Sri Ramana Maharshi:

Visitor (A youth of twenty): How to realize Self?

M: Whose Self? Find out.

V: Who am I?

M: Find it yourself.

V: I do not know.

M: Who is it that says "I don't know"? What is not known? In that statement, who is the "I"?

V: Somebody in me.

M: Who is the somebody?

V: Maybe some power.

M: Find it.

V: How to realize Brahman?

M: Without knowing the Self, why do you seek to know Brahman?

V: The sastras say Brahman pervades all and me too.

M: Find the "I" in me and then there will be time to think of Brahman.

V: Why was I born?

M: Who was born? The answer is the same for all your questions.

V: Who am I then?

M: (Smiling) Have you come to examine me and ask me? You must say who you are.

V: In deep sleep the soul leaves the body and remains elsewhere. When it re-enters I awake. Is it so?

M: What is it that leaves the body?

V: The power, perhaps.

M: Find out the power.

V: The body is composed of five elements. What are the elements?

M: Without knowing the Self how do you aim at knowing the elements?

The young man sat for a while and then left with permission. The Master remarked later: "All right. It will work."