Self-enquiry is just keeping our mind fixed firmly on ourself

In a Zoom meeting with the San Diego Ramana Satsang (ramana-satsang-sd@googlegroups.com) on 1st October 2023, Michael answers various questions about Bhagavan’s teachings.

Devotee #1: When doing self-enquiry, when asking in whom is this thought occurring, the answer is, in me. And when asking, who am I, you understand this is not a question to be answered but to be explored or investigated. But if I were to answer, would it be correct to say that I am the observer of the illusory mind/body Susan? To explain, I, Susan am walking down the street, I follow Ramana’s teachings and so I say to myself, I, the I, as in I am is observing Susan walking down the street, and I am now observing Susan stopping to by a cup of coffee.

Devotee #2: No matter how much I try, I am unable to pursue the path of athma vichara with dedication. Firstly, it is very hard to practice self inquiry. Secondly, on those very few occasions when I actually sit and try and focus, I don’t know what to expect when I close my eyes and observe my thoughts because I am not sure how “self” even feels. Is the thoughtless state the actual self, because I am unable to go beyond that? How do I not fall into the trap of frustration and keep persevering?

This episode can also be watched as a video here and a more compressed audio copy in Opus format (which can be listened to in the VLC media player and some other apps) can be downloaded from here.