Sri Ramana Maharshi on SELF-ENQUIRY - 5

ॐ OAM NAMO BHAGAVATE SRI RAMANAYA ॐ

Lady: I begin by asking myself  ‘Who am I?’ and eliminate the body as not ‘I’.  the breath as not ‘I’,  the mind as not ‘I,  but then I am unable to proceed further.

Bhagavan: Well, that is all right so far as the mind goes. Your process is only mental. Actually all the scriptures mention this process only in order to guide the seeker to the Truth. The Truth cannot directly be indicated; that is why this mental process is used. You see, he who eliminates all that ‘not-I’ cannot eliminate the ‘I’. In order to be able to say ‘I am not this’ or’ I am That’, there must be the ‘I’ to say it. This ‘I’ is only the ego, or the ‘I’-thought.  After the rising up with this ‘I’ thought, all other thoughts arise. The ’I’-thought is therefore the root thought. If the root is pulled out, all the rest is uprooted at the same time. Therefore, seek the root.’I’; question yourself ‘Who am I?’; find out the source of the ‘I’.   Then all these problems will vanish and the pure Self alone will remain.

L: But how am I to do it?

Bhagavan: The ‘I’ is always there, whether in deep sleep, in dream or on the waking state. The one who sleeps is the same as the one who is now speaking. There is always the feeling of ‘I’. If it were not so you would have to deny your existence. But you do not. You say: “I am”. Find out who is.

from:Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi 197