Self-enquiry (Ramana Maharshi)

Self-enquiry, also spelled self-inquiry (Sanskrit vichara, also called jnana-vichara or ātma-vichār), is the constant attention to the inner awareness of "I" or "I am" recommended by Ramana Maharshi as the most efficient and direct way of discovering the unreality of the "I"-thought.

Ramana taught that the "I"-thought will disappear and only "I-I" or self-awareness remains. This results in an "effortless awareness of being", and by staying with it this "I-I" gradually destroys the vasanas "which cause the 'I'-thought to rise," and finally the 'I'-thought never rises again, which is Self-realization or liberation.

Vichāra (Sanskrit: विचार) means deliberation; its root is वि (prefix to verbs and nouns it expresses) – चर् (to move, roam, obtain knowledge of). It is the faculty of discrimination between right and wrong; it is deliberation about cause and effect, and the final analysis; it is also the enquiry into the nature of the Atman, Satya, Ishvara and Brahman. This Sanskrit word, Vichāra, does not have a corresponding word in English. Vichāra is reflection and contemplation upon the meaning of Vedantic truths, and leads the individual to true knowledge, it leads to Brahman, the Universal Self.

Vichara is also called jnana-vichara or ātma-vichār by his devotees.

Ātman (IAST: ātman, Sanskrit: आत्मन्) is a Sanskrit word that is usually translated as "self". The root *ēt-men (breath) is cognate with Old English "æþm", Greek "asthma", German "Atem": "atmen" (to breathe). It is derived from Latin "anima" (breath,soul), which is cognate to Sanskrit "ánilaḥ" (wind). Although "ánilaḥ" and "ātman" have similar meaning, they are not etymologically related.

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