Eleven Verses on Self-enquiry
Atma-Vichara Patikam
1. Thinking
is a vritti;
being is not a vritti (thought). If we scrutinize “Who is thinking?” the
thinking process will come to as standstill. Even when thoughts do not exist,
do you have any doubt about your own existence as “I am”? Abiding in your own
existence, which shines as “I am,” the source, from which all thoughts rise, is
the state of Self-abidance. Abide thus.
2. He who thinks is the soul, or jiva. He who
exists as “I am” without any thought is God. If the thinker thinks with great
love of that which merely exists as “I am,” this Selfward-turned thought will
become the thought-free consciousness, which will destroy all thoughts. When
the thinker thus dies along with his thoughts, the state of abidance, which
then remains shining as “I am,” is the state of union with God or Siva-sayujya.
3. He who
thinks, “I am so-and-so” is just a thought like all the other thoughts. But of
all thoughts, this thought, “I am so-and-so” alone is the first. The soul who
thinks, “I am so-and-so” is merely a reflection of our real Self. When we abide
and shine only as that real Self, the thought “I am so-and-so” will not rise.
4. In
dreamless sleep, this thought “I am so-and-so” does not at all exist. In the
true state of Self-knowledge also, this thought “I am so-and-so” does not at
all exist. But in the states of waking and dream, which rise in between the
darkness of sleep and the pure light of Self-knowledge, the thought “I am this
body” seems to appear and disappear. Therefore this limited “I” is not real;
this “I” is only a thought.
5. The
flourishing of this “I” is only the flourishing of misery. This “I” is that
which is called the ego. This ego-”I” rises and flourishes only because of
non-inquiry (avichara). If we inquire “Who is this I?”, and thereby vigilantly
scrutinize only the feeling “I,” without attending to the adjunct “so-and-so”
with which it is mixed, this adjunct will disappear, since it is devoid of any
real existence.
6. The second
and third persons, the known objects, subsist only because of the first person,
the knowing subject, who is the root. If the mind, which is ever wavering
because of attending to second and third persons, turns and attends to the
first per-son, who rises as “I am so-and-so,” the adjunct “so-and-so” will
cease to exist and the real Self, which always exists as “I am,” will shine
forth spontaneously. That real Self, which is the indestructible base of the
first person, alone is true knowledge (Jnana).
7. Thinking
about second and third persons is foolishness, because when we attend to second
and third persons the mental activities (mano-vrittis) rise up and multiply.
But the act of attending to the first person is equal to committing suicide,
because only by scrutinizing the first person will the ego die of its own
accord.
8. Attending
to any second or third person in-stead of turning and attending to this “I,”
the first person feeling that is always experienced by every-one, is only
ignorance (ajnana). If you ask, “The ego (the feeling ‘I am so-and-so’) is only
a product of ignorance, so attending to the ego is also ignorance, is it not?
Why then should we attend to this ‘I’?” Listen to what is said below.
9. Why is the
ego destroyed when we scrutinize “What am I”? Because this “I”-thought (aham-vritti)
is a reflected ray of Self-consciousness; and thus unlike other thoughts, which
are devoid of consciousness, it is always directly connected with its source.
Therefore, when our attention dives deeper and deeper within by following this
reflected ray “I,” the length of this reflected ray “I” will diminish until
finally it has shrunk to nothing. When the ego, the feeling “I am so-and-so,”
thus disappears, the consciousness that will remain shining as “I am I” is the
true knowledge of Self.
10. Do not do
anything thinking, “It should be done only by me.” Nothing is done by you,
because you are simply nothing. Knowing this truth from the beginning, if you
refrain entirely from rising as “I am the doer,” all actions will happen of
their own accord, and your peace will ever remain undisturbed.
11. If we scrutinize
“What is the reality that ever exists?” we will find that nothing in this world
is real. Since Self alone is real, let us mentally renounce everything else and
ever abide unshakably as that reality, which will remain shining alone as “I
am.” This alone is the service enjoined upon us by Lord Ramana, who ever-abides
as the eternal Self.
