The Book On Self Enquiry 7-7-09

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By Dr. P. V. S.
SuryanarayanaRaju

1) Introduction to Self-Enquiry.
At present we are conscious of ourselves as a set of adjuncts like
body, mind, intellect with object knowing consciousness, in which our
attention seemingly move away from the self towards the object with
seeming separation from the knowing subject and known object.
All objects come into existence only when our attention is directed
towards them. The act of directing our attention towards something which
appears as other than ourselves is what we call thinking. In self-enquiry we
withdraw our attention from thoughts and objects consciousness moves self-
wards because self is the base for appearance and disappearance of "I"
thought i.e. mind. This natural positing of our attention in the self conscious
being is self-enquiry.
Self-Enquiry is holding on to awareness of being that we already are".

When the mind strays you bring it back- that”s all. Self-Enquiry is not
through thought but paying attention to the source of it. There is no ego apart
from the idea of "I" thought. The "I" thought arises from the self and
depends upon the self for its existence. It is never apart from the self and
infact the self but forgetful of it's true nature. It believes in the lie of its
independent existence apart from the self.
As enquiry precedes the lie becomes tenuous until it loses its power to
hold us. Each time when you observe this "I" thought you break your
identification with the "I", you disconnect from this "I" as being part of you.
As you peel from this false "I„ , you will find yourself spontaneously abiding
in a tranquil centre, just abide in that "I am". At this point there is no feeling
of "I" thought as an object presently sensed. Just be there. After sometime
mind will take over, that is natural, do not be frustrated.
With practice we will find much easier to abide in this state of "I am"
and for longer periods. There is no place for effort, expectation, and hurry in
this. The idea that one is an individual person is generated and sustained by
"I" thought and its habit of constantly attaching itself to all thoughts and
perceptions that go on in the mind and the body. Self-Enquiry is to reverse
this process by depriving the "I" thought of all the thoughts and perceptions
that it normally identifies with. If one can break the connection between "I"

thought and the thoughts it identifies with, then the "I' thought itself will
subside and finally disappear.
This can be done by holding on to "I" thought, excluding all other

thoughts. If one can keep the attention on the inner feeling of "I", the power
of self-pulls the "I" thought back into it and eventually destroys it so
completely that it never rises again. This is the moment of self-realization.
When this happens the concept of individual self is destroyed, only self
remains. All this happens when we perform self-enquiry with the same
intensity as that of a drowning man struggles for air.

2) Energy dynamics in Self-Enquiry.
The mind has a tendency to move, it is in continuous movement, so
there is momentum. Suddenly mind has impulse to do something and in
"who am i" Self-Enquiry, the movement of impulse is stopped suddenly due
to awareness and now a gap come into existence between the centre of
awareness and the body-mind complex and you feel your body-mind
complex as something distant, you become separate from it. Whenever you
are in activity, you are deeply absorbed in it. Sudden stoppage of mental
activity in "who am I„ enquiry throws you out of mental activity. This being
thrown leads us to the awareness of our being. Ordinarily we move from one
activity to another continuously without gap in between.
This habit is broken in "who am i" enquiry and a gap come into
existence. When there is a feeling an impulse to do something, stop without
the thought coming into picture. Miracles happen because in activity when
you stop, a gap happens. You will be totally taken away from the body-
mind and realm of activity. Energy is always in a movement, either going

out or coming in. Energy can never be static. Impulse of thought means
energy is moving out. All activities are movements towards that which is
without, from that which is within i.e. movements from within to without.
That movement happens according to the direction given by the innate
tendencies. When the movement is stopped suddenly in "who am i" Self-
Enquiry, the energy cannot do anything other than moving inward. Even
though thought stops, the mechanism which can lead you towards the centre
of awareness is there. You are converting your energy and changing it's
dimension every moment in "who am I" Self-Enquiry in which the energy of
awareness falls back into awareness again.
If one is angry or violent, energy has been aroused and it has come to
a point where it wants to be expressed and that energy needs movement. If at
that time, you start loving somebody, the same energy will move into love.
So the energy of love and hate are one, the energy of passion and
compassion is one. The energy of anger, violence, and peace are one and the
same. Only with real impulse does energy move. Anger is pure energy. It
can become bad if it goes out and destroy something or it may become bliss
if it moves within and throws you to the centre of awareness of your being.
It is like atomic energy in the atom, pure, innocent, and neutral. It can be
used for destructive purposes like throwing bombs on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki killing millions of innocent people or it can used to produce
enormous electric power. It all depends on us. If one feels that anger is bad,
so i should stop, the energy moves into that mental consideration, in which
case also the energy moves from the inner to the outer.
So mental suppression does not change the dimension of energy. If

you start thinking about the centre of awareness, then also the energy will
move from the inner into thinking which is outer to the Self. You can waste
this inner energy very simply. Just a thought will be enough to give it a
direction thus limiting it. If thought process really stops during Self-Enquiry,
the centre of awareness of being explodes which is called implosion.
Mystics always live in that uninterrupted implosive state of being.

3) What is Self-Enquiry?
Self-enquiry is not an enquiry into the self. It is an enquiry into the

belief of the ego that it has an independent existence of it's own apart
from the self. It is an enquiry into the identifying entity which imagines
itself to be the body. Unless we pay focused attention to the source of ego
and posit there which is self, this belief of the ego that it exists independent
of self is not destroyed.
When we posit in the self we are free from the idea of ego which is
just a concept and has no locus standi. When we are free from the concept of

the ego we are free from the identity with the body and we are free from the
mother thought "I-am-the-body-idea" from which all other thoughts arise
and so there is collapse of the thought process into it's source. So self-
enquiry is basically attending to the source of thought. This self- ttentiveness
finally blossom into the experience of pure self-conscious being.

4) The Nature of Self-Enquiry.
Self-enquiry is not something we do but something where we do not
exist as ego. It is Bhagawan”s presence which existentially helps us to do
self-enquiry. Self-enquiry is nonobjective so it is a state in which awareness
attends to itself. If thought enters doing starts but self-enquiry is a state of
nondoing in which awareness transforms us by annihilating our identity with
the body and mind.„ Who am i "thought helps us to withdraw our attention
from the nonself and that when concentrated attention i diverted to find it's
source it culminates in the collapse of thought process into it's source. This
is what happened in Bhagawan”s death experience in which he used "who
am I„ thought with concentrated attention and enquired into what is death
and who is dying and finally culminated in collapse thought process
including ‘who am I„ thought resulting in the experience awareness which is
called self-realization. This self-attentiveness leads to uninterrupted
experience of clear self-consciousness. If we attend to thoughts during self-

enquiry there is only object knowing consciousness which is not proper tool
to do self-enquiry. To do self-enquiry we have to have nonobjective
consciousness which is possible only when we are free of thoughts and when
we posit our attention in the source of the mind.

5)Self-Enquiry--A jumping board from the
known to the unknowable.
Self-Enquiry serves as a jumping board from the knowable to the

unknowable. Once a person jumps into the unknowable he loses himself
along with the identity of belonging to a particular religion .Bhagawan after
death experience is a self realized master and cannot be considered
to be a Hindu and he has thrown away sacred thread(yajnopaveetam) into
the tank of the temple and remained only with a cod piece. All beings
are same to him and he is friendly and affectionate towards animals which
have no religion at all.The cross section of the society used to come
for his guidance irrespective of their religious conditioning.
He has never taken rituals seriously and used to joke about Brahmin
and nonbrahmin separation during meals. Once one devotee asked when you
are teaching self-enquiry why so many rituals are going in Matrubhuteswara
temple and is there any virtue in doing rituals like that. Bhagawan
laughingly replied to him those who want to do rituals let them do and
because of their offerings first our stomachs are filled without much trouble.
Before realization he never practiced any religion and he never heard the
word Brahman before realization but all the same he became Brahman after
the death experience in few minutes. When someone asked whether
Buddha is realized or not he assertively told him "yes„ . He described the
state of Brahman as "I am that i am" which is a description originally
described by Moses. Not only Bhagawan, anybody who jumps into the
unknowable and settles there does not belong to any religion.
He is like a man sitting on the fence between the known and the unknowable
and capable of conveying unknowable for those who are living identified
with the known.

6) The process of Self-Enquiry.
Bringing the quality of awareness in action prepares the mind for
self-enquiry. Self-Enquiry is holding on to awareness of being that "you
already are". Focusing attention on the source of thought and to remain there
is self-enquiry. When the mind strays you bring it back -that”s all. Enquiry is
not through thought but paying attention to the source of it.
When we do like this ,"I" thought becomes an object to our watchfulness.
Each time when you observe this "I" thought, you break your
identity with this false "I", you disconnect from the false "I" as being part of
you. If you observe something then it is not you. As you peel from identity
with the false "I" like this, you will find yourself spontaneously abiding in a
tranquil centre(Real "I"),just abide in that "I am„ At this point there is no "I"
thought, no feeling of "I" as an object previously sensed. Just be there, after
sometime mind will take over, that is natural, do not be frustrated. With
practice you will find much easier to abide in this state of "I am" and for
longer periods. There should be no effort, no expectation. no hurry. You
have the mental image within your mind which represents yourself, this is
false "I„ .
It is always hidden there at the bottom of everything you do. Let

that false "I" reveal itself in passive awareness. In the revealing of false "I„ ,
there is the withering of it. The false "I" i.e. "I" thought arises from the heart
centre, raises to brain, identifies with the body as "I-am-the-body„ . It creates
an illusion that there is an individual self (concept of jiva) which inhabits the
body and which controls all thoughts and actions. The "I" thought
accomplishes this by identifying itself with all the thoughts and perceptions
that go on in the mind and body.
The idea that one is an individual person is generated and

sustained by "I" thought and it's habit of constantly attaching itself to all the
thoughts that arise. Self-Enquiry reverses this process by depriving the "I"
thought of all the thoughts and perceptions that it normally identifies with. If
one can break the connection between the "I" thought and all the thoughts it
identifies with then the "I" thought itself will subside and finally disappear.
This can be done by holding on to "I" thought i.e. the inner feeling of "I" or
"I am" and excluding all other thoughts. This can be done by "who am i" or
"whence am i" investigation. If one can keep attention on the inner feeling of
"I„ , then the "I" thought will start to subside into the heart centre. When one

is free of all thoughts except "I" thought, the power of self pulls the "I"
thought back into the heart centre and eventually destroys it so completely
that it never rises again. This is the moment of self realization. When this
happens the concept of individual self is destroyed forever and
consciousness is freed from the illusion of being bound and only pure
consciousness remains.

