Self-enquiry
Self-enquiry, the direct path to self-discovery, was the sole practice Sri Ramana Maharshi emphasized. He repeatedly guided seekers to turn their attention inward, revealing that the Self is ever-present and beyond thought. Rather than engaging in external efforts, he urged sincere aspirants to investigate the source of the “I” and abide in that silent awareness.
In simple terms, turning attention outward means directing our awareness toward the world of objects through the five senses—seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching.
By contrast, turning attention inward is often understood as observing our thoughts and mental activities. While this may seem correct to a beginner on the path of Jnana, a more profound immersion in Self-enquiry reveals that true inward turning is not merely watching the mind but tracing the very source of attention itself.
Everything we perceive as forms, sounds, scents, tastes, and textures belongs to the realm of objects, meaning they are external to the experiencer. These objects are constantly changing, appearing and disappearing within our awareness.
When we focus on the world through our five senses—seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching—we are experiencing second-person objects. This is how we go about our daily lives, constantly engaged with the things around us.
To turn our attention inward, we need to shift our focus away from these external objects. This doesn’t mean the objects disappear, but as long as we are not paying attention to them, they are not part of our experience. Just like a sound we don’t notice or an object we don’t look at, they remain in the background.
This is the first step in Self-enquiry—realizing that our experience depends on where we place our attention, and that withdrawing it from the external world is the beginning of turning within.
Now that we have shifted our attention away from the world of second-person objects, the next step is to observe where our attention is now focused. For most of us, when we are not engaged with the external world, our focus naturally turns inward toward the mind—the world of thoughts, emotions, and memories.
In the path of Self-enquiry (Atma Vichara), however, these mental activities are not considered truly inward. Instead, they are seen as third-person mental objects, just like physical objects in the external world. Thoughts, like sights and sounds, are perceived phenomena—they come and go, appearing within awareness. Therefore, being absorbed in thoughts, even if they are about oneself, is still a form of turning attention outward—because attention is still engaged with objects rather than its own source.
True inward turning in Self-enquiry goes beyond thoughts and seeks to trace attention back to its origin—the one who is aware.
In Self-enquiry (Atma Vichara), the focus is on the first-person “I”—the direct sense of being that exists before any identification with thoughts or experiences. This “I” is the one that knows, perceives, and is aware of everything. It is not something we can observe like an object, nor is it a thought that comes and goes. Instead, it is the ever-present awareness in which all experiences appear and disappear. The purpose of Self-enquiry is to turn attention back to this fundamental “I” and recognize it as the unchanging reality behind all perceptions.
The first-person “I” is the most immediate experience we have, yet its true nature is often misunderstood. Most people assume this “I” refers to something tangible—the body, the mind, or a combination of both. However, careful examination shows that this is not the case.
The first person is not the body, because the body is also an object of experience. We refer to it as “my body,” just as we say “my hand” or “my face,” indicating that it is something we have, not what we are.
The body undergoes changes—childhood, youth, old age—but the feeling of “I” remains continuous. If we were truly the body, we would have many different “I”s corresponding to these changes. Yet, even though the body alters, the sense of being—the awareness of “I”—remains.
The first person is not the mind, because thoughts and emotions come and go. We say, “I am happy,” “I am sad,” or “I am thinking,” but none of these states are permanent. If we were the mind, our identity would be lost every time a thought disappeared. Yet, something continues to exist between thoughts—an unbroken sense of presence. Since we are aware of our thoughts, the true “I” must be prior to them.
In Self-enquiry, Sri Ramana Maharshi points out that the “I” we commonly identify with is actually the ego—the false sense of individuality that claims ownership over the body and mind.
The ego says, “I am this body” or “I am thinking,” but this identification is merely an assumption, not a direct truth. The goal of Self-enquiry is to question this ego—Who is this “I” that claims to be the body and the mind? Instead of following thoughts outward, we trace the “I”-thought back to its source.
As we sincerely pursue this enquiry, we find that the ego itself is an illusion, a temporary movement of the mind. When this false identification dissolves, what remains is the pure awareness of being—the real “I”, which is beyond all thoughts, objects, and limitations. This true first person is not something that can be grasped intellectually; it is realized only through direct experience by abiding in the source of “I” itself.
Some people wonder: if the “I” we identify with is the ego, and the ego itself is an illusion, why initiate an inquiry into it? Shouldn’t the focus be solely on realizing the eternal truth of who we really are—Self?
This question arises from a subtle misunderstanding. Realizing the source of one’s true being is a natural outcome of transcending the ego. The illusory ego cannot be simply ignored—it must be dissolved through enquiry.
An illusion can persist only as long as it is unexamined. Just as a rope mistaken for a snake disappears upon closer inspection, the ego can only be destroyed by investigating its nature.
Sri Ramana Maharshi makes this clear when he says:
“The thought ‘Who am I?’ will destroy all other thoughts, and like the stick used for stirring the burning pyre, it will itself in the end get destroyed. Then, there will arise Self-realization.”
(Who am I? – Para 10)
Self-enquiry is not about clinging to the ego, but about following it to its very root. When one sincerely investigates “Who am I?”, the ego, which thrives on assumptions, begins to dissolve. It is seen for what it truly is—a mere thought, a fleeting appearance in the vast presence of the Self.
By turning attention inward and holding onto the sense of “I” without attaching it to the body or mind, the false dissolves, and the real remains—ever present, unchanging, and self-luminous.
Thus, Self-enquiry is not about searching for something new, nor is it about blindly rejecting the ego. It is the direct means to eliminate illusion, leaving nothing but the pure awareness of being—the Self that has always been.
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Self-enquiry is the one infallible means, the only direct one, to realize the unconditioned, absolute being that you really are.
~ Sri Ramana Maharshi ~
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