Atma Vichara Patikam (Eleven Verses on Self-Enquiry) 1. Thinking is a mentation (vritti) ; being is not a mentation !

If enquired Who thinks ?, thinking will come to an end ! Even when thoughts do not exist, do not you exist? To remain thus in the source of thoughts is the state of Self- abidance (nishtha) ! Be thus! 2. He who thinks is the individual soul (jiva); he who is, is the Supreme (brahman) ! If the thinker thinks with great love of That which is still, this thought, the love to be, will become the thought free thought which kills all thinking. When the thinker thus dies with all his thoughts, to remain surviving him is union with the Supreme (siva-sayujyam) ! 3. He who thinks I (am so-and-so) is himself one among the thoughts. Of all thoughts, the thought I (am so-andso) is the very first. The jiva who thinks I (am so-and--so) is only our reflection. For, we never think I (am this or that) when we shine as That (the Supreme). 4. This thought, I (am the body), does not exist in deep sleep. This thought, I (am the body), does not exist in the true state of jnana either. Since it rises and slips away in between (two such states), this I is unreal; hence, this I is only a thought. 5. The waxing of this thought I is indeed the waxing of misery! This thought I alone is what is called the ego. It is only because of non-enquiry that this I has come into existence and is flourishing ! If, instead of being favoured, it is enquired into, What is this !?, it will disappear, losing its existence. 6. The second and third persons (the objects) live only because of the root, the first person (the subject or ego). If the fickle mind turns towards the first person, the first person will become non-existent and That which really exists will then shine forth. This indestructible, real Self is Jnana. 7. To think of second and third persons is sheer foolishness, for by thinking of second and third persons the mental activities (mano-vritlis) will wax.. (On the other hand,) attending to the first person is equal to committing suicide, for only by enquiring into the first person will the ego itself die ... automatically 8. Attending to second and third persons instead of turning towards and attending to the first person is an attention based only upon ignorance (ajnana). If you ask, Then is not the attention to the ego also an attention based upon ignorance? So why should we attend to this I?, then listen. 9. The reason why this I dies when enquired into, What am I? is as follows: This thought I is a reflected ray of Jnana (Self), (and it alone is directly connected with Self, whereas the other thoughts are not); (so) when the attention goes deeper and deeper within along the ray I, its length decreases more and more, and when the ray I dies that which shines as I is Jnana. 10. Do not perform any action thinking It should be done by me. Nothing is done by you, (for) you are simply nothing ! By knowing this first, if you avoid the rising of doership, then everything will be done well by Him and your peace will remain undisturbed ! 11. When scrutinizing What is real?, nothing in the world is (found to be) real; Self alone is real (satyam). Therefore, let us renounce everything and ever remain unshakably as the reality (sat). This alone is the service enjoined upon us by Sri Ramana, our eternal Lord! b) Yar Jnani? (Who is Jnani?) You yourself are a mere thought; (which did not exist in sleep). There is only one who exists, and That is you. Thus should you know! No matter how many Mahatmas you visit and no matter even if they exhibit the eightfold occult powers (ashta slddhis) know that the true Mahatma is only He who turns your attention Selfwards, advising, Mind not these juggleries, turn within. Let anyone be a Jnani, what is it for us? Until and unless we know our Self, it will be of no avail to us. Therefore, by means of enquiry, destroy the mind which tries to know 'This one or that one is a Jnani. It is therefore proper to know through Silence that the Jnana (the consciousness) which never rises as I am this or that itself is the Jnani !

c) Sandehi Yarendru Sandehi ! (Doubt the Doubter !) 1. An apt reply to the doubts that have come, or a state in which doubts do not come which do you prefer? 2. Even if the doubt which has once come is cleared by an apt reply, again another will spring forth in your mind. If you like not to have such a nuisance again, enquire within Whence does this doubt rise? 3. Doubts can rise only about the existence of things other than oneself; no doubt can rise about the existence of oneself, If ones existence is mistaken to be the bodys existence, then doubts will rise about the world and God (which come into existence only when the wrong, identification I am the body rises); if ones existence is known to be Self, the sole existence, no doubt will rise ! 7. Doubts about the reality of the world and God rise only because of ones defect of not knowing the reality of one-self. When ones reality shines as Self, without another, what doubt can rise? 8. Doubts do not rise during sleep. When sleep ends, someone, as if you, rises from there. This you who is now here (in the waking state) is the doubter. He did not exist in sleep, but you did exist there. Therefore, you (who exist even in sleep) are not the doubter ! 9. It is only in the waking and dream states that the doubter exists; he ceases to exist in sleep. Did you who existed then (in sleep) have any doubts? You who exist (even in sleep) are That (Brahman or Self). Sadhana and Work The charge made against humanity is that throughout their life all people attend only to second and third persons (the objects such as you, he, she, it, this, that and so on) and they never turn their attention towards the first person (the subject I) in order to find out Who am I?. From the moment of waking till the moment of going to sleep, from birth till death, from creation till dissolution, all people-indeed all living beings-pay attention only to second and third persons. And what is the net result of such attention? Untold heaps of misery! But in sleep, when you do not attend to any second or third person, you do not experience any misery. Overlooking the peaceful happiness that you experienced while asleep, you search for happiness in the waking state by attending to innumerable external objects. However, does not the fact that you experienced happiness during sleep in the absence of those objects, indicate that happiness lies not in the objects but in you, the first person or subject? Therefore why not you try, even in the waking state, to attend not to second and third persons but to the first person I ? He used to reply that work need not be a hindrance to spiritual practice (sadhana). This does not mean, of course, that an aspirant should work in the same spirit as a wordly man or that he should work with the same aim in view. The mind, speech and body should work only for that amount of time and with that amount of effort which is required for paying the rent for providing the food, clothing and shelter necessary for the body. If instead we devote all our time and effort towards accumulating comforts and conveniences for the body, as worldly people do, .... Therefore, a sincere aspirant should arrange his work in such a way that he will spend only a portion of his time and energy for maintaining the body, so that he can utilize the remaining time and energy in striving to earn the great profit of Self-knowledge. For some aspirants prarabdha will be arranged by God or Guru in such a way that they need to do little or no work to maintain their body, whereas for other aspirants it may be arranged in such a way that they have to spend most of their time in working for the maintenance of the body.