Self-Inquiry
Also known as: Atma Vichara, Vichara
Sanskrit equivalent: आत्मविचार (atma-vichara), 'inquiry into the Self.'
Self-inquiry is a contemplative method, most closely associated with the sage Ramana Maharshi, of persistently asking 'Who am I?' to trace attention back to its source. The practice uses the question to dissolve identification with the thinking mind and reveal awareness itself.
Ramana Maharshi taught that every thought, including 'I am thinking,' arises from and returns to a root sense of 'I.' By repeatedly investigating that 'I' rather than following each thought outward, the practitioner is said to eventually recognize the 'I' itself as awareness, not as a separate person.
Ramana Maharshi's specific method centers on the question 'Who am I?', not as an intellectual exercise seeking a clever answer, but as a practice of tracing the sense of I back to its source and noticing what, if anything, is actually found there. It differs from ordinary introspection or journaling, which examine the content of thoughts and feelings; self-inquiry instead examines the one to whom those thoughts and feelings are appearing, a shift in the direction of attention rather than its object.
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Related Terms
Advaita Vedanta
Advaita Vedanta is a school of Indian philosophy, systematized by the 8th-century teacher Adi Shankara, holding that the individual self (Atman) and the ultimate reality (Brahman) are one and the same. Apparent separateness is attributed to ignorance (avidya), and self-inquiry is the traditional means of dispelling it.
Jnana Yoga
Jnana Yoga is the path of knowledge and discernment, one of the four classical yogic paths, using rigorous self-inquiry and philosophical study to distinguish the eternal Self (Atman) from the temporary, changing contents of body and mind. It is often considered the most intellectually demanding of the classical paths.