Who Am I?

Who Am I?
The Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi

Introduction
“Who am I?” is the title given to a set of questions and answers bearing on Self-enquiry. The
questions were put to Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi by one Sri M. Sivaprakasam Pillai about
the year 1902. Sri Pillai, a graduate in Philosophy, was at the time employed in the Revenue
Department of the South Arcot Collectorate. During his visit to Tiruvannamalai in 1902 on official
work, he went to Virupaksha Cave on Arunachala Hill and met the Master there. He sought from
him spiritual guidance, and solicited answers to questions relating to Self-enquiry. As Bhagavan
was not talking then, not because of any vow he had taken, but because he did not have the
inclination to talk, he answered the questions put to him by gestures, and when these were not
understood, by writing. As recollected and recorded by Sri Sivaprakasam Pillai, there were
fourteen questions with answers to them given by Bhagavan. This record was first published by
Sri Pillai in 1923, along with a couple of poems composed by himself relating how Bhagavan’s
grace operated in his case by dispelling his doubts and by saving him from a crisis in life. ‘Who
am I?’ has been published several times subsequently. We find thirty questions and answers in
some editions and twenty-eight in others. There is also another published version in which the
questions are not given, and the teachings are rearranged in the form of an essay. The extant
English translation is of this essay. The present rendering is of the text in the form of twenty-eight
questions and answers.
Along with Vicharasangraham (Self-Enquiry), Nan Yar (Who am I?) constitutes the first set of
instructions in the Master’s own words. These two are the only prosepieces among Bhagavan’s
Works. They clearly set forth the central teaching that the direct path to liberation is Self-enquiry.
The particular mode in which the enquiry is to be made is lucidly set forth in Nan Yar. The mind
consists of thoughts. The ‘I’ thought is the first to arise in the mind. When the enquiry ‘ Who am I?’
is persistently pursued, all other thoughts get destroyed, and finally the ‘I’ thought itself vanishes
leaving the supreme non-dual Self alone. The false identification of the Self with the phenomena
of non-self such as the body and mind thus ends, and there is illumination, Sakshatkara. The process
of enquiry of course, is not an easy one. As one enquires ‘Who am I?’, other thoughts will arise;
but as these arise, one should not yield to them by following them , on the contrary, one should ask
‘To whom do they arise ?’ In order to do this, one has to be extremely vigilant. Through constant
enquiry one should make the mind stay in its source, without allowing it to wander away and get
lost in the mazes of thought created by itself. All other disciplines such as breath-control and
meditation on the forms of God should be regarded as auxiliary practices. They are useful in so far
as they help the mind to become quiescent and one-pointed.
For the mind that has gained skill in concentration, Self-enquiry becomes comparatively easy. It is by
ceaseless enquiry that the thoughts are destroyed and the Self realized - the plenary Reality in which
there is not even the ‘I’ thought, the experience which is referred to as “Silence”.
This, in substance, is Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi’s teaching in Nan Yar (Who am I?).
University of Madras - June 30, 1982

Ref: Who Am I? (Nan Yar?)
The Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi
Translation by
Dr. T. M. P. MAHADEVAN
From the original Tamil

Note: This is not my own content. But posted from the book above mentioned in ref.
It is posted word to word as published in the original source.
It is only spiritual service.
Image sources: google images

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