FROM THE BOOK ‘BE AS YOU ARE’ EDITED BY DAVID GODMAN:

Q STANDS FOR QUESTION, A FOR ANSWER, ALL THE ANSWERS ARE GIVEN BY SRI RAMANA MAHARSHI

SELF INQUIRY PRACTICE:

Q: You say one can realize the Self by a search for it. What is the character of this search?

A: You are the mind and think that you are the mind. The mind is nothing but thoughts.
Now behind every particular thought there is a general thought, which is the 'I',
that is yourself. Let us call this 'I' the first thought. Stick to this 'I'--thought
and question it to find out what it is. When this question takes strong hold on you,
you cannot think of other thoughts.

Q: When I do this and cling to myself, that is, the 'I'-thought, other thoughts come
and go, but I say to myself 'Who am I?' and there is no answer forthcoming.
To be in this condition is the practice. Is it so?

A: This is a mistake that people often make. What happens when you make a serious quest
for the Self is that the 'I'-thought disappears and something else from the depths
takes hold of you and that is not the 'I' which commenced the quest.

Q: What is this something else?

A: That is the Self, the import of 'I'. It is not the ego. It is the supreme being itself.

Q: But you have often said that one must reject other thoughts when one begins the quest
but the thoughts are endless. If one thought is rejected, another comes and there seems
to be no end at all.

A: I do not say you must go on rejecting thoughts. Cling to yourself, that is,
to the 'I'-thought. When your interest keeps you to that single idea, other
thoughts will automatically get rejected and they will vanish.

Q: And so rejection of thoughts is not necessary?

A: No. It may be necessary for a time or for some. You fancy that there is no end
if one goes on rejecting every thought when it rises. It is not true, there is
an end. If you are vigilant and make a stern effort to reject every thought
when it rises you will soon find that you are going deeper and deeper into
your own inner self. At that level it is not necessary to make an effort
to reject thoughts.

Q: Then it is possible to be without effort, without strain.

A: Not only that, it is impossible for you to make an effort beyond
a certain extent.

Q: I want to be further enlightened. Should I try to make no efforts at all?

A: Here it is impossible for you to be without effort. When you go deeper,
it is impossible for you to make any effort.

If the mind becomes introverted through enquiry into the source of aham-vritti
(ego-sense), the vasanas (mental tendencies) become extinct. The light of the Self
falls on the vasanas and produces the phenomenon of reflection we call the mind.
Thus, when the vasanas become extinct the mind also disappears, being absorbed
into the light of the one reality, the Heart.

This is the sum and substance of all that an aspirant needs to know.
What is imperatively required of him is an earnest and one-pointed enquiry
into the source of the aham-vritti.

Q: How should a beginner start this practice?

A: The mind will subside only by means of the enquiry 'Who am I?'
The thought 'Who am I?' destroying all other thoughts, will itself finally be
destroyed like the stick used for stirring the funeral pyre. If other thoughts
rise one should, without attempting to complete them, enquire
'To whom did they rise?' What does it matter however many thoughts rise?
At the very moment that each thought rises, if one vigilantly enquires 'To whom did this rise?', it will be known 'To me'. If one then enquiries 'Who am I?', the mind will turn
back to its source (the Self) and the thought which had risen will also subside.
By repeatedly practicing thus, the power of the mind to abide in its source increases.

Although tendencies towards sense-objects (vishaya vasanas), which have been
recurring down the ages, rise in countless numbers like the waves of the ocean,
they will all perish as meditation on one's nature becomes more and more
intense. Without giving room even to the doubting thought, 'Is it possible to
destroy all these tendencies (vasanas) and to remain as Self alone?', one should
persistently cling fast to self-attention.

As long as there are tendencies towards sense-objects in the mind,
the enquiry 'Who am I?' is necessary. As and when thoughts rise,
one should annihilate all of them through enquiry then and there in their
very place of origin. Not attending to what-is-other (anya) is non-attachment
(vairagya) or desirelessness (nirasa). Not leaving Self is knowledge (jnana).
In truth, these two (desirelessness and knowledge) are one and
the same. Just as a pearl-diver, tying a stone to his waist, dives into the sea
and takes the pearl lying at the bottom, so everyone, diving deep within himself
with non-attachment, can attain the pearl of Self. If one resorts uninterruptedly
to remembrance of one's real nature (swarupa- smarana) until one attains Self,
that alone will be sufficient.

Enquiring 'Who am I that is in bondage?' and knowing one's real nature (swarupa)
alone is liberation. Always keeping the mind fixed in Self alone is called
'self-enquiry', whereas meditation (dhyana) is thinking oneself to be the
absolute (Brahman), which is existence-consciousness-bliss (Sat-Chit-Ananda).

Q: The Yogis say that one must renounce this world and go off into secluded
jungles if one wishes to find the truth.

A: The life of action need not be renounced. If you meditate for an hour
or two every day you can then carry on with your duties. If you meditate
in the right manner then the current of mind induced will continue to flow
even in the midst of your work. It is as though there were two ways of
expressing the same idea; the same line which you take in meditation will
be expressed in your activities.

Q: What will be the result of doing that?

A: As you go on you will find that your attitude towards people,
events and objects gradually changes. Your actions will tend to follow
your meditations of their own accord.

Q: Then you do not agree with the yogis?

A: Giving up the false self is the true renunciation.

Q: How is it possible to become selfless while leading a life of worldly activity?

A: There is no conflict between work and wisdom.

Q: Do you mean that one can continue all the old activities in one's profession,
for instance, and at the same time get enlightenment?

A: Why not? But in that case one will not think that it is the old personality
which is doing the work, because one's consciousness will gradually become
transferred until it is centered in that which is beyond the little self.

Q: If a person is engaged in work, there will be little time left for him to meditate.

A: Setting apart time for meditation is only for the merest spiritual novices.
A man who is advancing will begin to enjoy the deeper beatitude whether he is
at work or not. While his hands are in society, he keeps his head cool
in solitude.

Q: Then you do not teach the way of yoga?

A: The yogi tries to drive his mind to the goal, as a cowherd drives
a bull with a stick, but on this path the seeker coaxes the bull
by holding out a handful of grass.

Q: How is that done?

A: You have to ask yourself the question 'Who am I?' This investigation will
lead in the end to the discovery of something within you, which is behind
the mind. Solve that great problem and you will solve all other problems.

Q: Seeking the 'I' there is nothing to be seen.

