“WHO AM I ?”: THE FULL PROCESS OF ‘SELF-ENQUIRY’
“For all thoughts, the source is the ‘I-Thought’.
The mind will merge only by the Self-enquiry; ‘Who Am I?’
The thought; ‘Who am l?’, will destroy all other thoughts, and finally kill itself, also.
If other thoughts arise – without trying to complete them, one must enquire: ‘to whom did this thought arise?’
What does it matter how many thoughts arise? As each thought arises, one must be watchful and ask: ‘To whom is this thought occurring’?
The answer will be: ‘to me’.
If you then enquire: ‘Who am I ?’, the mind will return to its Source (or where it issued from). The thought which arose, will also submerge.
As you practise like this – more and more, the power of the mind to remain at its source, is increased.
By means of a moderate quantity of satvic (pure) food, which is superior to all other rules and regulations of self discipline, the satvic – or pure quality of the mind, will grow, and Self-Enquiry – will be helped.
Though ancient and timeless sense, attachments – in the shape of Vasanas (subtle tendencies) may rise; countless like the waves of the sea, they will all be destroyed, as ‘dhyana’ progresses.
Without giving any room. for doubt; ‘whether it would at all be possible to eradicate all those vasanas, and BE The Self – Alone, one must take hold – ceaselessly, of dhyana of The Self.
However great a sinner one may be, instead of lamenting: ‘I am a great sinner, how can I make any progress?’ – one must completely forget the fact of being a sinner, and earnestly pursue meditation of Self. He is then sure to succeed!
If the ego is present, all else will also exist. If it is absent, all else will also vanish.
As ego is all ‘this’; to enquire what this ego is. is to give up all attachment.
Controlling speech and breath, and diving deep within oneself; as a man dives into water to recover something that has fallen there, one must find out The Source from whence the ego rises, by means of ‘keen insight’.
‘Enquiry’ – which constitutes the path of Jnana, consists not in orally repeating ‘I’ – ‘I’, but in searching – by means of a deeply introverted mind – wherefrom the ‘i’ springs.
To think: ‘i’ am not this’, or ‘ii am that’, may be of help in the enquiry, but cannot be ‘the actual Enquiry’.
When we quest within our mind, ‘Who am i ?’, and reach The Heart, the ‘i’ topples down – and immediately, another entity will reveal itself, proclaiming ‘I-I’.
Even though IT also merges saying, ‘I’, IT does not connote the ego, but ‘The One Perfect Existence’.
If we unceasingly investigate the form of the mind, we find there is no such thing as the mind.
This is The Direct Path – open to all.
Thoughts alone constitute the mind; and for all thoughts, ‘the base’ – or Source, is the ‘I-thought’: This ‘i’, is the mind.
If we go inward – questing for The Source of the ‘i’, the ‘i’ topples down. This is ‘The Jnana Enquiry’.
Where the ‘i’ merges, another entity emerges, as ‘I-I’.., of its own accord.
… That is The Perfect Self!
There is no use removing doubts. If we clear one doubt another arises, and there will be no end of doubts.
All doubts will cease only when ‘the doubter’, and his source, have been found. Seek for the source of the doubter, and you find he is really nonexistent;
Doubter ceasing, doubts will cease.
Reality – being yourSelf, there is nothing for you to Realize. All are regarding ‘the unreal’ – as Real. What is required is that you give up regarding ‘the unreal’, as Real.
The object of all meditation (Dhyana), or Japa, is only that: to give up all thoughts – regarding the non-self; to give up many thoughts, and to hold on to one thought.
The object of all sadhana is to make the mind one-pointed, and to concentrate it on one thought, and thus exclude our many thoughts.
If we do this, eventually – even the one thought will go, and the mind will get extinguished, in its Source.
When we Enquire within: ‘Who am I ?’, the ‘i’ investigated is the ego. It is that which makes Vichara (Enquiry) also.
The Self has no ‘vichara’.
That which makes the enquiry, is ‘the ego’. The ‘i’ about which The Enquiry is made, is also the ego.
As the result of The Enquiry, the ego ceases to exist, and only The Self is found to exist.