7) The true Import of the word ” I— .
Nirvanastakam is written by Adi Sankara to tell the significance of
neti, neti method. Bhagawan also dealt the same subject with his own unique
understanding in verse 22 of Upadesa Saram. The meaning of verse 22 is
"Since the body, mind, intellect, breath, and darkness of ignorance are all
insentient(Jada) and unreal(Asat), they are not "I" which is the reality.
Bhagawan is negating the Panchakosas(five sheaths)because they are
insentient and unreal, because they do not posses any inherent consciousness
or existence of their own. Hence they cannot be the "I„ , the reality which is
both self existing and self shining.
The feeling of "I" is mixed with the adjuncts, so Bhagawan is negating the
adjuncts, to show the true import of "I" which is the reality.
Traditionally neti, neti, is done as a method intellectually but
Bhagawan reveals that neti, neti is not intended to denote a method of
practice but only indicates a final state of Self experience.
The true knowledge that the five sheaths are not "I„ , is an experience
which can be attained only by knowing the real nature of "I„ , through
Self-Enquiry.

8) The practice of Self-Enquiry.
The reason why the scriptures begin by teaching that the five
sheaths are not "I„ , is that in order to practice Self-Enquiry, it is useful for
an aspirant to understand intellectually that the "I" which is to be attended to
is not the body or any other adjuncts which are now felt by him to be mixed
with the feeling of "I„ . But since Bhagawan does not want us to fall a prey to
the misunderstanding that pondering intellectually over the truth that five
sheaths are not„ I", is itself the method of negating the five sheaths. He has
carefully taught us the method of practicing Self-Enquiry before revealing to
us the revelation that the five sheaths are not "I".

9) Raman Maharshi on ” Who am I— quest.
Ramana Maharshi : 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 enquires `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 [swarupasmarana] 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-conscious ness-
bliss [sat-chit-ananda]
Question : The yogis say that one must renounce this world and go off into
secluded jungles if one wishes to find the truth.
Ramana Maharshi : 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.

10) Osho on ” who am I— .
Man is astray. The sin is not to be committed, it has already been
committed. That is the meaning of the Christian parable that Adam
committed the sin -- the first man. Man is born astray, that is the meaning of
it, we are already in sin.
The word 'sin' is very, very beautiful. The original root from which it
comes means 'missing the target'. Sin does not mean sin, it simply means
missing the target.
We have gone astray, from the very beginning man is astray, so there”s
nothing for you to do to go astray. Wherever you are you are missing your
goal, your target. You don't know who you are, you don't know why you are,
you don't know where you are headed -- and for what. You just go on like
driftwood, wherever the winds carry you.
Remember, this is the first realization ‘I am astray,„ which will make

you come back to the path. The moment Adam realized ,'I have committed
the sin,' he was returning back home. The moment you realize that
whatsoever you are and wherever you are you are wrong.... It is very
difficult to realize it because the mind tries to protect, to rationalize. The
mind belongs to the world. It goes on protecting you -- not exactly you but
your 'astray ness'. You will have to drop all protections, all rationalizations.
Once you understand that you are astray, you suddenly realize that you have
nothing to save in this world -- the wealth, the power, the prestige, nothing is
of worth. It is all rubbish. And you are losing something tremendously

valuable for rubbish; you are selling yourself and purchasing toys; you are
destroying the possibility of creating a soul for nothing.
This is a basic realization, the first breakthrough. Feel happy about it

if you have recognized the fact that you are astray, if you have recognized
the fact that you are wrong -- not wrong in any particular way, but in a
general sense. Not wrong because you are angry, not wrong because you are
full of hatred, not wrong because you have done this or that -- not in any
particular way but in a general sense one feels one is astray. Then only the
door opens for growth, then suddenly you start looking in another
dimension. Then you don't look out, you start looking in because whatsoever
you do outside will lead you more and more away. The more you chase
shadows outside, the more you will be losing yourself in the world.
One starts closing one's eyes, one starts feeling and touching one's being.
The first thing to know is 'who am I?' -- everything else is secondary. And if
this basic thing is solved, if this basic problem is solved, if this basic
mystery is penetrated, then all else is solved automatically. And if you don't
solve this, and you don't answer the basic quest of man -- 'Who am I?' --
'then whatsoever you do is irrelevant.
What are you doing? You are not trying to realize yourself, you are
trying to compete with others. Nobody is trying to be oneself, everybody is
trying to defeat the other. The whole world lives like a competitive
madhouse: somebody purchases a car, now you have to purchase a car, and a
bigger one. You may not need it but now your ego is hurt. Somebody makes
a big house, now you have to make one, and a bigger one. This is how life
goes on being wasted. Why should you be worried what others are doing?
That is their thing to do; if they feel good, let them do it. You should look at
your own need.
But there are two types of people ordinarily: one who is competing
with others and another type who goes on condemning others that they are
doing wrong. Both are wrong. Who are you to decide? If somebody is
making a big house, who are you to decide if he is doing right or wrong? It
is none of your concern. It is for him to think about. You should only think
about whether what you are doing is for you to do.
People go to absurd lengths in competition, and people go on dying

every day. One day death possesses you, then you remember that your whole

life was wasted with fighting others. And it was pointless. You should have
put your whole energy into realising yourself.
I have heard a very beautiful anecdote. A Catholic church and a

synagogue happened to be on opposite sides of the same street. And a rivalry
sprang up between the parish priest and the rabbi. When the church was
repainted, the synagogue had to be stuccoed. When the priest organized a
parish procession of one thousand witnesses through the town, the rabbi
organized a procession of two thousand of the faithful.
The priest bought a new car, so the rabbi bought a bigger one. Then the
priest had a solemn ceremony outside his church of blessing his new car and
the rabbi came out with a large pair of pliers, went up to his car and cut three
inches off the exhaust pipe. Circumcision! People go on to absurd lengths.
One has to defeat the other anyhow. One has to take over the other.
Remember, this foolishness is very ingrained in humanity, and unless you

drop this foolishness you will not be able to know yourself, you will not be
able to come back home. You will go on moving more and more further
away, becoming more and more astray. And one day suddenly you will
realize that the whole edifice has collapsed. It was foundationless, you were
making a house of cards. A small breeze came and everything disappeared.
Or, you were trying to sail in a paper boat.
Man as he is, is simply living in a dream -- the dream of the ego,
ambition, power, prestige. The man of wisdom is one who has come to
understand that all this is going astray. One day it happened that I was at
Mulla Nasruddin's house. Mulla Nasruddin's teenager son had dented a
fender of the family car. 'What did your father say when you told him?' I
asked him. 'Should I leave out the cuss words?' he said.
'Yes, of course.' 'In that case,' said the boy,” he did not say a word.'
One day when you look back on your life you will not see a single act that
was intelligent -- all were stupidities, foolishnesses. You will feel simply
ashamed. The sooner you realize it, the better.
This is what SANNYAS is all about: a recognition that the way

you have lived up to now was absurd; a gesture that you would like to
discontinue with your past. By changing the name and by changing the dress
nothing is changed, it is a simple gesture that now you feel ashamed with the
old identity. It was so foolish that it is better to forget all about it. A new
nucleus, a new name, so you can start afresh. And it is easier to drop the past
than to renovate it. It is easier to be completely cut off from the past rather

than to modify it. You can paint a foolish thing, you can modify it, but you
cannot make it wise -- it will remain foolish. It is better to drop it.
So if this recognition has come to you that we are astray, feel

blessed, and don't forget it. Remember it continuously. Unless you have
come back to the path, go on remembering it. Just recognizing it once won't
do, you will have to live it, remember it for a long time continuously, again
and again, so the hammering continues -- whatsoever you have done in the
past, it is finished. At least if you remember that it was all wrong... and I say
ALL wrong. Don't try to decide that a few things were good. I insist: either
ALL things are wrong or ALL things are right. There is no other way. It is
not possible that a foolish man can do a few things that are right. And the
vice versa is also not possible that a wise man can do a few things that are
wrong. A wise man does ALL right and a fool goes on doing ALL wrong.
But the fool would like to choose at least a few things right, the fool would
say,” Yes, I have done many things wrong, but not all.' Then those things
that he saves and says were right will become the centre for his ego again.
So be totally frustrated with your past.
Fritz Perls used to say that all therapy is nothing but skillful
frustration. The great therapist is one who goes on frustrating you skillfully -
- that's what I am doing here. I have to show you that whatsoever you have
been doing was wrong, because only that understanding can save you. Once
you recognize that the whole past was wrong, you simply drop it, you don't
bother to choose. There is nothing to choose. It all came out of your
unawareness and it was all wrong. Your hatred was wrong, your love also;
your anger was wrong, your compassion also. If you seek deep down you
will always find wrong reasons for your compassion and wrong reasons for
your love. A foolish man is foolish and whatsoever he does is foolish.
So it will have to be remembered continuously, it should become a

constant remembrance -- what Buddha used to call mindfulness. One should
remain mindful so it is not repeated again. Because only mindfulness will
protect and you will not be able to repeat your past again -- otherwise the
mind tends to repeat it.

11) ” I— thought is the altered state of
consciousness.
The "I" thought is a superimposition on real "I”. The core of "I"
thought is pure consciousness. So when we scrutinize the "I" thought and if
one can keep attention on the inner feeling of "I”, then the
"I" thought start to subside into the heart centre i.e. pure consciousness. This
can be done by holding on to inner feeling of "I am" excluding all other
thoughts.„ I" thought is an altered state of consciousness in which
consciousness is associated with adjuncts and there arises a compound
consciousness which is basically object knowing consciousness where as
basic form of consciousness is exclusive self consciousness (Real "I" or
"I""I", in Tamil it is called Thaan) in which awareness is aware of itself
only, while consciousness associated with adjuncts is aware of objects.(False
"I„ , Nan,) But in both the cases that which cognizes is only Pure
consciousness. There are no two separate conscious entities,
one for knowing objective reality and another for knowing itself. Our being
itself is self conscious, self effulgence.