A: Because you are accustomed to identify yourself with the body and sight
with the eye, therefore you say you do not see anything.
What is there to be seen? Who is to see? How to see?
There is only one consciousness which, manifesting as 'I'-thought,
identifies itself with the body, projects itself through the eyes and sees
the objects around. The individual is limited in the waking state and expects
to see something different. The evidence of his senses will be seal of authority.
But he will not admit that the seer, the seen and the seeing are all manifestations
of the same consciousness - namely, 'I, I'. Contemplation helps one to overcome
the illusion that the Self must be visual. In truth, there is nothing visual.
How do you feel the 'I' now? Do you hold a mirror before you to know your own being?
The awareness is the 'I'. Realize it and that is the truth.

Q: Upon enquiring into the origin of thoughts there is perception of 'I'.
But it does not satisfy me.

A: Quite right. The perception of 'I' is associated with a form, may be the body.
There should be nothing associated with the pure Self. The Self is the unassociated,
pure reality, in whose light the body and the ego shine. On stilling all thoughts
the pure consciousness remains.

Just on waking from sleep and before becoming aware of the world there is that
pure 'I, I'. Hold on to it without sleeping or without allowing thoughts to possess
you. If that is held firm it does not matter even if the world is seen.
The seer remains unaffected by the phenomena.

What is the ego? Enquire. The body is insentient and cannot say 'I'.
The Self is pure consciousness and non-dual. It cannot say 'I'.
No one says 'I' in sleep. What is the ego then? It is something intermediate
between the inert body and the Self. It has no locus standi. If sought for it
vanishes like a ghost. At night a man may imagine that there is a ghost by his
side because of the play of shadows. If he looks closely he discovers that
the ghost is not really there, and what he imagined to be a ghost vanishes.
The ghost was never there. So also with the ego. It is an intangible link
between the body and pure consciousness. It is not real. So long as one does
not look closely at it, it continues to give trouble. But when one looks for it,
it is found not to exist.

There is another story, which illustrates this. In Hindu marriage functions
the feasts often continue for five or six days. On one of these occasions a
stranger was mistaken for the best man by the bride's party and they therefore
treated him with special regard. Seeing him treated with special regard by
the bride's party, the bridegroom's party considered him to be some man of
importance related to the bride's party and therefore they too showed him
special respect. The stranger had altogether a happy time of it. He was also
all along aware of the real situation. On one occasion the groom's party wanted
to refer to him on some point and so they asked the bride's party about him.
Immediately he scented trouble and made himself scarce. So it is with the ego.
If you looked for it, it disappears. If not, it continues to give trouble.

Q: If I try to make the 'Who am I?' enquiry, I fall into sleep.
What should I do?

A: Persist in the enquiry throughout your waking hours. That would be quite enough.
If you keep on making the enquiry till you fall asleep, the enquiry will go on
during sleep also. Take up the enquiry again as soon as you wake up.

Q: How can I get peace? I do not seem to obtain it through vichara (enquiry).

A: Peace is your natural state. It is the mind that obstructs the natural state.
If you do not experience peace it means that your vichara (enquiry) has been
made only in the mind. Investigate what the mind is, and it will disappear.
There is no such thing as mind apart from thought. Nevertheless, because of
the emergence of thought, you surmise something from which it starts and term
that the mind. When you probe to see what it is, you find there is really no such
thing as mind. When the mind has thus vanished, you realise eternal peace.

Q: When I am engaged in enquiry as to the source from which the 'I' springs,
I arrive at a stage of stillness of mind beyond which I find myself unable
to proceed further. I have no thought of any kind and there is an emptiness,
a blankness. A mild light pervades and I feel that it is myself bodiless.
I have neither cognition nor vision of body or form. The experience lasts
nearly half an hour and is pleasing. Would I be correct in concluding that
all that was necessary to secure eternal happiness, that is freedom or salvation
or whatever one calls it, was to continue the practice till the experience could
be maintained for hours, days and months together?

A: This does not mean salvation. Such a condition is termed Manolaya or temporary
stillness of thought. Manolaya means concentration, temporarily arresting the
movement of thoughts. As soon as this concentration ceases, thoughts, old and new,
rush in as usual; and even if this temporary lulling of mind should last a thousand
years, it will never lead to total destruction of thought, which is what is called
liberation from birth and death.

The practitioner must therefore be ever on the alert and enquire within
as to who has this experience, who realizes its pleasantness. Without this
enquiry he will go into a long trance or deep sleep (yoga nidra). Due to
the absence of a proper guide at this stage of spiritual practice, many have
been deluded and fallen a prey to a false sense of liberation and only a few
have managed to reach the goal safely.

The following story illustrates the point very well. A yogi was doing penance
(tapas) for a number of years on the banks of the Ganges. When he had attained
a high degree of concentration, he believed that continuance in that stage for
prolonged periods constituted liberation and practiced it. One day, before going
into deep concentration, he felt thirsty and called to his disciple to bring
a little drinking water from the Ganges. But before the disciple arrived with
the water, he had gone into yoga nidra and remained in that state for countless
years, during which time much water flowed under the bridge. When he woke up from
this experience he immediately called "Water! Water!"; but there was neither his
disciple nor the Ganges in sight.

The first thing that he asked for was water because, before going into deep
concentration, the topmost layer of thought in his mind was water and by
concentration, however deep and prolonged it might have been, he had only been
able temporarily to lull his thoughts. When he regained consciousness this
topmost thought flew up with all the speed and force of a flood breaking through
the dykes. If this were the case with regard to a thought which took shape
immediately before he sat for meditation, there is no doubt that thoughts which
took root earlier would also remain unannihilated. If annihilation of thoughts
is liberation, can he be said to have attained salvation?

Sadhakas (seekers) rarely understand the difference between this temporary
stilling of the mind (manolaya) and permanent destruction of thoughts (manonasa).
In manolaya there is temporary subsidence of thought-waves, and though this
temporary period may even last for a thousand years, thoughts, which are thus
temporarily stilled, rise up as soon as the manolaya ceases.

One must therefore watch one's spiritual progress carefully. One must not allow
oneself to be overtaken by such spells of stillness of thought. The moment one
experiences this, one must revive consciousness and enquire within as to who it
is who experiences this stillness. While not allowing any thoughts to intrude,
one must not, at the same time, be overtaken by this deep sleep (yoga nidra)
or self-hypnotism.

Though this is a sign of progress towards the goal, yet it is also the point
where the divergence between the road to liberation and Yoga Nidra take place.
The easy way, the direct way, the shortest cut to salvation is the enquiry method.
By such enquiry, you will drive the thought force deeper till it reaches its
source and merges therein. It is then that you will have the response from
within and find that you rest there, destroying all thoughts once and for all.



Q: This "I"-thought rises from me. But I do not know the Self.

