Staying Focused on the Self

Someone contacted me asking about the teachings of Ramana and also asking how I stay focused on the Self. Here is my response:

In my experience, the great power of Ramana's teaching is as you say in the focused simplicity of the message. Self-inquiry can point you all the way back to the source of Being in pure Presence. And yet I also at times find that to be its limitation. Formless awareness loves to play in form and all of the many levels of existence....it even loves forming egos!

Perhaps, a balanced perspective is that there is a place for discovering your true nature as empty awareness, and yet that is not the end of the inquiry but just another beginning. There are all of the endless possibilities inherent in Consciousness to be explored and enjoyed as well.

And so in answer to your question as to how I stay focused on the Self, I would say that as I discover more and more about the Self I keep finding in deeper ways that there is nothing else here. That makes it easy to stay focused on the Self as I can't miss. Every experience is worthy of inquiry and deeper understanding and love. It is like eating at a buffet instead of having to order something specific off of the menu.

There are several more articles on this site that explore self-inquiry in more depth:

• The Practice and Purpose of Self-Inquiry
• The True Gift of Self-Inquiry
• Endless Inquiry
• Self-Inquiry Made Simple
• Who Am I? Regardless of Where Am I? 
• Am I? An Alternative Self-Inquiry Question

Note to readers: Please feel free to email me with questions or topics you would like to see addressed on this blog using the form on the contact page.