12) Mind and Self-Enquiry.
Mind is the imaginary power of self. It imagines as self consciousness
and the body and all other it knows other than itself. So mind is our primal
or root imagination.
It will cease to exist only when we experience our real self which is the
source, substratum and only real substance of our false finite self which is
conscious of itself as a set of adjuncts. Ego arises only when we are unaware
of our self conscious being.
Ego is a product of self-forgetfulness(Pramada)and is nourished by

deep rooted and persistent habit of ignoring the self and attending instead
only to thoughts and objects which appear to be other than ourselves .Mind
is an imaginary vehicle through which attention seemingly passes from self
towards the object Self-enquiry directs that attention self wards and in that
process all our attention is concentrated in the core of our being without any
oscillation. Self-enquiry is nonobjective self attention and so it is nondual.
Except self-enquiry all other spiritual practices are dualistic in which

ego is kept intact. Self-forgetfulness is experienced by the mind because

self-forgetfulness is imaginary. Because it is only an imagination it will
cease to exist with self attention through self-enquiry. We should always
cling to self-attention. This self attentiveness eventually blossom into true
experience of perpetually uninterrupted, unadulterated, adjunct less,
absolutely clear self consciousness i.e "I am".
The relationship between self and mind is like rope and snake,
the snake is just we imagine to be. Subsidence of mental activity is merely a
byproduct of true self-enquiry. Self remembrance means uninterrupted self
attentiveness but not a mechanical repetition of a particular word or mantra
using the mind.Inbox
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Suryanarayana Raju

13) Sitting silently, doing nothing, spring
Comes and grass grows by itself.
Thinking is an act of directing our attention towards something that

appears other than our self. But we not other than our "self".
So thinking of even self takes us away from self. Thinking is doing. We
cannot stop all our mental activity by some other kind of mental activity.
Repeating anything brings mechanistic silence and seeming subsidence of
mind. But this not we are aiming for. We must be aware all the time then
the self attention blossoms into true experience of self-consciousness. If we
have to repeat "I" "I" with the mind which is a product of self-ignorance
in order to attain self-knowledge mechanically without awareness we will
land in seeming subsidence of mind but not subsidence which is a byproduct
of self awareness. Thinking is doing, where as awareness is being. It is only
awareness that takes us to core of our self conscious being.
Bhagawan suggested repetition only for those who fail to be self-attentive all
the time. Repetition helps to prepare the mind for self-enquiry
but cannot lead to self-knowledge.

14) Emptying the contents of the mind in Self-
Enquiry.
At present we are conscious of ourselves as a set of adjuncts
like body, mind, intellect etc., with object knowing consciousness, in which
our attention seemingly move away from our self towards the object with
apparent separation between the knowing subject and the known which is
the object. All objects come into existence only when our attention is
directed towards them. The act of directing our attention towards something
which appear than ourselves is what we call thinking. In self-enquiry we
withdraw our attention from thoughts and objects, then attention naturally
flows towards it's source which is self and rests there without any
oscillation.
Positing our attention in the self-conscious being is self-enquiry.

When attention does not move anywhere but rests in self-conscious being "I
am" there is self knowledge. So self-enquiry is not a doing but a being. It is
an art knowing ourselves by being ourselves. Once we posit ourselves in our
conscious being there is automatic subsidence of mental activity. Just being
exclusively self conscious is the art of self enquiry. In other forms of
spiritual disciplines we attend to something other than self conscious being.
We should attentively and steadfastly abide in the self. Abiding in the being
without attending to the other is real dispassion. So self-enquiry is the

practice of just being attentively and vigilantly self conscious so that there is
no room for thought or objective knowledge.
In the initial stages there is constant struggle between our attempt

to posit our attention inwards in the self and diversion of our attention as
thinking. Thinking is an age old habit arising from imaginary power of self
called mind. Our aim is to posit in reality so that this imagination is nullified
once for all. Self is the space or base for appearance or disappearance of
imaginary mind and the world. Having found self and becoming one with
the self conscious being is the art of self-enquiry. To experience our self is
to experience God as he really is. In self-enquiry we experience content less
state of pure consciousness. The secret of success of self-enquiry lies in
tenaciously clinging to self consciousness with uninterrupted awareness.

15) Dualistic worship vs. Self-Enquiry.
At present you have the experience that you are a finite being and from that
state you imagine an all powerful God and try to establish a relationship
with that imagined God thinking that he is separate from you. Such
relationship is dualistic and always there is an element of conflict in it. In
such circumstances surrendering to an imagined God is never complete. On
the other hand if you do self-enquiry and experience self for yourself, it
amounts to experiencing God as he really is in nondualistic manner and
there will be no conflict, surrender is complete and mind subsides by itself.

16) Brahman-Jiva.
The drop in the ocean is never separate from the ocean even when drop
thinks that it is separate from ocean. All spiritual practices are aimed at
removing the false notion that you are separate from your ocean of self.
There is no need to unite drop and the ocean, because in the first place they
are never separate and cannot be separated. The notion that drop is separate
from the ocean is just imaginary and all disciplines which aim at uniting the
drop with the ocean are also imaginary. You are a wave in the ocean and the
wave is never separate from the ocean even though it has a name and form
unlike the sea. Waves appear and disappear in the ocean only, there is no
need to unite the wave to the sea. All that is required is to nullify the false
notion that wave is separate from the sea which is not possible because it is
because of the sea, wave has it's existence

17) Self-Mind.
The relation between self and the mind is like rope and the snake.
While knowledge of rope is real, knowledge of snake imaginary.
You cannot kill an imaginary snake because it never existed.
If you focus light to look at the so called snake,
you will have the knowledge rope and knowledge of snake disappears.
Similarly if you focus all the consciousness you have in your hand through
self-enquiry all the imaginary objective knowledge of mind disappears
and pure unadulterated adjunct less clear consciousness shines.

18) Aham Sphurana.
Those who are living with "I-am-the-body -idea" are conscious of
themselves as a set of adjuncts. Even when they lose some parts of the
adjuncts the awareness of "i am" is always there. So there must be a centre
of awareness which is independent of all these adjuncts. When a man with
body bound mind says "I am„ he means that he is a body. In deep sleep there
is no "I-am-the-body„ thought but we are existing happily without
that thought. The source from which "I" thought arises in waking and dream
state is called spiritual heart or centre of awareness and it is not an
objective entity to be perceived by "I" thought. Because of our deep
identification with the adjuncts we doubt whether there is a centre of
awareness at all.
Awareness flows from this centre through the nervous system
throughout the body there by animating the insentient adjuncts.
When we are attracted to the objective reality there is apparent movement of
this awareness towards the object and we miss the nature of
awareness during this movement. The act of directing awareness towards
something that appears other than ourself is the act of thinking.
Thoughts and images arise in our mind and they are formed by action of
thinking or imagining them, an action that can occur only when we allow
our awareness to move from ourselves. Mind is kept alive by constant
directing away of awareness from self towards objects. By doing self-

enquiry the awareness is withdrawn from the thoughts and objects and the
awareness is concentrated without any oscillation. Once there is such
stillness without any thoughts the nature of awareness is revealed to us
without any effort on our part spotaneously as living "I am" "I am"
pulsation. This pulsation is called Aham Sphurana which is a fore state of
self realization. Real meditation happens spontaneously in this state.
Spiritual heart is thought-free ,nondual, adjunct less, nonobjective, basic
form of exclusive clear self conscious being "I am„ which is the base for
appearance and disappearance of the mind and the world. Because it
supports everything(sarvam) it is called heart(ullam).It is the source of "I"
thought but silent intrinsically. The spiritual heart is not a part of body.
The spiritual heart exists as it should be. If we keep on framing ideas

and false notions about it there will be apparent oscillation of awareness and
it's presence is not felt as it is. We can know the spiritual heart only by being
it but not by thinking about it.We have lost the knowledge of spiritual heart
because of identity with the body. Due to the defect of
superimposition(Adhyasa) we attributing movements of body and mind on
us. We are different from the body and mind. Our essential nature is
awareness i.e. "I am that I am". So the source of everything, the self-
effulgent spiritual heart is our nature. To posit our mind in it is real devotion,
real knowledge, real union with our essential being(yoga).Once the mind is
posited in the spiritual heart it becomes one with the spiritual heart, jut as
salt-lump when thrown into the sea dissolves and becomes one with the sea.

19) ” I— thought is the mind.
The "I„ thought "I-am-the-body" is the mind. It is the intangible
link between the sentient self-conscious being and the insentient body.
The "I„ thought is the factor which identifies both with self consciousness
and the body.It imagines ownership of doing or thinking.
According to work it is doing it is referred as Aham Bhava("I„ thought,
ego)when it feels that it is the doer and enjoyer,Buddhi(intellect)
when it is functioning as a discriminatory faculty, Manas(Faculty of
thinking)Chitta(memory) but the entity is only one.
When "I-am-the-body-idea„ identifies with the adjuncts there is

apparent limitation of the consciousness, then it is called Jiva (kinchijna)
Because there is always continuous uninterrupted flow of identity with the
nonself ego appears as an existential entity. When there is no identity with
the nonself there is nothing like the ego. So ego is an irreducible datum.
"I-am-the-body„ identity is the source of all other identities.
The false„ I" is inactive in sleep and it experiences the happiness

which is natural to thought-free state of sleep due to lack of thought

disturbance. When the false„ I" is active it is unable to experience such
happiness because of thought disturbance caused seeming separation
between the subject "I„ and all other it perceives other than itself. This
wrong perception creates duality and conflict with consequent increase in
thought activity which obscures the nature and happiness of underlying
awareness which is actually is the basis for functioning of all these adjuncts.
The identifying entity which identifies with nonself is the false "I„
which is an offspring of self-forgetfulness. It is the "I„ thought which sleeps,
dreams, and wakes up perceiving the objective world with a separative
feeling(Bheda Buddhi).It thinks, eats, dies and reborn. When we enquire into
the identifying attitude, an objectifying tendency of the false„ I", it will be
found that false„ I" does not exist and it has no locus standi, it is just a
concept. In the understanding and perception of false„ I" we encounter the
Truth i.e. Pure conscious being.