A: All these are only mental concepts. You are now identifying yourself with
a wrong 'I', which is the 'I'-thought. This 'I'-thought rises and sinks,
whereas the true significance of 'I' is beyond both. There cannot be a
break in your being. You who slept are also now awake. There is no unhappiness
in your deep sleep whereas it exists now. What is it that has happened now so
that this difference is experienced? There was no 'I'-thought in your sleep,
whereas it is present now. The true 'I' is not apparent and the false 'I' is
parading itself. This false 'I' is the obstacle to your right knowledge. Find
out from where this false 'I' arises. Then it will disappear. You will then be
only what you are, that is, absolute being.

Q: How to do it? I have not succeeded so far.

A: Search for the source of the 'I'-thought. That is all that one has
to do. The universe exists on account of the 'I'-thought [the false 'I'].
If that ends there is an end to misery also. The false 'I' will end only
when its source is sought.

Again people often ask how the mind is controlled. I say to them,
'Show me the mind and then you will know what to do.' The fact is
that the mind is only a bundle of thoughts. How can you extinguish
it by the thought of doing so or by a desire? Your thoughts and desires
are part and parcel of the mind. The mind is simply fattened by new
thoughts rising up. Therefore it is foolish to attempt to kill the mind
by means of the mind. The only way of doing it is to find its source and
hold on to it. The mind will then fade away of its own accord. Yoga teaches
chitta vritti nirodha (control of the activities of the mind).
But I say atma vichara (self-investigation). This is the practical way.
Chitta vritti nirodha is brought about in sleep, swoon, or by starvation.
As soon as the cause is withdrawn there is a recrudescence of thoughts.
Of what use is it then? In the state of stupor there is peace and no misery.
But misery recurs when the stupor is removed. So nirodha (control) is useless
and cannot be of lasting benefit.

How then can the benefit be made lasting? It is by finding the cause of misery.
Misery is due to the perception of objects. If they are not there, there will
be no contingent thoughts and so misery is wiped off. 'How will objects cease to be?'
is the next question. The srutis (scriptures) and the sages say that the objects
are only mental creations. They have no substantive being. Investigate the matter
and ascertain the truth of the statement. The result will be the conclusion that
the objective world is in the subjective consciousness. The Self is thus the only
reality, which permeates and also envelops the world. Since there is no duality,
no thoughts will arise to disturb your peace. This is realization of the Self.
The Self is eternal and so also is realization.

Abhyasa (spiritual practice) consists in withdrawal within the Self every time you
are disturbed by thought. It is not concentration or destruction of the mind but
withdrawal into the Self.

Q: Why is concentration ineffective?

A: To ask the mind to kill the mind is like making the thief the policeman.
He will go with you and pretend to catch the thief, but nothing will be gained.
So you must turn inward and see from where the mind rises and then it will
cease to exist.

Q: In turning the mind inwards, are we not still employing the mind?

A: Of course we are employing the mind. It is well known and admitted that only
with the help of the mind can the mind be killed. But instead of setting
about saying there is a mind, and I want to kill it, begin to seek the source
of the mind, and you find the mind does not exist at all. The mind, turned
outwards, results in thoughts and objects. Turned inwards, it becomes itself
the Self.

Q: Even so, I do not understand. 'I', you say, is the wrong 'I' now.
How to eliminate the wrong 'I'?

A: You need not eliminate the wrong 'I'. How can 'I' eliminate itself?
All that you need to do is to find out its origin and abide there.
Your efforts can extend only thus far. Then the beyond will take care
of itself. You are helpless there. No effort can reach it.

Q: If 'I' am always, here and now, why do I not feel so?

A: That is it. Who says it is not felt? Does the real 'I' say it or the false 'I'?
Examine it. You will find it is the wrong 'I'. The wrong 'I' is the obstruction.
It has to be removed in order that the true 'I' may not be hidden. The feeling
that I have not realized is the obstruction to realization. In fact it is already
realized and there is nothing more to be realized. Otherwise, the realization will
be new.

If it has not existed so far, it must take place hereafter. What is born will
also die. If realization is not eternal it is not worth having. Therefore what
we seek is not that which must happen afresh. It is only that which is eternal
but not now known due to obstructions. It is that which we seek. All that we
need to do is remove the obstruction. That which is eternal is not known to be
so because of ignorance. Ignorance is the obstruction. Get over the ignorance
and all will be well.

The ignorance is identical with the 'I'-thought. Find its source and it will
vanish. The 'I'-thought is like a spirit which, although not palpable, rises up
simultaneously with the body, flourishes and disappears with it.
The body-consciousness is the wrong 'I'. Give up this body-consciousness.
It is done by seeking the source of the 'I'. The body does not say 'I am'.
It is you who say, 'I am the body'. Find out who this 'I' is. Seeking its source
it will vanish.

Q: How long can the mind stay or be kept in the Heart?

A: The period extends by practice.

Q: What happens at the end of the period?

A: The mind returns to the present normal state. Unity in the Heart is replaced
by a variety of perceived phenomena. This is called the outgoing mind.
The Heart-going mind is called the resting mind.

When one daily practices more and more in this manner, the mind will become
extremely pure due to the removal of its defects and the practice will become
so easy that the purified mind will plunge into the Heart as soon as the enquiry
is commenced.

Q: Is it possible for a person who once has had the experience of sat-chit-ananda
in meditation to identify himself with the body when out of meditation?

A: Yes, it is possible, but he gradually loses the identification in the course
of his practice. In the floodlight of the Self the darkness of illusion
dissipates forever.

Experience gained without rooting out all the vasanas [latent impressions or
mental tendencies] cannot remain steady. Effort must be made to eradicate
the vasanas; knowledge can only remain unshaken after all the vasanas are
rooted out.

We have to contend against age-long mental tendencies. They will all go.
Only they go comparatively soon in the case of those who have made sadhana
(spiritual practice) in the past and later in the case of others.

Q: Do these tendencies go gradually or will they suddenly all disappear one day?
I ask this because although I have remained here for a long time I do not
perceive any gradual change in me.

A: When the sun rises, does the darkness go gradually or all at once?

Q: How can I tell if I am making progress with my enquiry?

A: The degree of the absence of thoughts is the measure of your progress
towards Self-realization. But Self-realization itself does not admit
of progress, it is ever the same. The Self remains always in realization.
The obstacles are thoughts. Progress is measured by the degree of removal
of the obstacles to understanding that the Self is always realized.
So thoughts must be checked by seeking to whom they arise. So you go to
their source, where they do not arise.


Q: Doubts are always arising. Hence my question.

A: A doubt arises and is cleared. Another arises and that is cleared,
making way for yet another; and so it goes on. So there is no possibility
of clearing away all doubts. See to whom the doubts arise. Go to their
source and abide in it. Then they cease to arise. That is how doubts are
to be cleared.

