How does one get rid of the hindrances to Self-realization?

The first western lady devotee to come to Sri Ramanasramam was M.A. Pigot, an English lady, who had read A Search in Secret India and had come to India to see the Maharshi.

Often she would be desperate because there would always be a crowd and Ramana was never alone. His hall was open to one and all at all times. But early one morning when she came into the hall she found him unattended, "emanating a wonderful stillness and peace." With his permission she put some questions and got his clarifications.

P: What are the hindrances to the realization of the true Self?

R: Memory chiefly, habits of thought, accumulated tendencies.

P: How does one get rid of these hindrances?

R: Seek for the Self through meditation in this manner, trace every thought back to its origin which is only the mind. Never allow thought to run on. If you do, it will be unending. Take it back to its starting place -- the mind -- again and again, and it and the mind will both die of inaction. The mind exists only when the attention of the subject or the individual is there. If this is forgotten and the fact that the Self is one, whole, is forgotten, no meditation can result in sustained, inherent, peace of mind."

At the time of the farewell his talk was most touching. He was so gentle and humane. He discussed the difficulties of everyday life and mundane problems. Ramana's parting message was, "Do what is right at a given moment and leave it behind."

~ from Timeless in Time by A.R. Natarajan