One "I", the SELF

Sri Ramana Maharshi

How to realize the Self?

Whose Self? Find out.

Mine, but who am I?

Find out yourself.

I don't know how.

Just think over the question. Who is it that says "I don't know"? Who is the "I" in your statement? What is not known?

Somebody or something in me.

Who is that somebody? In whom?

Perhaps some power.

Find out.

Why was I born?

Who was born? The answer is the same to all your questions.

Who am I then?

(Smiling) You have come to examine me? You must say who you are.

However much I try, I do not catch the "I". It is not even clearly discernible.

Who is it that says that the "I" is not discernible? Are there two "I"s in you that one is not discernible by the other?

Instead of enquiring 'who am I?', can I put the question to myself 'who are you?' since then, my mind may be fixed on You whom I consider to be God in the form of Guru. Perhaps, I would be nearer the goal of my quest by that enquiry than by asking myself 'who am I?'

Whatever form your enquiry may take, you must finally come to the one "I", the SELF.