Upadeshasaram

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18. All mental activities are rooted in the I-thought. The mind is its

thoughts. Know that the ego is the mind.

 

19. Meditating " from where does this I come " the ego falls away. This is

Self-inquiry.

 

20. When the ego is destroyed the pure I, the heart opens by itself as the

supreme fullness of being.

 

These three verses explain the practice of Self-inquiry which involves tracing

the I thought back to its origin in the heart. Returning the mind and ego to the

heart, one discovers infinite being as one's true awareness. This is Ramana's

most characteristic teaching and the main path of jnana yoga.

 

21. This heart is known by the word I in our daily experience. Even when the

ego is forgotten in deep sleep, it continues as its foundational being.

 

Another method of Self-inquiry is to trace our waking consciousness back to

the awareness that persists even in deep sleep when the mind is put to rest.

That deep sleep I is the real Self, while the waking ego is an illusion. Once

one has learned Self-inquiry in the waking state one must carry it over to dream

and deep sleep for it to be really efficacious.

 

23. As the illuminator of Being how can Consciousness be different from it?

Consciousness exists as Being. That consciousness exists as I.

 

Another method is to see being as consciousness and consciousness as I or pure

subjectivity. Once we have returned to that Unitary Being we realize it as pure

consciousness and the true Self.

...

27. Consciousness devoid of knowing and not knowing is the real knowledge.

What else is there to know?

 

Another method is to meditate on " What is knowledge? " The real knowledge is

devoid of any object to be known. It is self-luminous self-aware wisdom. The

highest knowing is going beyond knowledge. This is not a mere theoretical leap

but a revolution at the core of consciousness.

 

 

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