20) Adhyasa (Superimposition).
The power of imagination(kalpana sakti)deludes us and makes us
feel that we are coming in and going out. This is because we are
superimposing the movements of the body and mind on us due to defect of
Adhyasa. Actually we don”t go anywhere. If we abide in the adjunct less
self-conscious being we will come to know that all this coming and going
are phenomena happening on the screen of pure self-conscious being. Once
we get posited in the reality of pure self-conscious being, the imagination
comes to a stand still by itself. Coming in and going out are there only when
we think ourselves as body bound mind, otherwise there is no coming in and
going out. It is only the thought which feels that it is coming in and going
out but our nature is not thought but pure self-conscious being.

21) Truth-Nothingness.
Truth is infinite reality with self-effulgent, self-revealing conscious
existence. Nothingness is like a shadow of infinite reality, so
nothingness is also infinite but it is without stamp of self-knowledge, so it is
not the ultimate Truth. Nothingness is not an illusion, it is the creator of
illusion.
Nothingness is not false, it is an agent which confers false
impressions. Nothingness is not unreal, it makes the real appear as unreal
and the unreal appear as the real. Nothingness is not duality, it is the entity
which causes duality. It is the real infinite creator of unreal, finite things.
The whole evolutionary process is within the domain of imagination which
is nothingness. The consciousness cannot remain content with the
identification with the imagined part of a really indivisible totality. This
compels the consciousness to go beyond imagination. Cessation of
imagination is the awakening into the Truth-consciousness.

22) Atmakara vritti.
(Tendency of Self-knowing).
I-am-the-body idea is the primal ignorance. It is the vritti on which
all other vrittis arise and so dependent on it. Once the mind tastes the self-
knowledge there is formation of Atmakara vritti or Brahmakara vitti which
strengthens day by day with spiritual practice which finally annihilates "I-
am-the-body-idea" along with it's progeny of other vrittis.
Once "I-am-the-body-idea" is annihilated there is spontaneous

revelation of the ultimate reality. Annihilation of "I-am-the-body-idea"
amounts to killing of the ego. If it is not annihilated self-ignorance
perpetuates with it's consequent misery.

23) Jiva -The concept of Individual
consciousness.
When consciousness is reflected on adjuncts, reflected
onsciousness(abhasa, chidabhasa)appears to be there. When consciousness is
reflected on sattwa guna thoughtless state of mind is formed with the
zackground of peace. When the consciousness is reflected on Rajoguna "I„
thought is formed.
When the consciousness is reflected on Tamoguna the tendencies

and thought matter of the mind appear as the gross world.
Then there is full evolution of the ego with the "I"(Aham)and the thou(Idam)
with separative feeling. The space in the mind is filled with reflected
consciousness and objects. Because of separative feeling due to the
evolution of the ego, mind space appears as outer space and objects in the

mind appears as objects inthe world. So in reality, the objective world is
subjective.
So Jiva is a reflected consciousness (chidabhasa) with limited

object knowing consciousness(Kinchijna) with limited adjuncts and freedom
and survives for limited time in the phenomenal reality, so all this happens
in the dimension of imagination only.

24) Self-Enquiry’ is it ” doing— or ” being— .
In the initial stages self-enquiry starts as doing only because
human knows doing only. If there is doing there is going to be struggle. All
doing involves change and change requires time. In the precise moment we
cannot do anything but can just "be". Self-enquiry is the art of just "being"
attentively and vigilantly self-conscious in which there is no room for
objective knowledge and so there will be no rise of thought. In that state of
self-enquiry we dont exist as a separate entity, so self-enquiry is nondual.
Atma vichara is not a kind of action or doing but it only a state of being.We
can prepare the mind for self-enquiry by doing but we cannot
enforce a state of being by doing. Actually in that state, doing is a hurdle
rather than a help to self-enquiry because all doing is a thought
activity which is the main hindrance for self-enquiry.

25) Action without doer ship. (Akarma)
One day Bhagawan is walking on Arunachala hill. Three learned
people came near him and asked Bhagawan "what is meant by Akarma even
when one is engaged in work". Bhagawan did not reply but took a stem of a
moderate sized plant and started making it into a staff with the help of leaves
there. It took one and half hours to prepare and give finishing touches to that
staff and to the surprise of questioners the staff is extremely beautiful. By
the time it is finished one Shepard boy came there and saluted Bhagawan
and asked about his welfare.
Bhagawan gave that beautiful staff to that boy saying that it will be
useful to him but he did not answer to the question of the learned people and
went upwards. The learned people understood the existential message of
action without doer ship without an eye on the fruit of action and went
happily.

26) Raman Maharshi on Self-ignorance.
Question - Not having realized the Truth that the Self alone exists,
should I not adopt bhakti and yoga margas as being more suitable for
purposes of sadhana than vichara marga? Is not the Realization of one”s
Absolute Being that is, Brahma jnana, something quite unattainable to a
layman like me?
Ramana Maharshi - Brahma jnana is not a knowledge to be

acquired, so that acquiring it one may obtain happiness. It is one”s ignorant
outlook that one should give up. The Self you seek to know is verily
yourself. Your supposed ignorance causes you needless grief like that of the
ten foolish men who grieved the –loss” of the tenth man who was never lost.
The Ten Foolish men in the parable forded a stream and on

reaching the other shore wanted to make sure that all of them had in fact
safely crossed the stream. One of the ten began to count, but while counting
others left himself out. ‘I see only nine; sure enough we have lost one. Who
can it be?„ he said.
‘Did you count correctly?„ asked another, and did the counting
himself. But he too counted only nine. One after the other each of the ten
counted only nine, missing himself. ‘We are only nine„ they all agreed, ‘but
who is the missing one?„ , they asked themselves. Every effort they made to
discover the –missing” individual failed. ‘Whoever he be that is drowned„

said the sentimental of ten fools, ‘we have lost him„ . So saying he burst into
tears, and the rest of the nine followed suit.
Seeing them weeping on the river bank, a sympathetic wayfarer

enquired for the cause. They related what had happened and said that even
after counting themselves several times they could find no more than nine.
On hearing the story, but seeing all the ten before him, the wayfarer guessed
what had happened.
In order to make them know for themselves that they were really
ten, that all of them had come safe from the crossing, he told them, ‘Let
each of you count for himself but one after the other serially, one, two, three
and so on, while I shall give you each a blow so that all of you may be sure
of having been included in the count, and included only once. The tenth
–missing” man will then be found.„ Hearing this they rejoiced at the prospect
of finding their –lost” comrade and accepted the method suggested by the
wayfarer.
While the kind wayfarer gave a blow to each of the ten in turn, he
that got the blow counted himself aloud. ‘Ten„ said the last man as he got
the last blow in his turn. Bewildered they looked at one another, ‘We are
ten„ they said with one voice and thanked the wayfarer for having removed
their grief. That is the parable. From where was the tenth man brought in?
Was he ever lost? By knowing that he had been there all the
while, did they learn anything new? The cause of their grief was not the real
loss of any one of the ten, it was their own ignorance, rather their mere
supposition that one of them was lost though they could not find who he
was because they counted only nine.

27) Sahaja Samadhi.
Suppose an infant is taking breast milk from his mother while
sleeping he is not aware of the act of what he is doing. He is only enjoying
the happiness of deep sleep even during the act of breast feeding. It is only
from the point of view of others that he is sucking the breast. From his point
he is not aware of being in any action but only enjoying the
happiness of deep sleep. There, in case of infant there is no doer sucking the
breast nor there is a thought from his side but action happens
by itself on it's own accord without the interference of the thought. In a
similar way Bhagawan is so much self absorbed many times he used
to say i am aware that i am here and i have a body because you are pointing
it.
When Bhagawan dealt the outside world there is no thinker

in him. His thoughts and acts are spontaneous response to a challenge unlike
us which usually is a calculated response from the thinker
inside us. As far as we are concerned unless the thinker is annihilated by
what ever is the means the spontaneous revelation of self-conscious
being is not possible. Bhagawan in sahaja samadhi having thoughts does not
mean that we can be a thinker with thoughts and at the same time attain the
self-conscious being.
So far no body answered to my original question„ can we attain
self-conscious being through thought„ ? While answering many are deviating
from the essence of the question and answering in their own way.
My experience is that clarity of self-consciousness is inversely proportional
to thought traffic.

Thought is an off spring of Self-ignorance. How can such
instrument be used to find the Self? That is my question.
Decrease in thought traffic amounts to decrease of self-ignorance which
facilitates the spontaneous revelation of the self. For this self-enquiry is the
best way.

28) Transience of pleasure.
Happiness in the sense objects is due to temporary withdrawal of
the mind into the causal body(Anandamaya kosa) which has
pleasurable tendencies(Ananda vrittis) like
1)Priya--the happiness that occurs seeing an object we like.
2)Moda--the happiness that occurs when the object we like is under our
possession.
3)Pramoda--the happiness that occurs because of experiencing the object we
like.
All these are transient, so Astavakra is advising us to renounce such transient
happiness which is the outcome of interaction of senses
with the objects. Instead he is advising us to hold on to the self to have
uninterrupted bliss of self-conscious being.

29) Self-ignorance is just a belief.
Mind is covered by a nonexistent membrane of self-ignorance
which makes us to forget our nature as self and shows the unitary
thing as multiplicity. The membrane is there just because we believe it is
there. If we enquire into the existence of the membrane it will be found
to be nonexistent. What exists is self, the membrane and the consequent
delusion are nonexistent. The Guru who is free of delusion that
membrane of self-ignorance is covering the self tells us how to be free of
that belief that we are self-ignorant. The concept that we are self-ignorant
is nothing but a belief, it is an idea which is annihilated by self-enquiry
which confers self-knowledge. Self-knowledge is the only way to get rid
of that nonexistent membrane of self-ignorance which seems to cover the
self effulgence of the self. We are conditioned as self-ignorant people.
Self-enquiry is a deconditioning process which helps us to know ourselves
as we are.

30) Subtle Body.
Subtle body (Linga Sarira) is a reflecting medium of Pure
conscious being. At present that mirror is ridden with dust of tendencies.
Tendencies persists only with our encouragement to them. The very
attending to the tendencies is to give them strength. Whatever the spiritual
practice one has to withdraw attending to the tendencies and clean the mirror
of the mind so that there is exact reflection of pure conscious being in it. In
self-enquiry we attend to the source of the mind rather than the contents of
the mind. Once we stop attending to the contents of the mind their grip on
the mind becomes less and less, finally the contents die a natural death
because of lack of food supply, their food being attention. Unless the mirror
of the mind is cleaned reflection of Pure conscious being in it is not possible.

