Self-Enquiry: A Primer
Self-enquiry is the basis of our practice at the Advaita Vedanta Center of Las Vegas. This practice was advanced by Sri Ramana Maharshi (1879-1950), a Hindu saint whose teachings inform the practice of many modern day Advaita Vedantists all around the world.
The goal of self-enquiry is to realize what many Hindus call the “Self,” (or God, or the Absolute, or pure being). One might also describe the Self as the fundamental essence of creation. Self-enquiry is a process by which a devotee can direct his attention inward and discover this pure beingness, or Self. A full exegesis of this process can be found in Be As You Are: The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi (Edited by David Godman), but I will present an abridged version here.
To practice self-enquiry, one must turn away from the thoughts that normally command our attention, and direct that attention instead to the inner feeling of “I,” and to hold it there for as long as possible. This part of the practice is relatively easy for most devotees; however, they will soon find themselves distracted by thoughts (i.e. , the nagging feeling that their inbox is full of unanswered emails, the memory of something that happened earlier in the day, worries about an upcoming project at work, etc.). Whenever these distractions happen—and they will—one must constantly revert one’s attention back to this inner feeling of “I.” Fortunately, with practice, the distractions become less and less, and the ease with which one reverts attention back to the inner feeling of “I” gets easier and easier.
The key is to hold to the subjectively experienced feeling of “I” rather than creating a thought about yourself as someone who is holding to the inner feeling of “I,” which is subtly different from what we’re trying to do. Also, it is important not to create an artificial perception of what you think the inner feeling of “I” is like and hold onto that rather than onto the actual inner feeling of “I.” We are trying to experience what really is, rather than what we think what really is is. Yes, you read that correctly. The trick, if it can be called that, is to let go of thinking entirely and fall back into being-without-thinking, which is the ideal orientation for attending to the inner feeling of “I.” When done correctly, all that remains is an experience of being in which the sense of one’s individuality has disappeared, at least temporarily. This experience of pure being is an experience of the essence of all things. This experience may be fleeting at first but, with consistent practice, it becomes easier to reach and sustain.
As David Godman explains: “When self-enquiry reaches [the highest level] there is an effortless awareness of being in which individual effort is no longer possible since the ‘I’ who makes the effort has temporarily ceased to exist [because one’s sense of one’s individuality has disappeared]. It is not Self-realisation since the ‘I’-thought periodically reasserts itself but it is the highest level of practice. Repeated experience of this state of being weakens and destroys the […] mental tendencies which cause the ‘I’-thought to rise, and, when their hold has been sufficiently weakened, the power of the Self destroys the residual tendencies so completely that the ‘I’-thought never rises again. This is the final and irreversible state of Self-realisation.” In other words, one’s sense of individuality eventually disappears altogether, forever, and only pure being remains—this is the final state of self-realization. According to Hindu thought, the meaning of life is to realize the Self—one is reborn (reincarnated) again and again until one reaches this final state of self-realization. At this point, one is no longer reborn since the final goal has been achieved.
If the Godman quote above seems a bit esoteric, that’s okay—it is not necessary at the beginning stages to understand what self-enquiry looks like when taken to its conclusion. For now, holding to the inner feeling if “I” is enough. If your attention wanders, gently bring it back to the inner feeling of “I.” Eventually, with enough commitment and earnestness, the rest of the journey will happen of its own accord.
It is important to note that this practice is not about mind control or repressing certain thoughts; rather, it is a gentle technique geared toward letting attention rest on awareness of the source, and abiding there for as long as possible. At first, this may seem to take a kind of effort, but eventually self-enquiry will become effortless; at this point, abiding-as-being will be your natural state and it will take great effort to direct attention away from the experience of being. This abidance gives you the best chance of reaching the final state of self-realization.
Self-enquiry should not be viewed as a meditative practice that is done on a cushion, in a certain room, at a certain time of day. Rather, it can be practiced at any hour regardless of what you might be physically engaged in. You can do it while cleaning the house, cooking dinner, exercising, etc. Yes, regular periods of formal practice might be good for beginners, but compartmentalizing self-enquiry soon becomes unnecessary.
