Hints for Self-Enquiry

When the rejection of mental activities becomes continuous and automatic, you will begin to have the experience of the Self.

—quoted in David Godman, Living by the Words of Bhagavan, page 263

Bhagavan’s famous instruction summa iru [be still] is often misunderstood. It does not mean that you should be physically still; it means that you should always abide in the Self… In sattva guna [a state of mental quietness and clarity] there is stillness and harmony. If mental activity is necessary while one is in sattva guna it takes place. But for the rest of the time there is stillness… If sattva guna predominates one experiences peace, bliss, clarity and an absence of wandering thoughts. That is the stillness that Bhagavan was prescribing.

—quoted in David Godman, Living by the Words of Bhagavan, page 267.

Meditation must be continuous. The current of meditation must be present in all your activities. With practice, meditation and work can go on simultaneously.

—quoted in David Godman, Living by the Words of Bhagavan, page 274.

When I say, ‘Meditate on the Self’ I am asking you to be the Self, not think about it. Be aware of what remains when thoughts stop. Be aware of the consciousness that is the origin of all your thoughts. Be that consciousness.

—quoted in David Godman, Living by the Words of Bhagavan, page 282.

Go deeply into this feeling of ‘I’. Be aware of it so strongly and so intensely that no other thoughts have the energy to arise and distract you. If you hold this feeling of ‘I’ long enough and strongly enough, the false ‘I’ wll vanish leaving only the unbroken awareness of the real, immanent ‘I’, consciousness itself.

—quoted in David Godman, Living by the Words of Bhagavan, page 299.

The Self is always alert. That is its nature.

—quoted in David Godman, Living by the Words of Bhagavan, page 327.

Continuous attentiveness will only come with long practice. If you are truly watchful, each thought will dissolve at the moment that it appears. But to reach this level of disassociation you must have no attachments at all. If you have the slightest interest in any particular thought, it will evade your attentiveness, connect with other thoughts, and take over your mind for a few seconds. This will happen more easily if you are accustomed to reacting emotionally to a particular thought.

—quoted in David Godman, Living by the Words of Bhagavan, pages 342–43.

Self-inquiry must be done continuously. It doesn’t work if you regard it as a part-time activity.

—David Godman, Annamalai Swami: Final Talks, page 30.

If you can hold on to this knowledge ‘I am Self’ at all times, no further practice is necessary.

—David Godman, Annamalai Swami: Final Talks, page 39.

In the same way, mind is just a Self-inflicted area of darkness in which the light of the Self has been deliberately shut out.

—David Godman, Annamalai Swami: Final Talks, page 57.

In every moment you only have one real choice: to be aware of the Self or to identify with the body and the mind.

—David Godman, Annamalai Swami: Final Talks, page 59.

Your ultimate need is to get established in the changeless peace of the Self. For this you have to give up all thoughts.

—David Godman, Annamalai Swami: Final Talks, page 63.

Tayumanuvar, a Tamil saint whom Bhagavan often quoted, wrote in one of his poems: ‘My Guru merely told me that I am consciousness. Having heard this, I held onto consciousness. What he told me was just one sentence, but I cannot describe the bliss I attained from holding onto that one simple sentence. Through that one sentence I attained a peace and a happiness that can never be explained in words.’

—David Godman, Annamalai Swami: Final Talks, pages 67‒68.