Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi
ॐ
Nāṉ Yār? (Who am I?)
Only by [means of] the investigation “Who am I?” will the mind subside [or cease to exist].
The thought “Who am I?” [that is, the urge to investigate oneself], having destroyed all other thoughts, will itself, in the end, be destroyed like a corpse-burning stick [a stick that is used to stir a funeral pyre to ensure that the corpse is burnt entirely].
If other thoughts arise, without trying to complete them it is necessary to investigate to whom they have occurred. However many thoughts rise, what [does it matter]? As soon as each thought appears, if [one] vigilantly investigates to whom it has occurred, it will be clear that [it is] to me. If [one thus] investigates “Who am I?”, the mind will return to its birthplace [the innermost core of one’s being, which is the source from which it arose]; [and since one thereby refrains from attending to it] the thought which had risen will also subside.
When [one] practises and practises in this manner, to the mind the power to stand firmly established in its birthplace will increase [that is, by repeatedly practising turning our attention towards our mere being, which is the birthplace of our mind, our mind’s ability to remain as mere being will increase].
When the subtle mind goes out through the portal of the brain and sense organs, gross names and forms [the thoughts that constitute the mind and the objects that constitute this world] appear; when it remains in the heart [the core of our being], names and forms disappear. Only to [this state of] retaining the mind in the heart without letting it go outwards [does] the name ‘ahamukham’ [‘I-facing’ or self-attentiveness] or ‘antarmukham’ [‘inward-facing’, introspection or introversion] [refer]. Only to [the state of] letting it go outwards [does] the name ‘bahirmukham’ [‘outward-facing’ or extroversion] [refer].
Only when the mind remains firmly established in the heart in this manner will what is called ‘I’ [the ego], which is the root [base, foundation or origin] of all thoughts, depart [disappear or cease] and will the ever-existing Self alone shine.
The place [space or state] devoid of even the slightest thought called ‘I’ is svarūpa [our ‘own form’ or actual self]. That alone is called ‘mauna’ [silence].
Only to [the state of] thus ‘just being’ does the name ‘jñāna-dṛṣṭi’ [‘knowledge-seeing’, the experience of true knowledge] refer. What ‘just being’ (summā-v-iruppadu) is, is only making the mind dissolve in ātma-svarūpa [our own actual self]. Besides [this state of ‘just being’], knowing the thoughts of others, knowing the three times [past, present, and future], and knowing what is happening in distant places cannot be jñāna-dṛṣṭi.
Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi - WHO AM I?, Paragraph Six
Original Tamil prose by Bhagavan Sri Ramana with English translation by Michael James
