Gems From Bhagwan Sri Ramana Maharshi

1. This is suitable only for ripe souls. The rest should follow different methods according to the state of their minds.
2. To all deep-thinking minds, the enquiry about the “I” and its nature has an irresistible fascination. Where the “I” merges, another entity emerges as “I” - “I” of its own accord. That is the perfect Self. The duality of subject and object and trinity of seer, sight, and seen can exist only if supported by the One. If one turns inward in search of that One Reality they fall away. Those who see this are those who see Wisdom – No more in doubt.
3. The ignorance is identical with the “I”-thought. Find its source and it will vanish. That which rises in this body as “I” is the mind. Thoughts alone constitute the mind; and for all thoughts the base or source is the “I” thought. “I” is the mind.
4. When other thoughts arise, one should not pursue them, but should inquire: “To whom do they arise?” It does not matter how many thoughts arise. As each thought arises, one should inquire with diligence, "To whom has this thought arisen?" The answer that would emerge would be "To me." Thereupon if one inquires "Who am I?,” the mind will go back to its source; and the thought that arose will become quiescent. With repeated practice in this manner, the mind will develop the skill to stay in its source. Once the effort ceases, the state becomes natural and the Supreme takes possession of the person with an unbroken current. Until it has become permanently natural and your habitual state, know that you have not realized the Self, only glimpsed it.
5. We are ever in sushupti. Becoming aware of it in jagrat is samadhi. Aham vritti (I-thought) is broken, Aham sphurana (the “I-I”) is unbroken, continuous. The ajnani cannot remain long in sushupti because his ego pushes him out of it. The Jnani, although he has scorched the ego, it continues to rise again and again due to prarabdha. So, for both the Jnani and the ajnani the ego springs up, but with this difference: whereas the Jnani enjoys the transcendental experience, keeping its lakshya (aim, attention) always fixed on its source, … the ajnani is completely ignorant of it. The former is not harmful, being a mere skeleton of its normal self, like a burnt-up rope. By constantly fixing its attention on the Source, the Heart, the ego gets dissolved into it like a salt doll which has fallen into the ocean.
6. The “I” casts off the illusion of “I” and yet remains as “I”. The I-I Consciousness is a prelude to Self-Realization: when it becomes permanent (Sahaja), it is Self-Realization, Liberation. Knowing the Self is being the Self. To know the Self is to be the Self – as there are not two separate selves. This (state) is thanmaya nishta (abiding as That).
7. Before one becomes established in the Self without any breaks, without any changes, one has to contact and enjoy the Self many times. By steady meditation and the continued practice of self-inquiry, one will finally become permanently established in the Self, without any breaks.
8. A person can still carry on with the ordinary day to day business but he does not identify himself with the activities, but watches them like a dreamer watching a dream. There is no more to do, and no more to be attained. This is the Supreme State of Absolute Bliss. In the words of Bhagavan, it is the SELF and it can be realized by one and all by Self-enquiry.
9. The Self is that where there is absolutely no “I”-thought. That is called “Silence.” The Self itself is the world; the Self itself is “I”; the Self itself is God; all is Siva, the Self. Undifferentiated consciousness is the only true reality. The word “Aham “ is itself very suggestive. The two letters of the word, namely (A) and (HA), are the first and the last letters of the Sanskrit alphabet. The suggestion intended to be conveyed by the word is that it comprises all. How? Because Aham signifies existence itself.