SELF ENQUIRY

“Those who leave the path of Self Enquiry, the way of
liberation, and wander off along the myriad forest tracks,
will encounter only confusion”. Bhagavan

Self Enquiry is the Direct Path and Bhagavan’s great contribution for the modern age for all.

Self Enquiry is the back bone the main weapon in Bhagavan’s teaching for eliminating the vasanas,
tendencies and vrittis, the thought forms which act as a veil and occlude your Real Self.

Total Surrender will also achieve the goal, but this way is slower as in the beginning we are only capable of partial Surrender. But continue to surrender the Egotistic/Mind at the lotus feet of the Inner Guru, Bhagavan in the Heart partially, and that will lead to total Surrender in due course.

To start Self Enquiry is not easy! We must have a great yearning and wish to commence. Pray for grace in this respect.

It starts with the mind , turning inwards at 180 degrees and with all one’s powers of concentration probing inward, beneath the skin, to find the source of the I Thought or ego.

Many find the right side of the chest is an effective doorway to enter the interior and eventually the spiritual heart, where the source of the ego dwells.

The first aid is therefore to increase our power of concentration, without thought interfering. Most concentration spans are about 4 minutes. One can increase its power by practice. Gaze at a portrait of Bhagavan, or a candle or a spot on the wall. For as long as you can until you increase the time markedly.

The next aid is study. One must read about Self Enquiry as Bhagavan taught it. His two essays WHO AM I and SELF ENQUIRY are essential. They can be downloaded from the Ashram site or read from Collected Works. Read them over and over again until they have sunk in . They are not very long. Then one can read from the index on Self Enquiry in Talks With Ramana Maharshi – which can also be downloaded as can David Godman’s Be As You Are which has three chapters in his book on SELF .ENQUIRY,

THEN.FIND THE WAY THAT’S EASIEST FOR YOU!.

1.It could be holding the breath , to stop thought and diving into the heart to find the source of the I thought, or just diving without holding the breath.

2.It could be questioning when thoughts or emotions arise, and asking “to whom does this thought come- to me?” Then ask “who am I?”, with attention again seeking for the source of the I thought.

3. It could be paying attention to The Self- Self attention- or paying attention to awareness, being aware of one’s awareness.

4. It could be holding onto the I thought or the feeling of the ego or me, with attention, whenever it arises looking for it’s source.

5.It could be tracing the source of your favourite Mantra.

6. It could be posing the question Who Am I then holding the breath, searching for the egos source. On exhalation feel I am Not the Body'.

7.If all are too difficult, then just repeat I-I-I-I as a mantra. I is the Real name of God said Bhagavan. It will eventually lead to the Self on which attention may then be placed with practice.

Eventually with any of these methods one may notice a pulsation commencing on the right side of the chest which indicates progress.

Perseverance, continued practice and great faith are needed.

Each time , you enquire it will gradually loosen identification with the mind and body and start the loosening of the Granthi Knot which holds and maintains identification with the ‘I am the body, notion.

Self Enquiry is linked to devotion, it must become emotional not only a practice from head attention, then it is easier to get to the source of the I thought.

Read the beginning quote once again please.


Additional Notes

1) One should have the urge to find the truth about his own existence. This happens if one some how does not feel that one is the body. Self Enquiry comes to one naturally if one has the intuitive feel that he is not the body or mind, but some thing far beyond and great.

Sri Bhagavan was asked if intellectual understanding truth is necessary(Talk 596).

D.: Is an intellectual understanding of the Truth necessary?

M.: Yes. Otherwise why does not the person realise God or the Self at once, i.e., as soon as he is told that God is all or the Self is all? That shows some wavering on his part. He must argue with himself and gradually convince himself of the Truth before his faith becomes firm.

For the practice of who Am ‘I’ to take firm root, I felt that it is worth putting forth the effort to understand our nature clearly, beyond doubt. Sri Bhagavan’s talks offer the best guidance for that. The following talks are absolutely fascinating.

Talk 487: The ‘I’ is neither the body nor the mind.
Talk 286: The ‘I’ is not one with the body.
Talk 304: The consciousness in waking is same as in sleep.
Talk 314, 609: The ‘I’ is pure in the transition state between sleep and waking

2)Sri Bhagavan in talk 502 says that the intellect is one of the main obstacles. It is co extensive with the individuality and has to disappear for results to follow. This recognition leads to surrender, and paves the way for smoother enquiry.

3) Sri Bhagavan in talk 80 says that thoughts arise from the conscious self. Apprehending it even vaguely helps the extinction of the ego.

4) Thoughts are spontaneous, superficial or analytical. The individuality of the person is operative as the perceiver of the existence of thoughts and of their sequence. This individuality is the ego, or as people say ‘I’. (Talk 25). The ego( intellect) latches on to the analytical thoughts and is lost in them.

5) In the process of enquiry the intellect has to be merged in the ego and the source of ego is sought. (Talk 618.) The urge of the intellect to latch on to the thought stream (comprising of thoughts objects) is to be recognized. That recognition develops into dispassion and detachment. One should develop an understanding of the behavior of one’s intellect. Then it is easier to pose the enquiry, for whom is this thought? If the answer for ‘me’ comes out of attention, the feeling of ‘I’ in the next question who am ‘I’ is more intense. There are no subject and object in this feeling of ‘I’. No one is feeling his ‘I’. He and ‘I’ are not separate. He is ‘I’, always ‘I’ and remains as ‘I’ after the question who am ‘I’. One has to recognize that after the question who am ‘I’, in the feeling of ‘I’ there is no duality. It is indeed very important to note this. One should not localize the feeling of
‘I’. Also there is no inside or outside for ‘I’. Only when one thinks that he is the body, he thinks ‘I’ is inside.

6) Thus in the enquiry who am ‘I’, the attention is continuously withdrawn from mind and its thought forms and redirected to ‘I’. Attention is itself ‘I’.

7) The ‘I’, purged of thoughts (pure ego) cannot remain in that state. Either it has to associate itself with some form (thought) or sink into its source. But intellect tries to feel if there is indeed happiness etc. Any urge of intellect to move is the back door entry of ego. Noticing this urge and some times holding the breath momentarily helps to quieten it. The intellect has to recognize that any of its attempts will wean it away from its source. It is hard to express precisely. Some times words sound strange and lead to interpretation.

8) Fixing the mind on one thing whether it is a spot in the body or any thing else helps the mind to remain calm. It helps mind to get one pointed. But there is the subject fixing attention on an object. If there is one to feel some thing there is duality. This may take longer for the results. Mind’s urge to hold on to something is worth noticing. The purpose of enquiry is to lose duality, whether thought based or object based (all objects are thoughts).

9) Sri Bhagavan in Talk 244 says that the consciousness within, purged of the mind, is felt as God.