Danger of Philosophy

A good extract from Ramana Maharishi on the dangers of too much mind analysis and philosophy:

A highly learned visitor whose chief interest was man and his constitution, wanted Sri Bhagavan to explain from experience man's various bodies, his koshas and their functions, his atma-buddhi-manas, etc.

Bhagavan response- "The intricate maze of philosophy of different schools claims to clarify matters and reveal the Truth, but in fact they create confusion where no confusion need exist. To understand anything there must needs be the understanding being. Why worry about bodies, his ahankarar, his buddhi, creation, God, Mahatmas, world - the non Self - at all? Why not remain yourself and be in peace? Take Vedanta, for instance: it speaks of the fifteen pranas, the names and functions of which the students is asked to commit to memory. Will it not be sufficient if he is taught that only one prana does the whole work of maintaining life in the body? Again, the antahkarana is said to think, to desire, to will, to reason, etc. Why all these details? Has anyone seen the antahkarana, or all these pranas? Do they really exist? They are all conceptual divisions invented by teachers of philosophy by their excessive analysis. Where do all these concepts end? Why should confusion be created and then explained away? Fortunate is the man who does not lose himself in the labyrinths of philosophy, but goes straight to the Source from which they all rise."