post 4

Sri Ramana says that all our thoughts are predicated on the root thought of "I". Everyone has this underlying feeling and sense of "I", a sense of "Me", and it manifests in both our external conversations and internal self talk. As we go through life experiences, we say things like, "I am rich, I am poor, I am wise, I suffer, I enjoy, I am victorious, I am spiritual, I feel defeated, I am exalted, I am humiliated", I am sad, I am happy, etc. If we watch our mind carefully, we see that the thoughts of I am this and I am that and this is mine and this is what I want or don't want are endless. This root thought/feeling of "I" is the common underlying theme in our personality and thinking. Sri Ramana's teaching is to inquire into this subtle sense of "I" that everyone has naturally, and watch when, where, and how it arises in us. The method is to pay attention to what we call in Sanskrit as "Aham" or the "I" sense, watch it and remain with it until the "I" dissolves and merges in the Heart. Immediately, simultaneously, the Infinite Eye, the Universal Being, reveals its nature as one's own Self.