Brunton: What exactly is the Self

[Guest guest]

Brunton: What exactly is the Self of which you speak? If what you say is true

there must be another self in man.

Sri Ramana: Can a man be possessed of two identities, two selves? to understand

this matter is it first necessary for a man to analyze himself. Because it has

long been his habit to think as others think, he has never faced his "I" in the

true manner. He has not a correct picture of himself; he has too long identified

himself with the body and the brain. Therefore I tell you to pursue this

enquiry. 'Who am I'?

You ask me to describe this true Self to you. What can be said: It is That out

of which the sense of the personal 'I' arises and into which it will have to

disappear.

Brunton: Disappear? How can one lose the feeling of one's personality?

Sri Ramana: The first and foremost of all thoughts, the primeval thought in the

mind of every man, is the thought 'I'. It is only after the birth of this

thought that any other thoughts can arise at all. It is only after the first

personal pronoun, 'I' has arisen in the mind that the second personal pronoun,

'you' can make its appearance. If you could mentally follow the 'I' thread until

it led you back to its source you would discover that, just as it is the first

thought to appear so it is the last to disappear. This is a matter which can be

experienced.

Brunton: You mean that it is possible to conduct such a mental investigation

into oneself?

Sri Ramana: Certainly. It is possible to go inwards until the last thought. 'I'

gradually vanishes.

Brunton: What is then left? Will a man then become quite unconscious or will he

become an idiot?

Sri Ramana: No; on the contrary, he will attain that consciousness which is

immortal and he will become truly wise when he has awakened to his true Self,

which is the real nature of man.

Brunton: But surely the sense of 'I' must also pertain to that?

Sri Ramana: The sense of 'I' pertains to the person, the body and the brain.

When a man knows his true Self for the first time something else arises form the

depths of his being and takes possession of him. That something is behind the

mind; it is infinite, divine, eternal. Some people call it the Kingdom of

Heaven, other call it the soul and others again Nirvana, and Hindus call it

Liberation; you may give it what name you wish, When this happens a man has not

really lost himself; rather he has found himself.

Unless and until a man embarks on this quest of the true Self, doubt and

uncertainty will follow his footsteps through life. The greatest kings and

statesman try to rule other when in their heart of hearts they know that they

cannot rule themselves. Yet the greatest power is at the command of the man who

has penetrated to his inmost depth--What is the use of knowing about everything

else when you do not yet know who you are? Men avoid this enquiry into the true

Self, but what else Is there so worthy to be undertaken?

 

>From Ramana Maharshi by Arthur Osborne