concentration]. Just as, if someone gives a chain in the trunk of an elephant, which is always moving [swinging about trying to catch hold of something or other], that elephant will proceed grasping it without grasping anything else, so indeed the mind, which is always moving [wandering about thinking of something or other], will, if trained in [the practice of thinking of] any one name or form, remain grasping it [without thinking unnecessary thoughts about anything else].
Because the mind spreads out as innumerable thoughts [thereby scattering its energy], each thought becomes extremely weak. For the mind which has gained one-pointedness when thoughts shrink and shrink [that is, which has gained one-pointedness due to the progressive reduction of its thoughts] and which has thereby gained strength, ātma-vicāra [self-investigation, which is the state of self-attentive being] will be easily accomplished.
By mita sāttvika āhāra-niyama [the restraint of consuming only a moderate quantity of sattva-conducive food], which is the best among all restrictions, the sattva-guṇa [the quality of ‘being-ness’, calmness and clarity] of the mind will increase and thereby help will arise for self-investigation.
Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi - WHO AM I?, Paragraph Nine
Original Tamil prose by Bhagavan Sri Ramana with English translation by Michael James