31) Spiritual heart.
All that is vital and essential is not part of the body. The body is
insentient and it is animated by the energy derived from
the spiritual heart. You are trying to feel the vital essence through this
animated body in an objective way. You are the spiritual heart
which is conscious of it's existence without the help of any external agency.
It is a living pulsatile consciousness.
The sukha we feel daily in deep sleep is not part of the body yet we
feel that sukha and we say i slept very happily because that sukha is
conscious of itself without the aid of the mind or the body. The same sukha
is also there in the waking state also but we lost it's sight of it because of
hovering of thought matter over it just like clouds hinder the light of the
sun.If you are free of thought matter in the waking state
the self-effulgence of spiritual heart is revealed in all it's glory.
The energy of spiritual heart enters the body through a nerve plexus
situated on the right side of chest and the awareness spreads all over the
body through nerves thus animating the insentient body.
Just as light of the sun makes the lotus to bloom and sun is not a part of

lotus, just in the presence of spiritual heart body is animated
but spiritual heart is not a part of the body. Spiritual heart survives the death
of the body and we are the spiritual heart, so we are
birth less and deathless.
It is only the mind which makes us feel that we are the body and it is
only an idea. In the presence of saints you will feel the spiritual heart an the
imagination that you are the body is nullified. Realization is nothing but the
destruction of "I-am-the-body-idea„ once and forever but not acquiring the
self because you are already that. Pure consciousness resides in the
heart cave and to show it symbolically the incidents you have mentioned are
useful. If you are free from "I-am-the-body-idea" you will experience your
nature as the spiritual heart "here and now„ . This is certain.

32) The state of deep sleep.
Deep Sleep is a peculiar state of mind in which there are no thoughts
so there is no knowledge of objects nor there is knowledge of reality.
So we does not know self or nonself during that mental modification. In
deep sleep we do not know we are sleeping while we are asleep but we
know that we "are„ . Because we are there in deep sleep we say we slept
happily. In waking and dream states we do something, but in deep sleep
we do not exist as ego so sleep is not something we do but where we do not
exist as ourselves as the ego. In deep sleep we are not aware of
otherness, objectivity, duality or relativity. In deep sleep we neither mistake
mind or body as "I„ .
When we experience the content less state of deep sleep we do not

experience body or mind, so who is this "I„ who knows i slept. Finite sense
of "I" is devoid in sleep. In waking state "I' is identified
with gross body, in dream state "I„ is identified with dream body and in deep
sleep "I" is identified with content less causal body. In all these three
states of the mind there is undercurrent of "I-am-the-body-idea„ . In deep
sleep "I am" is there even when there no thinking. The same "I am"
can be experienced in waking state if the mind free of it's contents in the
form of thoughts, tendencies, emotions. You are asking why you are
not experiencing self when in you are in spiritual heart. Because your mind
is never dissolved in it you are saying like that, even if you taste it for few
minutes you will have unquestionable experience of it. Nonidentifying with
the body does not mean that you should stop your responsibilities in the
waking state but you should remember that you have a body but you are not
the body. This will be known with unbroken "Who am I„ investigation.

33) The role of thought in daily life.
Thought has it's place when action is required even in the case of
saints. We should not give place to thoughts in our mind which are out of
context and not in anyway required and for many it became such a strong
habit that it is impossible to stop the thought flow.
A person of the caliber of Sri Ganapathi Sastri who has mantra
siddhi could not control the thought traffic and missed self-realization even
in the close association of Bhagawan.He has strong sastra vasana (The
tendency to gather information rather than experiencing the thing) and loka
vasana (Tendency to indulge in worldly affairs)and for many years he is
district congress president and he wanted whole India to have cement roads
because he strongly felt that world is real and we should work for it's
welfare, though Bhagawan told him that waking state is also a dream.
Because he gave attention to such thoughts he missed the

quintessence of Bhagawan's teaching and missed the self. To fulfill basic
needs we require only few thoughts for action. But we are indulging in
unnecessary thinking and action, which i feel should be curtailed in
sadhana(Spiritual discipline) stage. This is very vital. Thought traffic is
reduced when one is in uninterrupted awareness,(Sada Apramada) as told by
Sanat kumara.

34) No mind (Naiva Manasam)
When we posit our consciousness in the source of the mind,
there is an experience of absence of the mind(Naiva manasam).Then
the mind is free of contamination of tendencies and purified(Suddha) manas
act spontaneously as in the case of Jnanis(Self realized souls). This
purification and experience of absence of mind amounts to killing of the
mind. You cannot kill the mind because it is never there. Can you kill the
illusory snake in a rope.
Recognizing the rope as a rope amounts to killing of the snake.

But in the first instance snake never existed, it is only our imagination born
out of false perception of the rope. So also we imagine mind to be there
because we have not recognized self "as it is„ . For this keeping our attention
in the source(Adhistana, higher Self) of the mind through self-enquiry is the
best way.

35) Uninterrupted Self-awareness is Self-
Enquiry.
Once the awareness is established in waking state it is also
established in dreaming and deep sleep states. It is only a question of time.
In viveka chudamani (The book called ‘crest jewel of discrimination„
written by Adi Sankara)it was written that though a man is having self-
knowledge, if there is no Sada apramada(uninterrupted self awareness) he
may fall back and he may have another birth. So single incident of self-
knowledge does not confer one freedom from cycle of birth and death which
is commonly called wheel of samsara.(wheel of birth and death of the body
for spending up of innate tendencies).
The relation between self and body is like electricity and bulb, mind
being the tungsten filament in the bulb. Electricity is manifested as light
because of the filament and the bulb. If the power supply to the bulb is
stopped due to any cause like fuse problem or problem in wiring
light is not manifest through bulb but existence to electricity which is an
unseen energy is not interfered with. So existence of light in the bulb is
dependent on electricity but existence of electricity is not dependent on bulb.
The entity that feels i know this, I do not know that is mind which
imagines itself as self conscious being and body at the same time. The
witnessor is reflected consciousness(abhasa) and witnessed are objects either
inside or outside. In this state there is the duality of witnessor and the
witnessed. This is not the ultimate state. In the ultimate state of self
conscious being there is primal unicity of awareness in which there is no
notion of one is aware. It is just "am ness".

36) Relationship and Self-Enquiry.
Only when we interact with others the contents that lie dormant in the
deeper layers of the unconscious mind are brought to conscious level and are
spent up. Interacting with others is not a hindrance to our spiritual growth
but interacting with others with Bheda buddhi (mind with separative feeling)
is a hindrance to spiritual growth. If you are aware during interaction
separative feeling will not be there. You are just a passive awareness,
witnessing the interaction without any judgment, evaluation from your side.
When you relate with the other with love as the basis, interaction with the
other helps your spiritual growth because in that state of love the other is not
really other to you.
Many Sannyasis(monks) are escapists. They do not know the art of

healthy interaction. In order to protect themselves they live an organized
isolation. They are dependent on the society for their needs and majority of
them do not contribute anything to society spiritually because they have
no proper understanding .Majority of them are liability to the society

37) Complete Surrender (Poorna Saranagathi).
Once Bhagawan sat on the Siva side of Arunachala mountain and is
in a state of self absorption with his eyes open. Some miscreants came over
there to steal tamarind fruits from the tree which belongs to another person.
They collected huge amounts of tamarind in a hurry and before going out
one of them observed Bhagawan with his eyes open and he felt that
Bhagawan is the only person to witness the theft and it is better to remove
his eyes so that no body will trace their theft and he ordered one of his
accomplice to destroy the eyes of Bhagawan.Bhagawan is aware of all these
things but he did not react to the situation. The person who is expected to
destroy Bhagawan's eyes came very near to Bhagawan and observed his
eyes and he felt that Bhagawan is already blind because his eyes looked
vacant like that of a blind man with no response to anything that is seeable
and he reported the same to his friend. Then they ran away without harming
Bhagawan.Bhagawan stood by his teaching that whatever is going to happen
will happen to the body according to prarabdha and whatever is destined not
to happen will not happen under any circumstances. Such strong conviction
is possible only for those with Poorna saranagathi.
Once the ego is surrendered in this way, it dies on it”s own accord
because the nourishment to it is stopped and we posit ourselves in the Self
which is true Self-Enquiry.

38) Causal Body.
The happiness of Anandamaya kosa (causal body) is reflected bliss of
self(Abhasa).Anandamaya kosa has three vrittis (modifications).
1)Priya--happiness born when we see a object we like or destruction of a

thing we dislike, ex. seeing a mango or hearing the news of death of a person
we dislike.
2)Moda--happiness that is born when we possess an object we like, ex
.having the possession of a mango we like.
3)Pramoda---happiness that is born when we experience an object we like
ex. eating of a mango.
All these vrittis(modifications) cause cessation of thought disturbance

temporarily and cause revelation of the reflected bliss of anandamaya kosa
(causal body). We should not mistake it for nondependent bliss of the Self.
As you said source of happiness in any form is only the self.
Because of lack of this understanding people indulge in nonself for
happiness finally getting misery as the fruit of such indulgence.
The aim of my posting this is to make the people aware that there is no
happiness or bliss in the nonself and the only source of bliss is self.

39) Information versus transformation.
Information never transforms into real knowledge. Information is
one of the aids to prepare our mind to get rid of nonself so that
the self effulgence of the real knowledge revealed spontaneously.
Information is material in nature that is why it can be stored in our
biocomputer i.e. brain,
where as real knowledge is a living consciousness which reveals
itself when our mind which is a mirror that reflects light of real knowledge is
free of the dust of tendencies accumulated during the evolutionary process
and it is the tendencies that hinder the reflection of light of the ultimate
reality by the mind.