Q: Should I go on asking 'Who am I?' without answering? Who asks whom?
Which bhavana (attitude) should be in the mind at the time of enquiry?
What is 'I', the Self or the ego?

A: In the enquiry 'Who am I?', 'I' is the ego. The question really means,
what is the source or origin of this ego? You need not have any bhavana
(attitude) in the mind. All that is required is that you must give up
the bhavana (attitude) that you are the body, of such and such a description,
with such and such a name, etc. There is no need to have a bhavana about your
real nature. It exists as it always does. It is real and no bhavana.

Q: But is it not funny that the 'I' should be searching for the 'I'?
Does not the enquiry 'Who am I?' turn out in the end to be an empty formula?
Or, am I to put the question to myself endlessly, repeating it like some mantra?

A: Self-enquiry is certainly not an empty formula and it is more than the repetition
of any mantra. If the enquiry 'Who am I?' were a mere mental questioning,
it would not be of much value. The very purpose of self-enquiry is to focus
the entire mind at its source. It is not, therefore, a case of one 'I' searching
for another 'I'. Much less is self-enquiry an empty formula, for it involves an
intense activity of the entire mind to keep it steadily poised in pure
Self-awareness.

Q: Is it enough if I spend some time in the mornings and some time
in the evenings for this atma-vichara (self-enquiry)? Or should
I do it always, even when I am writing or walking?

A: What is your real nature? Is it writing, walking or being? The one
unalterable reality is being. Until you realize that state of pure
being you should pursue the enquiry. If once you are established in
it there will be no further worry.

No one will enquire into the source of thoughts unless thoughts arise.
So long as you think 'I am walking' or 'I am writing', enquire who does
it.

Q: If I go on rejecting thoughts can I call it vichara (enquiry)?

A: It may be a stepping stone. But really vichara begins when you cling to your
Self and are already off the mental movement, the thought waves.

Q: Then vichara (enquiry) is not intellectual?

A: No, it is antara vichara, inner quest.

Holding the mind and investigating it is advised for a beginner.
But what is mind after all? It is a projection of the Self.
See for whom it appears and from where it rises. The 'I'-thought
will be found to be the root-cause. Go deeper. The 'I'-thought
disappears and there is an infinitely expanded 'I'-consciousness.

Q: I asked Mother in Sri Aurobindo Ashram the following question:
'I keep my mind blank without thought arising so that God might
show Himself in His true being. But I do not perceive anything.'
The reply was to this effect: 'The attitude is right. The power
will come down from above. It is a direct experience.'
Should I do anything further?

A: Be what you are. There is nothing to come down or become manifest.
All that is necessary is to lose the ego. That which is is always there.
Even now you are that. You are not apart from it. What do you wait for?
The thought, 'I have not seen', the expectation to see and the desire
of getting something, are all the workings of the ego. You have fallen
into snares of the ego. The ego says all these and not you.
Be yourself and nothing more!

Once born you reach something. If you reach it you return also.
Therefore leave off all this verbiage. Be as you are. See who you are
and remain as the Self, free from birth, going, coming and returning.

Q: How is one to know the Self?

A: Knowing the Self means being the Self. Can you say that you do not know
the Self? Though you cannot see your own eyes and not provided with a mirror
to look in, do you deny the existence of your eyes? Similarly, you are aware
of the Self even though the Self is not objectified. Or, do you deny your
Self because it is not objectified? When you say I cannot know the Self',
it means absence in terms of relative knowledge that you identify yourself
with it. Such wrong identity has forged the difficulty of not knowing
the obvious Self because it cannot be objectified. And then you ask
'how is one to know the Self?'

Q: You talk of being. Being what?

A: Your duty is to be and not to be this or that. 'I am that I am' sums up
the whole truth. The method is summed up in the words 'Be still'.
What does stillness mean? It means destroy yourself. Because any form or shape
is the cause of trouble. Give up the notion that 'I am so and so'.
All that is required to realize the Self is to be still.
What can be easier than that? Hence atma vidya [Self-knowledge]
is the easiest to attain.

The truth of oneself alone is worthy to be scrutinized and known.
Taking it as the target of one's attention, one should keenly know it
in the Heart. This knowledge of oneself will be revealed only to the
consciousness which is silent, clear and free from the activity of
the agitated and suffering mind. Know that the consciousness which
always shines in the Heart as the formless Self, 'I', and which is
known by one's being still without thinking about anything as existent
or non-existent, alone is the perfect reality.

SELF-INQUIRY: MISCONCEPTIONS:

Q: I begin to ask myself 'Who am I?', eliminate the body as not 'I',
the breath as not 'I', and I am not able to proceed further.

A: Well, that is as far as the intellect can go. Your process is only
intellectual. Indeed, all the scriptures mention the process only
to guide the seeker to know the truth. The truth cannot be directly
pointed out. Hence this intellectual process. You see, the one who
eliminates all the "not I" cannot eliminate the "I". To say "I am not
this" or "I am that" there must be the "I". This "I" is only the ego
or the "I" - thought. After the rising up of this 'I'-thought, all
other thoughts arise. The 'I'-thought is therefore the root thought.
If the root is pulled out all others are at the same time uprooted.
Therefore seek the root "I", question yourself "Who am I?". Find out
its source, and then all these other ideas will vanish and the pure
Self will remain.


Q: How to do it?

A: The "I" is always there - in deep sleep, in dream and in wakefulness.
The one in sleep is the same as that who now speaks. There is always
the feeling of 'I'. Otherwise do you deny your existence? You do not.
You say 'I am'. Find out who is.

Q: I meditate Neti-Neti [ not this-not this ].

A: No - that is not meditation. Find the source. You must reach the source
without fail. The false 'I' will disappear and the real 'I' will be realised.
The former cannot exist apart from the latter. There is now wrong identification
of the Self with the body, senses, etc. You proceed to discard these,
and this is neti. This can be done only by holding to the one which cannot be
discarded. That is 'iti' [that which is].

Q: When I think 'Who am I?', the answer comes 'I am not this mortal body but
I am Chaitanya, Atma (consciousness, the Self).' And suddenly another
question arises, 'Why has Atma (Self) come into Maya (illusion)?' or in
other words, 'Why has God created this world?'

A: To enquire 'Who am I?' really means trying to find out the source of the
ego or the 'I'-thought. You are not to think of other thoughts, such as
'I am not this body'. Seeking the source of 'I' serves as a means of getting
rid of all other thoughts. We should not give scope to other thoughts, such
as you mention, but must keep the attention fixed on finding out the source
of the 'I'-thought by asking, as each thought arises, to whom the thought
arises. If the answer is 'I get the thought' continue the enquiry by asking
'Who is this "I" and what is its source?'

