The Question That Unlocks Everything: “Who Am I?”
Have you ever really asked yourself the core question “Who am I?” Not in an intellectual way, but by turning inward with intense self-inquiry to discover the truth of your Being? The great spiritual master Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi taught that this simple question is the key to unlocking the deepest realizations about our true nature.
In the ancient teachings compiled in “Who Am I?”, Sri Ramana illuminates the path of Self-inquiry or vichara as the direct means to experience the Supreme Self beyond the limited identities we tend to confuse as our real existence. He asks us to negate everything we are not – the body, senses, thoughts, and ego-mind itself – by firmly holding to the “I-I” until only the pure Awareness remains.
It is not an intellectual process but an intense meditation of tracing the “I” feeling back to its Source. As thoughts arise, instead of following them, we ask “To whom do they arise?” The answer is always “To me.” Then we inquire definitively “Who am I?” This radically shifts the mind away from its fragmented outward tendencies toward the simple, still presence of the Self.
Sri Ramana assures us that no matter how steeped in negativity or sin one’s mind may be, this unwavering Self-attentiveness will inevitably destroy even the most deep-rooted mental afflictions and realized the silence of One’s eternal, blissful nature. He says:
“Without yielding to the doubt ‘Is it possible, or not?’, one should persistently hold on to the meditation on the Self. Even if one be a great sinner, one should not worry and weep ‘O! I am a sinner, how can I be saved?’; one should completely renounce the thought ‘I am a sinner’; and concentrate keenly on meditation on the Self; then, one would surely succeed.”
This practice of abiding as the supreme, nameless “I” is not about gaining anything new, but simply being What We Already Are by removing the ego’s coverings. As Sri Ramana states, “What exists in truth is the Self alone.” The path of vichara represents the dedication to stand firmly as that Self until the blissful realization of our infinite, divine nature shines as naturally as the rising sun.
Are you ready to take the plunge within and relentlessly ask the question that yogis across the ages have asked? “Who Am I?” Find out for yourself the infinite freedom of what lies prior to all thoughts and manifestations. That is the promise and direct invitation of Bhagavan Sri Ramana’s incomparable masterpiece of spiritual instruction. Let the inquiry begin.
