In Papaji’s Advaitic vision, self-inquiry occupies a central and uncompromisingly direct role as the means of recognizing one’s true nature as pure awareness. Taking up the question “Who am I?” as received from Ramana Maharshi, he presented it not as a philosophical puzzle but as a radical turning of attention back to the very sense of “I.” This inquiry is not aimed at constructing a conceptual answer; rather, it exposes that the “I” taken to be a separate person, doer, or seeker is itself only a thought. When this root-thought is examined at its source, the illusory sense of individuality is seen through, and what remains is the ever-present Self.

Papaji consistently emphasized that such inquiry is immediate rather than gradual. He rejected the notion of a long, step-by-step path and insisted that genuine self-inquiry can reveal the Self in the present moment, as a single, decisive seeing. For him, the power of “Who am I?” lay in its capacity to halt the outward movement of the mind and direct attention to the awareness in which all thoughts arise and subside. In this way, self-inquiry functions less as a prolonged discipline and more as a sharp instrument that cuts through the assumption of being a separate entity.

At the same time, he drew a clear distinction between mental analysis and authentic inquiry. Mechanical repetition of the question or intellectual speculation about the Self was seen as missing the mark. True self-inquiry, as he presented it, silences conceptual activity and invites a direct recognition that the seeker is already what is sought. Once the “I”-thought ceases to command belief, the question itself naturally falls away, leaving only pure being or consciousness.

After this recognition, Papaji’s emphasis shifted from doing to being, from method to effortless abidance. Self-inquiry, in his teaching, is ultimately a pointer rather than a permanent practice: it serves to reveal that the Self was never absent, never bound, and never in need of attainment. When the illusion of a separate seeker is exposed, what remains is a silent, choiceless resting as that awareness which was present all along.