Q: Am I to keep on repeating 'Who am I?' so as to makes a mantra of it?

A: No. 'Who am I?' is not a mantra. It means that you must find out where
in you arises the 'I'-thought, which is the source of all other thoughts.

Q: Shall I meditate on 'I am Brahman' [Aham Brahmasmi]?

A: The text is not meant for thinking 'I am Brahman'. Aham ['I'] is known
to every one. Find out the 'I'. The 'I' is already Brahman. You need not
think so. Simply find out the 'I'.

Q: Is not discarding the sheaths [Neti-Neti] mentioned in the sastras?

A: After the rise of the 'I'-thought there is the false identification of
the 'I' with the body, the senses, the mind, etc. 'I' is wrongly associated
with them and the true 'I' is lost sight of. In order to sift the pure 'I'
from the contaminated 'I', this discarding is mentioned. But it does not mean
exactly discarding of the non-self, it means the finding of the real Self.
The real Self is the infinite 'I'. That 'I' is perfection. It is eternal.
It has no origin and no end. The other 'I' is born and also dies. It is
impermanent. See to whom the changing thoughts belong. They will be found
to arise after the 'I'-thought. Hold the 'I'-thought and they subside.
Trace back the source of the 'I'-thought. The Self alone will remain.

Q: It is difficult to follow. I understand the theory. But what is the practice?

A: The other methods are meant for those who cannot take to the investigation
of the Self. Even to repeat Aham Brahmasmi or think of it, a doer is necessary.
Who is it? It is 'I'. Be that 'I'. It is the direct method. The other methods
also will ultimately lead everyone to this method of the investigation of the Self.

Q: I am aware of the 'I'. Yet my troubles are not ended.

A: This 'I'-thought is not pure. It is contaminated with the association of the
body and senses. See to whom the trouble is. It is to the 'I'-thought. Hold it.
Then the other thoughts vanish.

Q: Yes. How to do it? That is the whole trouble.

A: Think 'I, I', and hold to that one thought to the exclusion of all others.

Q: Is not affirmation of God more effective than the quest, 'Who am I?'
Affirmation is positive, whereas the other is negation. Moreover, it indicates
separateness.

A: So long as you seek to know how to realize, this advice is given to find your
Self. Your seeking the method denotes your separateness.

Q: Is it not better to say 'I am the Supreme Being' than ask 'Who am I?'

A: Who affirms? There must be one to do it. Find that one.

Q: Is not meditation better than investigation?

A: Meditation implies mental imagery, whereas investigation is for the reality.
The former is objective, whereas the latter is subjective.

Q: There must be a scientific approach to this subject.

A: To eschew unreality and seek the reality is scientific.

Q: I mean there must a gradual elimination, first of the mind, then of
the intellect, then of the ego.

A: The Self alone is real. All others are unreal. The mind and intellect
do not remain apart from you. The Bible says, 'Be still and know that
I am God.' Stillness is the sole requisite for the realization of the
Self as God.

Q: Is Soham [the affirmation 'I am He'] the same as 'Who am I?'

A: Aham ('I') alone is common to them. One is Soham. The other is Koham
(Who am I?). They are different. Why should we go on saying soham?
One must find out the real 'I'. In the question 'Who am I?', 'I' refers
to the ego. Trying to trace it and find its source, we see it has no
separate existence but merges in the real 'I'.

You see the difficulty. Vichara (enquiry) is different in method from the
meditation Sivoham or Soham ('I am Siva' or 'I am He'). I rather lay stress
upon Self-knowledge, for you are first concerned with yourself before you
proceed to know the world and its Lord. The soham meditation or 'I am Brahman'
meditation is more or less a mental thought. But the quest for the Self I speak
of is a direct method, indeed superior to the other meditation. The moment you
start looking for the self and go deeper and deeper, the real Self is waiting
there to take you in. Then whatever is done is done by something else and you
have no hand in it. In this process, all doubts and discussions are automatically
given up just as one who sleeps forgets, for the time being, all his cares.

Q: What certainty is there that something else waits there to welcome me?

A: When one is a sufficiently developed soul (pakvi) one becomes naturally
convinced.

Q: How is this development possible?

A: Various answers are given. But whatever the previous development,
vichara quickens the development.


Q: That is arguing in a circle. I am developed and so I am suitable
for the quest but the quest itself causes me to develop.

A: The mind has always this sort of difficulty. It wants a certain theory
to satisfy itself. Really, no theory is necessary for the man who seriously
desires to approach God or to realize his own true being.

Q: No doubt the method taught by Bhagavan is direct. But it is so difficult.
We do not know how to begin it. If we go on asking, 'Who am I?, who am I?'
like a japa (repetition of the name of God) or a mantra, it becomes dull.
In other methods there is something preliminary and positive with which one
can begin and then go step by step. But in Bhagavan's method, there is no
such thing, and to seek the Self at once, though direct, is difficult.

A: Ramana Maharshi: You yourself concede it is the direct method. It is the direct
and easy method. When going after other things that are alien to us is so easy,
how can it be difficult for one to go to one's own Self? You talk of where
to begin? There is no beginning and no end. You are yourself in the beginning
and the end. If you are here and the Self somewhere else, and you have to reach
that Self, you may be told how to start, how to travel and then how to reach.

Suppose you who are now in Ramanasramam ask, 'I want to go to Ramanasramam.
How shall I start and how to reach it?', what is one to say? A man's search
for the Self is like that. He is always the Self and nothing else.

You say 'Who am I?' becomes a japa. It is not meant that you should go on
asking 'Who am I?' In that case, thought will not so easily die. In the direct
method, as you call it, in asking yourself 'Who am I?', you are told to
concentrate within yourself where the 'I'-thought, the root of all other thoughts,
arise. As the Self is not outside but inside you, you are asked to dive within,
instead of going without. What can be more easy than going to yourself?

But the fact remains that to some this method will seem difficult and will
not appeal. That is why so many different methods have been taught. Each of
them will appeal to some as the best and easiest. That is according to their
pakva or fitness. But to some, nothing except the vichara marga
(the path of enquiry) will appeal. They will ask, 'You want me to know
or to see this or that. But who is the knower, the seer?' Whatever other
method may be chosen, there will be always a doer. That cannot be escaped.
One must find out who the doer is. Till then, the sadhana (spiritual practice)
cannot be ended. So eventually all must come to find out 'Who am I?'

You complain that there is nothing preliminary or positive to start with.
You have the 'I' to start with. You know you exist always, whereas the body
does not exist always, for example in sleep. Sleep reveals that you exist
even without a body. We identify the 'I' with the body, we regard the Self
as having a body, and as having limits, and hence all our trouble.

