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Ramana Maharshi Self-Inquiry: Theory and Practice* I. The Idea of Self-Inquiry A. “Self-Realization” for Maharshi is not obtaining an insight or new state of consciousness. It is what everyone already essentially is. The true nature of the Self is veiled in ignorance, which takes the form of the belief and consequent feeling that we are essentially separate, individual beings. “I am this body” arises from the mind. The mind superimposes on the Self the idea of a limited being. B. Hence, what is needed is not acquiring a new mental state, but dissolving the activity of the mind; not getting a new consciousness, but losing one’s subject-object consciousness. One must cease thinking that one is this or that thing. C. Ramana Maharshi gives the name self-inquiry (atma-vichara) to the process that results in the dissolution of the sense of separateness, the direct experience of the non-existence of the mind. Since the mind is the source of belief and feeling of separateness, with its dissolution comes the dissolution of the experience of the world as separate from oneself. II. The Process of Atma-Vichara A. Embedded in every self-reference is the I-thought (aham-vritti): e.g., I am hungry, I am tired, I see the car, I need to get an “A” in biology. This “I” is a mental modification of the Self as reflected in the mind. Cf. the analogy of the mirror reflecting sunlight, and in the process imposing limits on the sunlight determined by the shape of the mirror. B. Atma-vichara is simply lending attention to the “I” of the I-thought. Since the I- thought cannot exist without attention to objects, turning attention away from objects to the subjective feeling “I” or “I am” results in the dissolving of the “I- thought.” When the “I” (that is the true Self) is divested of the I (that superimposes limits on the Self), only the I (as Self) remains. “The I-thought disappears and there is an infinitely expanded I-consciousness” (p. 65). C. The I-thought is made up of a subjective sense of “I” or “I am” and some object with which this subjective feeling relates and identifies itself. Atma-vichara initially produces a separation between the subjective feeling of “I” and the objects with which it identifies itself. “You must distinguish between the I, pure in itself, and the I-thought” (p. 49). When sustained, the attention no longer paid to objects produces * Handout by Dr. Michael Sudduth, based on Be As You Are: The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi, ed. with notes by David Godman. a sustained feeling of the “I” at the heart of the I-thought, minus the object. The individual “I” dissolves and there is a direct experience of the Self. D. The aim of atma-vichara is not to become aware of an I, but simply to be the “I.” III. Atma-Vichara vs. Spiritual Practices A. Maharshi says that atma-vichara is distinct from meditation. The latter involves concentration on an object distinct from the subject, including concentration on Brahman as the Self, as sit-chit-ananda (p. 56). Although it succeeds in temporarily dissolving the diverse objects of the mind, some object of concentration remains. It therefore cannot reveal the Self. B. By contrast, atma-vichara involves relaxing and dissolving attention on all objects, withdrawing attention from what one is not. It thereby lends attention only to the subjective feeling of I, but not as an object. (pp 51-52). “The mind, turned outwards, results in thoughts and objects. Turned inwards, it becomes itself the Self.” (p. 62). B. Spiritual practices (sadhanas), including meditation, involve the mind. They are therefore not capable of dissolving the mind. If the mind is presupposed, it cannot be dissolved, in much the same way that a thief posing as a police office cannot apprehend the thief. Atma-vichara, by contrast, does not depend on the activity of the mind. Only that which is real can reveal what is unreal. Cf. counterfeit money can only be exposed as counterfeit by knowing real money. See pp. 52, 61-62. C. Atma-vichara is called the “direct method” because it does not get to the Self by means of the activity of the mind. It goes right to the Self by giving attention directly to the Self as present in the I-thought, as the source from which the mind arises. D. Maharshi acknowledges that at the beginning of the practice of self-inquiry, there is mental activity (p. 53), but with time the mental activity dissipates and eventually ceases. Repeated attention to the “I” erodes the vasanas, that is, the mental tendencies to identify with objects. Eventually, having withdrawn attention from what one is not, there is only effortless awareness of being. .
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