40) Self forgetfulness and Self-Enquiry.
Once the reflection of pure consciousness by the mind is blocked due
to the veiling of the mind by the action of Maya(moola avidya,primal
ignorance) it forgets it's source i.e. self and starts thinking that it is a separate
being because it forgot oneness with the ultimate reality.„ Who am i"
enquiry helps us to recognize this unbroken oneness with the ultimate
reality.
Once the mind forgets it's source which is self whose nature is bliss
mind starts searching for the bliss outside and in the process Sankalpa and
Vikalpa are formed. Sankalpa is nothing but a search for happiness
in the nonself and vikalpa is the doubt that it may not get it in the nonself. If
this anomaly is destroyed mind finds oneness with the self again
and melts in the bliss of self. When thought matter is too much we develop
forgetfulness and commit more mistakes. All this is due to Pramada i.e self-
forgetfulness. So uninterrupted self-awareness i.e. sada apramada is
important.

41) Destruction of the mind (Manonasa).
If the mind is cleared of tendencies there is no obstruction to the
reflection of effulgence of self and in vedantic jargon it is called
manonasa(destruction of the mind),it should not be understood as a literal
destruction. Mind will be there but ego is annihilated. It is the
tendencies that cause spurious growth of the ego which interferes with the
reflection of self effulgence.
Destruction of tendencies amounts to destruction of the ego. In
English it is termed as no mind state(Amanaska state in vedantic jargon).In
this state all physiological functions continue through mind but only the
anomaly of volition(sankalpa) and doubt(vikalpa) is destroyed forever.

42) Release from natural instincts.
Sex, hunger, sleep, fear are natural instincts to all Jivas, we will
be free from them only through divine interference in the form of Guru, we
cannot get rid of them by our own effort. Even a saint of the caliber of
Viswamitra was unable to free himself from sexual desire, even a great sage
like Narada forgot the work of fetching a glass of water entrusted by Lord
Krishna just by seeing a woman, had some children, finally caught in the
floods with his family and only after interference of Krishna he could come
out of all that illusion.

43) Pure Ego.
Suddha manas(Pure ego) is uncontaminated "I-am-the-body-idea" in
which one is conscious that he is living in a particular body but there is no
identity with the body. When there is identity with the body "I-am-the-body-
idea„ is contaminated and when he says "I„ he means that he is a
body only. When "I-am-the-body-idea" is uncontaminated it functions from
the self and when it says "I" it means self. Uncontaminated
"I-am-the-the-body-idea„ functions with awareness of the self whereas
contaminated "I-am-the-body-idea„ functions from the ego centre.
So Suddha Manas means a mind which is free of all tendencies, so posited in
the self and acts with the awareness of self. There is no relic
of personality in such a mind in contrast to egoistic mind which functions
from the personality born out of his innate tendencies.

44) Uninterrupted Self-Awareness.
In Rajasthan women go up to 5kms to fetch water and they keep
the vessel containing the water on their head and they never forget
to balance it whatever they do while going back home with the water vessel
on the head. They talk so many things while walking back but they always
keep an eye on the balance of vessel on the head uninterruptedly. So also we
can do anything we like in the midst of crowd but we should not under any
circumstances forget that our essential nature is self. I don”t think that, it is
that difficult. Thinking that we are body-mind complex is just an age old
habit which is nullified by Sada Apramada.

45) The Seer and the Seen.
The one who is aware in the dimension of relativity is called
Jnata(seer)and the thing observed is called Jneyam(seen). They are
interdependent(Anyonyasraya) and both of them are part of the mind. Jnata
is focused object knowing consciousness. The nature of self is that it is
blissfully conscious of itself and exists independently .Jnatrutyam is a
mental character and is not to be confused with the self. Consciousness is
directed in Jnata, so it is limited and anything directed will have a beginning
and ending. In Self conscious being consciousness is not directed so it has
no beginning and ending.
The directionless consciousness which is blissful in nature underlies

and supports the apparent existence of seer(Jnata) and the seen(Jneyam).In
self-enquiry the object knowing consciousness of Jnata is not required and
we go beyond Jnata and Jneyam at the same time and we touch and settle in
the self. In the knowing of false(transience) as false there is the
revelation of eternal Truth. 2)We can exist without mind, body, world and
we are experiencing this daily in deep sleep. If we can exist in the same state
with awareness it is self, Jagrat-Sushupti.

46) Self consciousness-Object knowing
consciousness.
The basic form of self consciousness "I am" underlies all these thee
states of the mind. In the waking and dream states we superimpose adjuncts
like body, intellect, thinking and object knowing upon our basic form of self
consciousness "I am" and thus we experience self consciousness in a
distorted way as "I-am-the-body„ , I am thinking, I am knowing. This adjunct
bound, so limited distorted form of our self consciousness is a pseudo
consciousness which is mind. The relationship between the self and the mind
is like rope and snake, the snake is just we imagine to be. So all the three
states of mind are mere imaginations. Self never becomes the mind.
Since the mind appears and disappears mind cannot be real. So anything
known by it is not real. We witness the appearance and disappearance of the
mind, we exist independent of it, hence mind as a seer(Jnata) cannot be the
real "I".
When we experience content less state of deep sleep we do not
experience body or mind, so the consciousness is adjunct less, so without
any limitation, so it is self consciousness devoid of adjuncts except
nescience(Avidya, Self-ignorance) which veils the light of self conscious
being. In the waking state we mistake our mind and the gross body to be the
"I". In the dream state we mistake our mind and subtle body to be the "I".
In deep sleep state we mistake neither our mind nor body to be the "I" so the
finite sense of "I" is devoid in deep sleep but we are under
the influence of nescience(Avidya, lack of self-knowledge) in deep sleep.
Yet all these three states are experienced by "I am ness" which underlies
all these three states. Mind comes into existence by superimposing
imaginary adjuncts on this basic consciousness of "I am".
That which really knows that I was asleep is not our mind but our real self
consciousness. Mind usurps the experience and say "I know that i was
asleep".
Deep sleep is something where we do not exist as mind. Deep

sleep is thought action free state. Just because we do not do anything in deep
sleep we should not conclude that we do not exist or do not know anything.
In deep sleep we have the knowledge of nothingness i.e absence of
objective knowledge due to the absence of mind. To know nothingness there
must be consciousness, so sleep is a part our conscious experience

like waking and dream states and the undercurrent of self consciousness "I
am" is there in all these three states. If we are devoid of all consciousness
it is not possible to know the deep sleep state at all. What enables us to
cognize the sleep is the perpetual continuity of our fundamental
self consciousness "I AM" which endures uninterrupted through all these
states. Self-enquiry is a nonobjective state in which that which attends is
itself that which attends to. Our aim is to hold this type of uncontaminated
pure self conscious blissfully aware being.

47) Contact with a Master.
Three types of contact with Jnani are possible depending on the receptive
level of the disciple.
1) Body contact-some people are impressed by the charisma of Jnani but
unable to understand the meaning of what he says.
2) Mental contact-Some are able to understand the teachings of the master

but miss the beauty, silence, bliss of his presence. If the master
does not speak then they feel it is a waste of sitting near him.
3) Heart to heart contact-Here the disciple is connected to master's heart and

enjoys the blissful presence of the master. The words of the
master are secondary to him. Cow Lakshmi got realized by the presence of
Bhagawan only. Bhagawan's mother got realized not because of teaching
of Bhagawan but due to transfer of Bhagawan's sacred energy to his mother.
Teaching helps for preparing the mind for self realization
but it has no power to confer self realization. In India many mistake learned
people who has the capacity to teach without any self experience
as Jnanis. Sitting near a Jnani is real satsangh and is highly beneficial for
spiritual growth. The word Upanishad literally means sitting near a Jnani.

48) Self-Enquiry and daily life.
Only in the mirror of relationship in the daily life we will come to
know the latent tendencies hidden in the deeper unconscious layers at the
conscious level. Many feel that there is no relationship between daily life
and self-enquiry. Self-Enquiry is paying attention to the source of mind but
mind strays if there are unspent latent tendencies. The tendencies will be
spent only in the relationships of daily life. So we should not
run away from daily life and do self-enquiry in secluded place cross legged.
Daily life is an opportunity to further our spiritual understanding
and to get mind centered in the self. As the tendencies are spent mind
develops the capacity to abide in it's source. This is real self-enquiry (Nija
Vicharana).

49) Importance of spending up of tendencies.
When one faces the life mind will have the capacity to be in a state of
nondoing(Summa iru) in which it attends to it's source
without straying. Then it discovers the lie of independent existence of the
ego. The more we practice self-enquiry in daily life the more
tenuous the lie becomes until it finally it looses its hold on us. We must
search for the source of the mind with such an intensity as that
of a drowning man struggling for air, only then we can succeed in finding it.
This possible only when latent tendencies are spent in daily life
so that mind can fix itself in "self" and establishes in a state of "Summa iru".
If latent tendencies are still there when you sit for deliberate
meditation mind strays without any control and it is difficult to bring it back
again because we are lost in the network of thought.

50) Vibratory and non-vibratory states of
consciousness.
If we think, we always think that which is gone,
or that which has not come yet. Thinking has no present tense,
the moment you think you are lost. To be in the present is to be
religious and if we want to be in the present we must be aware,
and awareness is always silent. Silence is nonvibratory consciousness
and thinking is vibratory consciousness. Vibration interrupts
that which is still, nonvibratory. Bhagawan says that in the contrast of
vibration, stillness of silent Pure conscious being is recognized.

51) Awareness-Mind, Space, Time.
Awareness by itself is motionless and timeless. When its attention
is focused on an object it becomes the mind. The object changes all the time,
so the nature of mind is continuous movement. Once the attention
is withdrawn from the objects, mind no longer oscillates and becomes still.
Still mind is called no mind and there is only one element in it-
awareness. Still mind is possible when we withdraw our attention from the
objects and attend to the perceiver of it, then mind becomes still. This is
possible in Self-enquiry. The concept of time and space arises only when
there is seeming movement of attention from the Self to the object.
Time is an interval between two events and events are possible only when
we attend to the objects.
But in Self-enquiry we withdraw our attention from the objects

and we hold on to awareness only. So in Self-enquiry we go beyond the
concepts of mind, time and space and we abide as the Self which is
here and now. In "here„ there is no space, in the "now„ there is no time.
So time and space are not possible when we abide as the Self.
Time and space are possible in the relative dimension of duality.
The function of the mind is possible and needed only in the dualistic
relative world. In the absolute dimension of nonduality which is the
nature of Self, we go beyond mind, time, space. In duality there is
continuous conflict and misery, where as in natural state of nondual
Pure conscious being there is uninterrupted bliss and Self-enquiry is
the way for abiding as the Self.