All that we have to do is to give up identifying the Self with the body,
with forms and limits, and then we shall know ourselves as the Self that we always are.

Q: Am I to think 'Who am I?'

A: You have known that the 'I'-thought springs forth. Hold
the 'I'-thought and find its source.

Q: May I know the way?

A: Do as you have now been told and see.

Q: I do not understand what I should do.

A: If it is anything objective the way can be shown objectively.
This is subjective.

Q: But I do not understand.

A: What! Do you not understand that you are?

Q: Please tell me the way.

A: Is it necessary to show the way in the interior of your own home?
This is within you.

Q: You have said that the Heart is the center of the Self.

A: Yes, it is the one supreme center of the Self. You need have no doubt
about it. The real Self is there in the Heart behind the jiva or ego
self.

Q: Now be please to tell me where it is in the body.

A: You cannot know it with your mind. You cannot realize it by imagination,
when I tell you here is the center (pointing to the right side of the chest).
The only direct way to realize it is to cease to fantasize and try to be
yourself. When you realize, you automatically feel that the center is there.

This is the center, the Heart, spoken of in the scriptures as hrit-guha
(cavity of the heart), arul (grace), ullam (the Heart).

Q: In no book have I found it stated that it is there.

A: Long after I came here I chanced upon a verse in the Malayalam version
of Ashtangahridayam, the standard work on Ayurveda (science of life,
health and medicine), wherein the Ojas Sthana (source of bodily vitality
or place of light) is mentioned as being located in the right side of
the chest and called the seat of consciousness (samvit). But I know of
no other work which refers to it as being located there.

Q: Can I be sure that the ancients meant this center by the term 'Heart'?

A: Yes that is so. But you should try to have rather than to locate
the experience. A man need not find out where his eyes are situated
when he wants to see. The Heart is there ever open to you if you care
to enter it, ever supporting all your movements even when you are unaware.
It is perhaps more proper to say that the Self is the Heart itself than to
say that it is in the Heart. Really, the Self is the center itself.
It is everywhere, aware of itself as 'Heart', the Self-awareness.

Q: In that case, how can it be localized in any part of the body?
Fixing a place for the Heart would imply setting physiological
limitations to that which is beyond space and time.

A: That is right. But the person who puts the question about the position
of the Heart considers himself as existing with or in the body. While
putting the question now, would you say that your body alone is here but
you are speaking from somewhere else? No, you accept your bodily existence.
It is from this point of view that any reference to a physical body
comes to be made.

Truly speaking, pure consciousness is indivisible, it is without parts.
It has no form and shape, no 'within' and 'without'. There is no 'right'
or 'left' for it. Pure consciousness, which is the Heart, includes all,
and nothing is outside or apart from it. That is the ultimate truth.

From this absolute standpoint, the Heart, Self or consciousness can have
no particular place assigned to it in the physical body. What is the reason?
The body is itself a mere projection of the mind, and the mind is but a poor
reflection of the radiant Heart. How can that, in which everything is contained
be itself confined as a tiny part within the physical body which is but an
infinitesimal, phenomenal manifestation of the one reality?

But people do not understand this. They cannot help thinking in terms of the
physical body and the world. For instance, you say, 'I have come to this ashram
all the way from my country beyond the Himalayas'. But that is not the truth.
Where is 'coming' or 'going' or any movement whatever, for the one,
all-pervading spirit which you really are? You are where you have always been.
It is your body that moved or was conveyed from place to place till it reached
this ashram. This is the simple truth, but to a person who considers himself a
subject living in an objective world, it appears as something altogether
visionary! It is buy coming down to the level ordinary understanding that
a place is assigned to the Heart in the physical body.


Q: How then shall I understand Sri Bhagavan's statement that the experience
of the heart-center is at the particular place in the chest?

A: Once you accept that from the true and absolute standpoint, the Heart as
pure consciousness is beyond space and time, it will be easy for you to
understand the rest in its correct perspective.

Q: The Heart is said to be on the right, on the left, or in the center.
With such differences of opinion how are we to meditate on it?

A: You are and it is a fact. Dhyana (meditation) is by you, of you, and in you.
It must go on where you are. It cannot be outside you. So you are the centre
of dhyana and that is the Heart.

Doubts arise only when you identify it with something tangible and physical.
Heart is no conception, no object for meditation. The Self remains all alone.
You see the body in the Heart, the world is also in it. There is nothing
separate from it. So, all kinds of efforts are located there only.

Q: You say the 'I'-thought rises from the Heart-center. Should we seek its
source there?

A: I ask you to see where the 'I' arises in your body, but it is really not quite
correct to say that the 'I' rises from and merges in the Heart in the right
side of the chest. The Heart is another name for the reality and it is neither
inside nor outside the body. There can be no in or out for it,
since it alone is.

Q: Should I meditate on the right chest in order to meditate on the Heart?

A: The Heart is not physical. Meditation should not be on the right or
the left. Meditation should be on the Self. Everyone knows 'I am'.
Who is the 'I'? It will be neither within nor without, neither on the right
nor on the left. 'I am'- that is all. Leave alone the idea of right and left.
They pertain to the body. The Heart is the Self. Realize it and then you will
see for yourself. There is no need to know where and what the Heart is.
It will do its work if you engage in the quest for the Self.

Q: What is the Heart referred to in the verse of Upadesa Saram where it is said,
'Abiding in the Heart is the best Karma, Yoga, Bhakti (devotion) and Jnana
(knowledge)?

A: That which is the source of all, that in which all live, and that into which
all finally merge, is the Heart referred to.

Q: How can we conceive of such a Heart?

A: Why should you conceive of anything? You have only to see from where
the 'I' springs. That from which all thoughts of embodied beings issue
forth is called the Heart. All descriptions of it are only mental concepts.

Q: There are said to be six organs of different colors in the chest,
of which the Heart is said to be two finger-breaths to the right
of the middle line. But the Heart is also formless. Should we then imagine
it to have a shape and meditate on it?

A: No. Only the quest 'Who am I?' is necessary. What remains all through
deep sleep and waking is the same. But in waking there is unhappiness
and the effort to remove it. Asked who wakes up from sleep you say 'I'.
Now you are told to hold fast to this 'I'. If it is done the eternal
being will reveal itself. Investigation of 'I' is the point and not
meditation on the Heart-center. There is nothing like within or without.
Both mean either the same thing or nothing.

Of course there is also the practice of meditation on the Heart-center.
It is only a practice and not investigation. Only the one who meditates
on the Heart can remain aware when the mind ceases to be active and remains
still, whereas those who meditate on other centers cannot be so aware but
infer that the mind was still only after it becomes again active.

