Non-Enquiry: The Greatest Enemy

The Ribhu Gita (ऋभुगीता) forms the sixth part of Siva Rahasya Purana. It details in about two thousand verses the dialogue on the Self and Brahman between Sage Ribhu (who in turn heard it from Lord Shiva Himself) and Sage Nidagha on the slopes of the Mount Kedara in the Himalayas. (source: wikipedia). 

................

• By the persistent and continued bhavana of 'I am the Brahman Self', all thoughts and feelings of differentiation of Self and non-Self will drop off and permanent abidance in Brahman Self will be achieved. This bhavana is possible only for those with a keen inquiring mind intent on knowing the Self and not for these who are indifferent about Self-knowledge.
• Ignorance and indifference in regard to the enquiry of the truth about one self is the store of nescience and trouble, blocking the view of the Self, and creating in a split second all sorts of illusions and harassment of mental worry. Non-enquiry renders bhavana impossible.
• In short, non-enquiry will steep one forever in the ocean of samsara (earthly suffering). There is no greater enemy for one than non-enquiry. Therefore, this habit must be overcome in order to fix the mind in the bhavana which leads to abidance in the Self.
• Enquiry should be made this wise: With the kind help of the Satguru one should enquire 'Who am I? what is this world? what is the reality behind all these?'
• Staying in the company of sadhus (those engaged in the pursuit and enjoyment of the bliss of the Sat Self) and respectfully questioning the Sat Guru Jnani, one should first make oneself clear about the objective to be obtained. This is an important aspect of the enquiry. After thus making sure of the objective, one must firmly abide in that objective of sole Brahman-Self until the Self is unmistakably experienced.
• The conscious introspective concentration of Self enquiry (who am I?) kills all thoughts and destroys the dense darkness of nescience; it effaces all worry; it illuminates the intellect with the radiance of pure awareness; it wipes out all conceptual confusions; it fixes one in Siva-Self; it transforms a host of impending disasters into auspicious events; and lastly, it destroys the ego-mind utterly with all its afflictions.

From "The Essence of Ribhu Gita" by Prof. N. R. Krishnamurthi Aiyer