52) Uniqueness of Transitional state.
Uniqueness of transitional state and it's usefulness to hold on to Pure "I"
easily. I want to elaborate further on the stages before and after the
transitional state
1) Deep Sleep.(Sushupti)
2) Thought-free state before being fully awake.(Bija Jagrat i.e unmanifest
wakeful state in seed form)
3) Enjoying happiness of thought free state. In this state the ego experiences
the bliss of thought-free state.(Rasasvadana) Bhagawan discouraged this
type of dualistic enjoyment of bliss because one feels that he has arrived
home and tendencies are not destroyed during this enjoyment of the bliss.
There are many people who enjoyed the bliss in Samadhi state of mind and
when they come out of Samadhi they are influenced by the tendencies as
usual. So we have to do Self-Enquiry to annihilate tendencies(Vasana
kshaya) so that our consciousness is freed from the seeming imprisonment
by the tendencies. Our nature itself is blissful and so there is no need to
enjoy the bliss with the ego. Such acts strengthens the ego.
4) Movement of latent tendencies(kashaya)
5) Fully awakened state where the thought matter predominates and

obstructs the natural thought-free state, making us to feel self-ignorant. This
is fully evolved state of Self-ignorance. Our Endeavour should be to hold on
to Pure "I" in state 2,which is Bija Jagrat.

53) Self-Enquiry is real religiosity.
A religious person is one who sets out search for his "I" and more he
goes on searching, the more he finds out that his "I" is not there at all.The
day the shadow of "I" disappears, the day neither "I" or "you" remains, you
will be pulled into the Self with it's magnetic effect. Then you feel at home
for the first time. At present you are mistaking workshop of mind for your
home and you are identifying with the utilitarian body- mind complex and
suffering from uninterrupted mental conflict because of this wrong identity.
So we have to find our real home through Self-Enquiry with awareness as
the basis for investigation. If we live in the mind thinking that it is our home,
there is continuous chattering interrupting our innate peace. There is
anxiety, worry, tension, anguish, misery, suffering, desires etc and all these
create many, many layers of curtain around the consciousness making it to
appear cloudy, and you cannot feel at home because of them. These disturb
the joy, peace, blissfulness which is our innate nature.
At present we are experiencing the things in unawareness and we go on

repeating the same mistake again and again. That is why history repeats
itself. If we are aware during an experience, we will not repeat the same
mistake again. If we comprehensively encounter one experience in
awareness, we develop the capacity to face any situation and there is the
flowering of the art of Self-Enquiry. This is the real religiosity.
Wrong belief that we are not the Self which leads us to identity with the
body-mind complex will continuously obstruct, negate and closes the doors
to all possibilities of flowing of light and energy of Self. Th e creative energy
of Self is plugged, blocked and diverted to some activity that society thinks
is going to pay.
In Self-Enquiry one should not judge his mind, instead one should
love it, by just witnessing it, then only the mind reveals it's content in the
awareness and withers. During this destructuring of mind in awareness
there is pain of disillusionment because so far we thought ego is is our real
home and leaving it now causes pain. One has to pass through this pain of
disillusionment before transcending pleasure-pain ego life.
In the awareness of Self-Enquiry, one will purify himself of all wrong
conditionings and auto suggestions. Self-Enquiry is an act of witnessing
consciousness. The life you have so far lived is a long pretension of things
that are not. For example one talks about compassion, universal brotherhood,

service to humanity etc keeping intact the ego with it's intrinsic separative
feeling. These pretensions veil on your essential Self. You go on acquiring
more veils in the form of knowledge, learning, scholarship etc. But Self-
Enquiry is not a question of learning, it is an art perceiving the things "as
they are", it is an act of knowing which is verbal in nature. It is just
witnessing the inner chattering of mind with love. Everything, that which is
not, disappears if you are aware, so also the inner chattering. When inner
chattering stops even for few moments, you feel at home.
Whenever inner chattering starts again simply "be aware„ , the inner
chattering stops and you will suddenly feel at home. This is Self-Enquiry.
Once the mind understands that you have found something greater,
something better, something higher, slowly it recedes. It's function is
fulfilled.
Now the mind is inward turned. It”s activity is is a hurdle now.

When your mind is silent without any activity of thought, you will at home
anywhere and you will be in tune with the whole. Gradually the awareness
spreads slowly during sleep also and your whole energy is turned into
silent pool without any ripples. Then there is no need to crave for anything
including the hope for God,liberation. Then you will just "be" which is
synonymous of "being the Self". This is real Self-Enquiry and real
religiosity.

54) Mystics.
Mystics are visible and available Gods. They are window to
Godliness, invitation from the beyond. They transform you by helping you
to get rid of ego dust so that your mirror of mind reflects God as it is without
any distortion

55) The essence of all spiritual disciplines.
The essence of all spiritual disciplines is witnessing, watching.
There is only one meditation in the world and that is the art of
witnessing. It will take care of our spiritual growth by transforming
our mind. To keep in continuous contact with the witnessor is meditation.
Initially better we start with witnessing the actions of the body.
If we can succeed in this, we can witness the actions of the mind i.e
thoughts, imaginations. And as we progress in witnessing we can
witness the actions of heart i.e. feelings, moods, love, hate, sadness,
happiness. When you watch all the day, witnessing become natural to you
like breathing. Because majority are identified with the body, Buddha
advised the humanity to do Vipassana in which breath is watched as
air is inhaled and exhaled and the interval between inhalation and
exhalation. As we do it sincerely we develop sensitivity and we become

aware of thoughts and feelings as well. In this process we become
aware of interval between one thought and another thought, and
interval between one feeling and another feeling. In the interval
between thoughts and feelings we touch our being and experience
the bliss which is innate to the being. In self-enquiry when a thought
or feeling arises we search for the entity from which thought or
feeling arises. This search leads us to the source of thought or feeling
which is our being. Self-Enquiry is awareness of being that "you already
are„ . When we are watchful like this we understand that our basic form
of consciousness is exclusive self consciousness. This is self realization.
So witnessing, watchfulness is the way for self realization.
All this we can do even while we are involved in our daily activity, while
involved in relationship with the others without the help of intermediaries
like priests and analysts. As we establish in witnessing state in wake ness
gradually the witnessing nature is felt during dreaming and sleep states
of the mind. If this happens we can say that one has arrived to his
source of "being".

56) Importance of aloneness in Self-Enquiry.
We are all suffering from the consequences of false identity.
The goal of Self-Enquiry is to be free from that false identity.
We are identified with the body-mind, so we are identified with gender,
body relations,property,things,race,nationality,profession,beliefs,dogmas,
fame, ambition, craving for recognition etc. That false identity is a substitute
to the real and is useful in the world, where others are also identified in a
similar way. But it has to be supported 24 hours a day because it is false.
The crowd is essential for the false self to exist.

So ego is always is in search of the crowd. Even in the sphere of religion the
ego wants to belong to the crowd of organized religions because it is a
respectable centre for social gathering. Many spiritual centers are social
clubs and gathering in such centers makes the false identity more
consolidated.
Accustomed to such circumstances of ego consolidation, the

moment one is alone, one starts feeling from strange fear of being uprooted
from the ego-existence, one feels lonely and crazy. So ego always wants to
be engaged with the crowd or start doing something just to keep the false
engaged.
In Self-Enquiry one has to be alone, silent, waiting for the real to

assert itself. So only courageous people who have the capacity to be alone
can do the Self-Enquiry. Self-Enquiry is not a mental act, so thought has no
place in Self-Enquiry.

It is just silent relaxation with passive awareness into the inner
being. Any mental act is an outcome of ego, thought. In this aloneness, you
lose that which has to be lost and it is good to lose it
soon, because the longer it stays, the stronger the ego becomes.
Aloneness takes things from you which you don”t really have.
You are the "One" when false is gone and the fresh, innocent, unpolluted
pure being that asserts itself in the place of ego.
So Self-Enquiry is a destructive process because it destroys all that

is false and out of that destruction there is the revelation of reality. When
you are alone reality starts expressing itself. This is an existential answer to
"Who am i" Self-Enquiry in aloneness. In aloneness you hold on to "Self",
thus the support to the false ego is withdrawn and the ego dies a natural
death (Manonasa). nce you taste the bliss of "Self" in aloneness, the
undercurrent of it prevails even when you are midst of crowd. Then you
have arrived home.

57) Raman Maharshiās observations on four
traditional Spiritual disciplines and Self-
Enquiry.
Traditionally Hindus believe that there are four paths to attain the
ultimate Truth, they are Bhakti(devotion)Jnana(discrimination of ephemeral
and real),Karma(selfless action leading to purity of mind so that it deserves
to attain self-knowledge),Yoga(uniting prana and apana through various
various physical postures and the energy that is located in the Mooladhara
chakra is driven through all chakras to Sahasrara to enjoy the bliss there).
But Ramana Maharshi differs from these traditional spiritual disciplines and
made following observations:
"Without enquiring into the nature of the doer, one that is sundered
from God, one that is bereaved of the Self, one that is ignorant of self
conscious being speaks of four kinds of paths. These paths are prescribed
with the assumption that truth seeker is naturally
a doer of actions,a being separated from the God, a being fallen from the
state of perfection or one actually ignorant. These assumptions are wrong

and will be seen to be so if the seeker first follows Self-Enquiry.
The state of being the real Self which is won by the quest "who is the doer?",
or "who is the separated one?" or "who is the fallen one?" or "who is the
ignorant one?" is itself the essence of all four paths mentioned above.
Unlike all these four paths which are complicated and arduous to do,
Self-Enquiry is simple and can be done even while we are engaged in our
daily duties.