In whatever place in the body one thinks Self to be residing, due to the
power of that thinking it will appear to the one who thinks thus as if Self
is residing in that place. However, the beloved Heart alone is the refuge
for the rising and subsiding of that 'I'. Know that though it is said that
the Heart exists both inside and outside, in absolute truth it does not exist
both inside and outside, because the body, which appears as the base of
the differences 'inside' and 'outside', is an imagination of the thinking mind.
Heart, the source, is the beginning, the middle and the end of all.
Heart, the supreme space, is never a form. It is the light of truth.


SELF-INQUIRY THEORY:

Q: What is the nature of the mind?

A: The mind is nothing other than the 'I'-thought. The mind and the ego
are one and the same. The other mental faculties such as the intellect and
the memory are only this. Mind (manas), intellect (buddhi), the storehouse
of mental tendencies (chittam), and ego (ahamkara); all these are only the
one mind itself. This is like different names being given to a man according
to his different functions. The individual soul (jiva) is nothing but this
soul or ego.


Q: How shall we discover the nature of the mind, that is, its ultimate cause,
or the noumenon of which it is a manifestation?

A: Arranging thoughts in the order of value, the 'I'-thought is the
all-important thought. Personality-idea or thought is also the
root or the stem of all other thoughts, since each idea or thought
arises only as someone's thought and is not known to exist independently
of the ego. The ego therefore exhibits thought-activity. The second and
the third persons [he, you, that, etc.] do not appear except to the first
person [I]. Therefore they arise only after the first person appears,
so all the three persons seem to rise and sink together. Trace, then,
the ultimate cause of 'I' or personality.

From where does this 'I' arise? Seek for it within; it then vanishes.
This is the pursuit of wisdom. When the mind unceasingly investigates
its own nature, it transpires that there is no such thing as mind.
This is the direct path for all. The mind is merely thoughts. Of all
thoughts the thought 'I' is the root. Therefore the mind is only the
thought 'I'.

The birth of the 'I'-thought is one's own birth; its death is the person's
death. After the 'I'-thought has arisen, the wrong identity with the body
arises. Get rid of the 'I'-thought. So long as 'I' is alive there is grief.
When 'I' ceases to exist there is no grief.

Q: Yes, but when I take to the 'I'-thought, other thoughts arise and disturb me.

A: See whose thoughts they are. They will vanish. They have their root in
the single 'I'-thought. Hold it and they will disappear.

Q: How can any enquiry initiated by the ego reveal its own unreality?

A: The ego's phenomenal existence is transcended when you dive into
the source from where the 'I'-thought rises.

Q: But is not the aham-vritti [modifications of the mind], only one of
the three forms in which the ego manifests itself? Yoga Vasishtha
and other ancient texts describe the ego as having a threefold form.

A: It is so. The ego is described as having three bodies, the gross,
the subtle and the causal, but that is only for the purpose of analytical
exposition. If the method of enquiry were to depend on the ego's form,
you may take it that enquiry would become altogether impossible,
because the forms the ego may assume are legion.
Therefore, for the purpose of self-enquiry you have to proceed on
the basis that the ego has but one form, namely that of aham-vritti.


Q: But it may prove inadequate for realizing jnana (knowledge).

A: Self-enquiry by following the clue of aham-vritti is just like the dog
tracing his master by the scent. The master may be at some distant unknown
place, but that does not stand in the way of the dog tracing him.
The master's scent is an infallible clue for the animal and nothing else,
such as the dress he wears, or his build and stature, etc., counts.
To that scent the dog holds on undistractedly while searching for him,
and finally it succeeds in tracing him.

Q: The question still remains why the quest for the source of aham-vritti,
as distinguished from other vrittis [modifications of the mind],
should be considered the direct means to Self-realization.

A: Although the concept of 'I'-ness or 'I am'-ness is by usage known
as aham-vritti it is not really a vritti [modification] like other
vrittis of the mind. Because unlike the other vrittis which have no
essential interrelation, the aham-vritti is equally and essentially
related to each and every vritti of the mind. Without the aham-vritti
there can be no other vritti, but the aham-vritti can subsist by itself
without depending on any other vritti of the mind.
The aham-vritti is therefore fundamentally different from other vrittis.

So then, the search for the source of the aham-vritti is not merely
the search for the basis of one of the forms of the ego but for the
very source itself from which arises the 'I am'-ness.
In other words, the quest for and the realization of the source of
the ego in the form of aham-vritti necessarily implies the transcendence
of the ego in every one of its possible forms.

Q: Conceding that the aham-vritti essentially comprises all the forms
of the ego, why should that vritti alone be chosen as the means for
self-enquiry?

A: Because it is the one irreducible datum of your experience and because
seeking its source is the only practicable course you can adopt to realize
the Self. The ego is said to have a causal body [the state of the 'I'
during sleep], but how can you make it the subject of your investigation?
When the ego adopts that form, you are immersed in the darkness of sleep.

Q: But is not the ego in its subtle and causal forms too intangible
to be tackled through the enquiry into the source of intangible
to be tackled through the enquiry into the source of aham-vritti
conducted while the mind is awake?

A: No. The enquiry into the source of aham-vritti touches the very
existence of the ego. Therefore the subtlety of the ego's form is
not a material consideration.

Q: While the one aim is to realize the unconditioned, pure being of the Self,
which is in no way dependent on the ego, how can enquiry pertaining to the
ego in the form of aham-vritti be of any use?

A: From the functional point of view the ego has one and only one
characteristic. The ego functions as the knot between the Self
which is pure consciousness and the physical body which is inert
and insentient. The ego is therefore called the chit-jada-granthi
[the knot between consciousness and the inert body].

In your investigation into the source of aham-vritti, you take the essential
chit [consciousness] aspect of the ego. For this reason the enquiry must lead
to the realisation of pure consciousness of the Self.

You must distinguish between the 'I', pure in itself, and the 'I'-thought.
The latter being merely a thought, sees subject and object, sleeps, wakes up,
eats and thinks, dies and is reborn. But the pure 'I' is the pure being,
eternal existence, free from ignorance and thought-illusion. If you stay as
the 'I', your being alone, without thought, the 'I'-thought will disappear
and the delusion will vanish forever. In a cinema show you can see pictures
only in a very dim light or in darkness. But when all the lights are switched
on, the pictures disappear. So also in the floodlight of the supreme atman
[Self] all objects disappear.

Q: That is the transcendental state.

A: No. Transcending what, and by whom? You alone exist.

Q: It is said that the Self is beyond the mind and yet the realization
is with the mind. 'The mind cannot think it. It cannot be thought of
by the mind and the mind alone can realize it.' How are these
contradictions to be reconciled?

