FOR ALL THOUGHTS THE SOURCE IS THE `I-thought’. The mind will merge only by Self-enquiry `Who am I?’ The thought `Who am I?’ will destroy all other thoughts and finally kill itself also. If other thoughts arise, without trying to complete them, one must enquire to whom did this thought arise. What does it matter [...]
EXISTENCE OR CONSCIOUSNESS IS THE ONLY reality. Consciousness plus waking we call waking. Consciousness plus sleep we call sleep. Consciousness plus dream we call dream. Consciousness is the screen on which all the pictures come and go. The screen is real, the pictures are mere shadows on it. The Self and the appearances therein, as [...]
One of Ramana Maharshi’s most frequent comments was that there were only two reliable methods for attaining Self-Realization; one could either pursue self-enquiry or one could surrender.
An almost equally common statement was that jnana and bhakti are ultimately the same. This second statement is usually interpreted to mean that whichever of the two paths one [...]
At the young age of sixteen, when He was not even aware of the fact ‘This is the sadhana of Self-enquiry that directly bestows the experience of Brahman’, it so happened one day that, without any prior intention, Sri Ramana embarked upon this sadhana! On that day as if He were about to die, a [...]
from The Path of Sri Ramana - Part One, Chapter 7 by Sri Sadhu Om
“On hearing the expression ‘Self-enquiry’ [atma-vichara], people generally take it to mean either enquiring into the Self or inquiring about the Self. How to do so? Who is to inquire into the Self, or who is to inquire about Self? What [...]
“Who am I?” is the title given to a set of questions and answers bearing on Self-enquiry. The questions were put to Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi by one Sri M. Sivaprakasam Pillai about the year 1902. Sri Pillai, a graduate in Philosophy, was at the time employed in the Revenue Department of the South Arcot [...]
Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi
A Sanskrit term that was often used, both by Sri Ramana and by other more ancient sages such as Sri Adi Sankara, to describe this empirical practice of self-investigation or self-attentiveness is atma-vichara, which is often loosely translated in English as ’self-enquiry’ or ’self-inquiry’. However, rather than ‘enquiry’, the word vichara [...]
The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi
The philosophy of Sri Ramana derives solely from his experience of true, absolute and non-dual self-knowledge, an experience that transcends all thought, both rational and irrational. However, since we imagine the existence of duality, multiplicity and relativity, we seem to lack the non-dual and absolute knowledge of our own essential [...]
Teachings of Ramana Bhagavan
Happiness lies deep within us, in the very core of our being. Happiness does not exist in any external object, but only in us, who are the consciousness that experiences happiness. Though we seem to derive happiness from external objects or experiences, the happiness that we thus enjoy in fact arises from [...]