What is the best way of killing the ego?
… To each person, that way is best, which appears easiest, or appeals the most.
All the ways, are equally good, as they lead to the same goal, which is the merging of the ego, in The Self.
What The Bhakta calls Surrender, the man who does Vichara calls Jnana. Both are trying to take the ego back to The Source from which it sprang, and make it merge there.
To ask the mind to kill itself, 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 whence the mind rises, and then it will cease to exist.
- Breath – and mind, arise from the same Source, and when one of them is controlled – the other is also controlled.*
As a matter of fact, in the quest method – which is more correctly: ‘Whence Am I?’ and Not merely ‘Who am I?’:
We are not simply trying to eliminate, saying; ‘We are not the body, nor the senses and so on’, to reach what remains as; ‘The Ultimate Reality’, but we are trying to find out: ‘whence’ the ‘I-thought’ – or the ego, arises within us.
The method contains within it – though implicitly, and not expressly: ‘the watching of the breath’.
When we watch wherefrom the ‘I-thought’ arises, we are necessarily watching The Source of breath also; as The ‘I-Thought’ and the breath, arise from ‘The Same Source’.
Breath Control – may do as an aid, but can never – by itself, lead to The Goal.
While doing it mechanically, take care to be alert in mind, and to remember the ‘I- thought’, and the quest for its Source.
Then you will find that where the breath sinks – there, the ‘I-Thought’ arises. They sink and arise together.
The ‘I-Thought’ will also sink along with the breath.
Simultaneously, another luminous and Infinite ‘I-I’ , will emerge, and it will be continuous and Unbroken. That is The Goal!
It goes by different names – God, Self, Kundalini, Shakti, Consciousness, etc.
‘Who am I?’ is not ‘a mantra’.
It means that you must find out where – in you, the ‘I-Thought’ arises, which is The Source of all other thoughts.
But if you find that Vichara Marga (The Path Of Enquiry) is too hard for you,
… Then you go on repeating ‘I-I’, and that will lead you to the same Goal.
There is no harm in using ‘I’ – as a ‘mantra’. It is the first name of God.
I ask you to see where the ‘I’ arises in your body; but it is not really quite correct to say that the ‘I’ rises from, and merges in, The Heart – on 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’, and ‘out’ for IT; since IT – Alone, IS.
I do not mean by ‘Heart’ any physiological organ, any plexus of nerves or anything like that, but so long as one identifies oneself with the body and thinks he is the body, he is advised to see – in the body, where the ‘I-Thought’ rises, and merges again.
It must be The Heart, at the right side of the chest, since every man of whatever race and religion, and in whatever language he may be saying – ‘I’, points to the right side of his chest, to indicate himself.
This is True, all over the world!
So ‘That’ must be ‘The place’; and by keenly watching the emergence of the ‘I-Thought’ – on waking, and its subsiding – in sleep, one can see that it is in The Heart, on the right side.
First know who you are! This requires no ‘sastras’ (scripture) or scholarship. This is simple experience.
‘The State Of Being’ is ‘Now and Here’, all along. You have lost hold of yourself and are asking others for guidance.
The purpose of philosophy is to turn the mind inward. If you know yourself, no evil can come to you. Because you asked me – I have told you this.
The ego comes up only holding You (The Self). Hold your Self – and the ego will vanish.
Until then, the sage will be happy saying: ‘There is’, and the ignorant will be asking, ‘Where?’
Regulation of life; such as getting up at a fixed hour, bathing, doing mantra-japa, etc.; all this is for people who do not feel drawn to Self-Enquiry, or are not capable of it.
But for those who can practise this method; all rules and disciplines are unnecessary.
Undoubtedly, it is said in some books, that one should go on cultivating one good quality after another, and thus prepare for Moksha; but for those who follow The Jnana – or Vichara Marga, their sadhana is itself quite enough for acquiring all Daivic (Divine) Qualities;
They need not do anything else!
What is Gayatri? It really means; ‘Let me concentrate on ‘That’, which illumines All’.”
~ Ramana Maharshi ~