A: Atman [Self] is realized with Mruta Manas [dead mind], that is,
mind devoid of thoughts and turned inward. Then the mind sees its own
source and becomes that (the Self).
It is not as the subject perceiving an object.

When the room is dark a lamp is necessary to illumine the eyes to cognize
objects. But when the sun has risen there is no need of a lamp to see
objects. To see the sun no lamp is necessary, it is enough that you turn
your eyes towards the self-luminous sun. Similarly with the mind. To see
objects the reflected light of the mind is necessary. To see the Heart it
is enough that the mind is turned towards it. Then mind loses itself
and Heart shine forth. The essence of mind is only awareness or consciousness.
When the ego, however, dominates it, it functions as the reasoning, thinking
or sensing faculty. The cosmic mind, being not limited by the ego, has nothing
separate from itself and is therefore only aware. This is what the Bible means
by 'I am that I am'.

When the mind perishes in the supreme consciousness of one's own Self,
know that all the various powers beginning with the power of liking
[and including the power of doing and the power of knowing] will entirely
disappear, being found to be an unreal imagination appearing in one's own
form of consciousness. The impure mind, which functions as thinking
and forgetting, alone is samsara, which is the cycle of birth and death.
The real 'I' in which the activity of thinking and forgetting has perished,
alone is the pure liberation. It is devoid of pramada (forgetfulness of Self)
which is the cause of birth and death.

Q: How is the ego to be destroyed?

A: Hold the ego first and then ask how it is to be destroyed.
Who asks the question? It is the ego. This question is a sure way
to cherish the ego and not to kill it. If you seek the ego you will
find that it does not exist. That is the way to destroy it.

Q: How is realization made possible?

A: There is an absolute Self from which a spark proceeds as from a fire.
The spark is called the ego. In the case of an ignorant man it identifies
itself with an object simultaneously with its rise. It cannot remain
independent of such association with objects. The association is ajnana or
ignorance and its destruction is the object of our efforts. If its
objectifying tendency is killed it remains pure, and also merges into
the source. The wrong identification with the body is dehatma buddhi
(['I am the body'] idea). This must go before good results follow.

The 'I' in its purity is experienced in intervals between the two states
or two thoughts. Ego is like that caterpillar, which leaves its hold only
after catching another. Its true nature can be found when it is out of
contact with objects or thoughts. This ghostly ego which is devoid of
form comes into existence by grasping a form; grasping a form it endures;
feeding upon forms which it grasps it waxes more, leaving one form it
grasps another form, but when sought for it takes to flight.

Only if that first person, the ego, in the form 'I am the body', exists
will the second and third persons [you, he, they etc.] exist. If by one's
scrutinizing the truth of the first person the first person is destroyed,
the second and third persons will cease to exist and one's own nature,
which will then shine as one, will truly be the state of Self.

The thought 'I am this body of flesh and blood' is the one thread on which
are strung the various other thoughts. Therefore, if we turn inwards
enquiring 'Where is this 'I?' all thoughts [including the 'I'-thought]
will come to an end and Self-knowledge will then spontaneously shine forth.

Q: When I read Sri Bhagavan's works I find that investigation is said to be
the one method for realization.

A: Yes, that is vichara (self-enquiry).

Q: How is that to be done?

A: The questioner must admit the existence of his Self. 'I am' is the
realization. To pursue the clue till realization is vichara (self-enquiry).
Vichara and realization are the same.

Q: It is elusive. What shall I meditate upon?

A: Meditation requires an object to meditate upon, whereas there is
only the subject without the object in vichara . Meditation differs
from vichara in this way.

Q: Is not dhyana (meditation) one of the efficient processes for realization?

A: Dhyana is concentration on an object. It fulfils the purpose of keeping
away diverse thoughts and fixing the mind on a single thought, which must
also disappear before realization. But realization is nothing new to be
acquired. It is already there, but obstructed by a screen of thoughts.
All our attempts are directed to lifting this screen and then realization
is revealed.

If seekers are advised to meditate, many may go away satisfied with
the advice. But someone among them may turn round and ask, 'Who am I
to meditate on an object?' Such a one must be told to find the Self.
That is the finality. That is vichara .

Q: Will vichara alone do in the absence of meditation?

A: Vichara is the process and the goal also. 'I am' is the goal and the
final reality. To hold to it with effort is vichara . When spontaneous
and natural, it is realization. If one leaves aside vichara , the most
efficacious sadhana [spiritual practice], there are no other adequate
means whatever to make the mind subside. If made to subside by other
means, it will remain as if subsided but will rise again.

Self-enquiry is the one infallible means, the only direct one,
to realise the unconditioned, absolute being that you really are.



Q: Why should self-enquiry alone be considered the direct means
to jnana (knowledge)?

A: Because every kind of sadhana (spiritual practice) except that
of atma-vichara (self-enquiry) presupposes the retention of the
mind as the instrument for carrying on the sadhana, and without
the mind it cannot be practiced. The ego may take different and
subtler forms at the different stages of one's practice, but is
itself never destroyed.

When king Janaka exclaimed, 'Now I have discovered the thief who
has been ruining me all along. He shall be dealt with summarily',
the king was really referring to the ego or the mind.

Q: But the thief may well be apprehended by the other sadhana as well.

A: The attempts to destroy the ego or the mind through sadhanas
(spiritual practices) other than atma-vichara (self-enquiry) is just
like the thief pretending to be a policeman to catch the thief,
that is, himself. Atma-vichara alone can reveal the truth that neither
the ego nor the mind really exists, and enable one to realize the pure,
undifferentiated being of the Self or the absolute.

Having realized the Self, nothing remains to be known, because it is
perfect bliss, it is the all.

Q: Why is self-enquiry more direct than other methods?

A: Attention to one's own Self, which is ever shining as 'I',
the one undivided and pure reality, is the only raft with which
the individual, who is deluded by thinking 'I am the body', can
cross the ocean of unending births.

Reality is simply the loss of ego. Destroy the ego by seeking its identity.
Because the ego is no entity it will automatically vanish and reality will
shine forth by itself. This is the direct method, whereas all other methods
are done only by retaining the ego. In those paths there arise so many doubts
and the eternal question 'Who am I?' remains to be tackled finally.

But in this method the final question is the only one and it is raised from
the beginning. No sadhanas are necessary for engaging in this quest.

There is no greater mystery than this- that being the reality we seek to gain
reality. We think that there is something hiding our reality and that it must
be destroyed before the reality is gained. It is ridiculous. A day will dawn
when you will yourself laugh at your past efforts. That which will be on the
day you laugh is also here and now.

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