58) Self-Enquiry is the art of escaping from the
ego cage and claiming the Sky of infinite truth.
The unique ray of "I" thought shines in all is a clue and if one holds on
to it and unflaggingly traces the source of it, one is bound to discover the
supreme truth and the illusory bondage will cease. Truth has a tendency to
reveal itself. Revelation is intrinsic to Truth. Truth need not be learnt. Just a
little awareness in Self-Enquiry will make the Truth reveal itself. If you are
not conscious many things like possessiveness, lust, ambition, jealousy,
anger, desire, arrogance, identity with what we are not, violence etc hide
behindthe Truth and all these pretend as Truth when Truth is not yet
revealed to you. At present we are living in the structure of ego which
pretends itselfas the ultimate Truth. This is driving us into untold misery
because we are living in the limited ego cage and we are believing it to be
the reality.
Ego is just utilitarian just like our shoes, clothes, umbrella etc.
Similarly the "I" thought has certain utility and without it life in the dualistic
world willbecome impossible. But at present ego is dictating our way of life.
So we areaccepting an utility as a master of our life and it is always bringing
disaster to us. We must realize that utilities are not realities. We must accept
only reality i.e. Truth as master to guide our life. Ego is born out of "I"
thought and identifies with the body, and is an aberration on Pure self. The
"I" thought arises from the Self and depends on the Self for it's existence. It
is never apart from the Self and in fact the Self but forgetful of it's true
nature.

So we have to destructure the ego, so that we can be realigned with
the Self, so that old structure will die giving way to revelation of Truth and
for the first time we are born in Truth. The destructuring through Self-
Enquiry is the crucifixion of the ego and taking birth in Truth is resurrection.
In Self-Enquiry we drop the limited cage of ego and we claim the infinite
sky of Truth i.e. Self. Self-Enquiry is the art of escaping from the limited
ego cage and claiming the infinite sky of the Truth. In this way through Self-
Enquiry, we, a ray of Self become one with the Self.

59) Attending to the essential is Self-Enquiry.
Life is short and energy is limited. But we have age old habit created
by the mind for it's own survival to attend to that which is nonessential,
trivial, useless and mind encourages us to listen to it attentively. The
nonessential is on periphery and decorates the surface. At present our
periphery is nothing but a thick layer of nonessential things woven by
thought and the nonessential is dominating our life and it allows only that
which nourishes it and it will not allow that which nourishes the essence.
In self-enquiry we consciously hold on to the witnessor of nonessential,
so that the hold of nonessential on our life gradually loses it's grip and it
gives way to the essence i.e. self. Then we start seeing nonessential as
nonessential and start recognizing what is essential. Then we get attuned to
the essential i.e. self. But we have to be always aware(sada apramada),only
then nonessential can be dropped. We have to listen to the heart which
help our soul to grow. If we listen to our head it will drag us again into the
hell of nonessential. This discrimination of essential from the nonessential
is real self-enquiry.

60) Going astray is common while doing self-
enquiry. Donāt make it a problem.
While doing self-enquiry one wants to get centered but the mind goes
astray. Because you want to get centered, you will resist the mind going
astray. This causes a duality and conflict and hinders the process of self-
enquiry. Don”t make centering a goal. If you resist going astray then there is
more possibility of going astray because whatsoever we try to suppress
becomes more significant. If going astray is happening there must be
something in it, allow it, there is nothing wrong.
A seeker who remains to want centered should not be worried about

centering. The centering sometimes happens by itself without any effort on
our part. A worried mind cannot get centered, we require a nonworried
mind to get centered. When one is in a state of surrender if the mind goes
astray, he will not fight with it.
Sometimes you will be centered and sometimes you will not. If you
surrender, deep down you will always be centered because there no worry of
getting centered. Never create duality within you by creating going astray of
the mind a problem. Going astray of the mind is not a sin, accept it, there is
nothing wrong in it. Simply relax, be in let go and centering will be a
consequence. But if you try to relax you become tense.
Everything is holy, going astray too. Don”t wobble. Just float

centering will come by itself on it's own accord. This is the process of self-
enquiry.

61) Watchfulness in Self-Enquiry.
If lotus seed wants to bloom it has to fall and grow in the mud.
Same is the case with us. Buddhahood is asleep in our present state of
zorba. Unless we face the present life Buddhahood in us will not be
awakened.
We can get into higher life only when we have lived through the
lower. Self-Enquiry is an existential tool to awaken Buddhahood that is
lying dormant in us and it makes the waking state as a an opportunity to
grow in consciousness. The other world is hidden in this world. Alone you
are nothing and significance happens when you establish relationship with
the whole.
Then you are in synchronicity with the cosmic dance. Then you have
no separate will apart from that of existence. Then you are in a state of
surrender to the whole, gratitude towards the whole. Self-Enquiry nullifies
the concept of separate existence apart from the whole and establishes
our relationship with the whole. If you are watchful all that is repressed in
the deeper layers of the unconscious part of the mind which constitutes 9/10
ths of mind, surfaces to conscious level.
Become more and more aware while relating to others including

inanimate objects. Relationship is a mirror in which we can see the contents
of the mind clearly. Monks escape from relationship and so from life and
they get lost forever. Don”t fight with your desires, just watch them
perfectly what they are, how they arise, how they take possession of you,
how you become clouded, how you lose self awareness through them, how
they drive you mad, how they leave you weak, frustrated, defeated. Just

watch the whole process of it and that very watchfulness brings freedom.
When we relate with the other usually we relate our past with his past which
is dead and we miss the present there by we are missing the life. Can we
relate with the other without the remembrances of the past? Yes, it is
possible if we are watchful in the present. To become aware, to be watchful
is to become desire less but the awareness has to be really penetrating.
For example you see a beautiful car, up to that moment there is no

problem because there is only the perception of the car. But suddenly there
is a jump and desire arises to possess and own hat car. Now watch that jump,
from observing the beautiful car how suddenly you become possessed by
the desire, that interval between seeing and desiring, watch that interval
which is not difficult. If you can watch, desire never arises. It arises when
you are not watchful. This watchfulness is eternal and it knows no death.
Only unawareness dies. In self- enquiry one should not be hurry because
hurry is mental and it is a hindrance to watchfulness. Hurry results in
suppression and it does not transform us. Unintermittent self awareness(sada
apramada) is the key for best results in self-enquiry.

62) Importance of relaxation in Self-Enquiry.
Self means that which cannot be left behind, that which cannot be
Renounced. You cannot lose it but it can be forgotten. Self is like a mirror
and conditioning is like layers of dust on it. Layers and layers of
conditioning are imposed on self. The Self is not to be achieved; it is only
hidden behind the layers of conditioning. Self is forgotten because the
layers of conditioning are interfering with the mirroring function of Self. No
defect has arisen in Self, just the layers of conditioning are covering it. All
that is needed is to negate all that has been given to you in the form of
conditioning.
Self-Enquiry helps us in this deconditioning process because in Self-
Enquiry we function fromthe source of conditioned mind instead of the usual
functioning from the conditioned mind. Self-Enquiry is the door of knowing,
conditioning is the barrier of knowing and Self-Enquiry is the bridge
between the Self and the conditioning. The process of Self-Enquiry is a
process of discovering your being, it is not a process of achieving your
being. When you are utterly relaxed, self will surface on it's own accord as
"I""I". Making effort in Self-Enquiry makes you tense and when you are
tense you are farther away from the self. The discovery of self happens when
you are utterly relaxed. Gautam Buddha struggled with mental methods with
effort to attain but he attained nothing.

Then one night he dropped the whole effort and went into sleep with
deep relaxation and by the morning when last star was setting he became
enlightened. Self-Enquiry is not a mental method but it is attending to the
source of the mind which is self when we are relaxed, soft, wide open.
Attending to the attention in a relaxed mood is Self-Enquiry. Then all the
conditioning disappears in no time. If one is able keep such deconditioned
mind in it's source without any distraction for any length of time it is called
self realization in which self is without any dust of conditioning. In such a
state even if we are involved in work we are in utter relaxation. This is
Sahaja Samadhi, the goal of Self-Enquiry.

63) Self-Enquiry is the first priority in life.
Suppose there is the moon, there is a still pond, there is the reflection of
the moon in it, when something is thrown into the pond and waves arising
and there is apparent disturbance to the "reflected moon" and after sometime
things settle down and there is no disturbance. Here the "original moon" is
never disturbed under any circumstances because it is never in the pond
and disturbances can affect only pond and the contents in it. Here original
moon is symbolic of "Pure self conscious being" who under any
circumstances is never disturbed because he is in a state of nonduality.The
entity which seems to get disturbed is only "reflected
consciousness"(Abhasa,Jiva) which is a reflection of pure consciousness in
the mind. The things which disturb the mind are tendencies which are the
cause of the agitation of the mind. If there is no agitation of the mind there is
no duality and there is nothing to \be registered and it is our natural state.
But the burden of tendencies in an average human being is so high that we
feel that agitation and registration of the events in agitation is our
natural state. Unless we do self-enquiry we will not come out of this wrong
notion. So self-enquiry is our first priority in life.

Om Sri Ramanarpana mastu.

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E nqu ir y

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Self-Enquiry is holding on to awareness of being that we already are".

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This can be done by holding on to "I" thought, excluding all other

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So mental suppression does not change the dimension of energy. If

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Self-enquiry is not an enquiry into the self. It is an enquiry into the

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Self-Enquiry serves as a jumping board from the knowable to the

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It is always hidden there at the bottom of everything you do. Let

The idea that one is an individual person is generated and

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an aspirant to understand intellectually that the "I" which is to be attended to

carefully taught us the method of practicing Self-Enquiry before revealing to

us the revelation that the five sheaths are not "I".

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What does it matter however many thoughts rise? At the very

Although tendencies towards sense-objects [vishaya vasanas],

As long as there are tendencies towards sense-objects in the mind,

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Not leaving Self is knowledge [jnana]. In truth, these two

Enquiring `Who am I that is in bondage?' and knowing one's real

Ramana Maharshi : The life of action need not be renounced. If you

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Remember, this is the first realization ‘I am astray,„ which will make

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This is a basic realization, the first breakthrough. Feel happy about it

People go to absurd lengths in competition, and people go on dying

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I have heard a very beautiful anecdote. A Catholic church and a

Remember, this foolishness is very ingrained in humanity, and unless you

This is what SANNYAS is all about: a recognition that the way

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So if this recognition has come to you that we are astray, feel

So it will have to be remembered continuously, it should become a

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Ego is a product of self-forgetfulness(Pramada)and is nourished by

Except self-enquiry all other spiritual practices are dualistic in which

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Thinking is an act of directing our attention towards something that

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Positing our attention in the self-conscious being is self-enquiry.

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In the initial stages there is constant struggle between our attempt

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