Self Enquiry by Ramana Maharshi

Q: Which is genuine Vichara – asking myself Who am I? every time a thought arises or keenly investigating the problem of who I am?
B: The latter. If you want to get rid of a poisonous tree, do you lop off its leaves one by one? What is the use of such an approach? In the time it takes for you to cut down one leaf, leaves multitudinous in number and multifarious in variety would have sprouted forth from the vicious tree. Instead, attack the poisonous root of illusion, namely the ahamvritti, straightaway!

Bhagavan: ( )…Otherwise, the aspirant will in all likelihood unknowingly mistake the shunyastithi [state of emptiness] to be Jnana and rest in it, eventually becoming hopelessly lost.

It is an unfortunate fact that many teachers of meditation tutor shunyastithi and purposely delude their pupils into believing that it is Jnana.

Shunyastithi [state of emptiness] is a deadly spiritual poison.

It drives one away from the Heart, thereafter the lost ground has to be recovered all the way by means of doubling-back if Jnana is to be reached. That is why meditation is not encouraged here, but only Vichara.

Bhagavan: People are so obsessed with and enamoured by mental activity that they imagine that by some special kind of mental activity, such as meditation, for instance, the Self can be duped into revealing Itself. It is not so. Only complete cessation of mental activity can reveal the Self. Giving up the personal self or the idea of the seekers existence, should, again, be volitionless and unconditional; it should not be driven by any motive.

Bhagavan: People are so obsessed with and enamoured by mental activity that they imagine that by some special kind of mental activity, such as meditation, for instance, the Self can be duped into revealing Itself. It is not so. Only complete cessation of mental activity can reveal the Self. Giving up the personal self or the idea of the seekers existence, should, again, be volitionless and unconditional; it should not be driven by any motive.

Chadwick: [unhappily] I have been staying here for months. I see no improvement in me. If anything, my condition seems to be taking a turn for the worse. I am desperate to Realise in this lifetime
B: Give up the idea that you are striving for Realisation.

Q: What are the indicators based on which I shall be enabled to find out for myself whether I am doing vichara correctly or not?
B: If vichara has resulted in a state of mind wherein it abides as identical with pure Subjective Consciousness, then you have done it correctly. However, it is not easy for the neophyte to tell whether his mind is presently abiding as identical with pure Subjective Consciousness, because the torpid mental state of manolayam [state where mind structures are hazily projected] is often mistakenly regarded as being the tabula-rasa mental state of pure Subjective Consciousness.

Bhagavan: People are so obsessed with and enamoured by mental activity that they imagine that by some special kind of mental activity, such as meditation, for instance, the Self can be duped into revealing Itself. It is not so. Only complete cessation of mental activity can reveal the Self. Giving up the personal self or the idea of the seekers existence, should, again, be volitionless and unconditional; it should not be driven by any motive.

Bhagavan: People are so obsessed with and enamoured by mental activity that they imagine that by some special kind of mental activity, such as meditation, for instance, the Self can be duped into revealing Itself. It is not so. Only complete cessation of mental activity can reveal the Self. Giving up the personal self or the idea of the seekers existence, should, again, be volitionless and unconditional; it should not be driven by any motive.

B.: Is it the mind that wants to kill the mind? The mind cannot kill the mind. Anything that you endeavour to ‘do’ with the mind will only reinforce and perpetuate the notion of mind. Rather than pointlessly wondering, ‘How shall I eradicate the mind?’, go on seeking the mind. Incessant search for what mind is results in its disappearance.

The thing to do is to completely ignore the objects that appear by the reflected light of the mind, and instead seek the source of the mind’s illumination. If the source of the mind is continuously sought for, it begins to subside.