David Godman portrays self-inquiry as the very heart of Ramana Maharshi’s teaching, a direct and uncompromising means of turning awareness back upon the one who claims to think, feel, and act. Rather than a philosophical puzzle, “Who am I?” functions as a practical tool for tracing the “I”-thought to its source. The aim is to discover the true Self, which is described as pure awareness, while allowing the false “I” or ego—understood as a bundle of thoughts centered on the body-mind—to subside. Liberation is thus framed not as the acquisition of something new, but as the recognition of what has always been present once the ego loses its hold.

The method is presented in a very concrete way. Whenever any thought or perception appears, the practitioner is instructed to ask, “To whom has this thought arisen?” and to notice that the answer is always “to me.” From there, the inquiry deepens with the question “Who am I?” or “What is this ‘I’?” without seeking a verbal or conceptual reply. Attention is deliberately turned away from the content of thoughts and directed instead toward the bare feeling of “I,” held steadily while other thoughts are set aside. This repeated turning inward is the essence of the practice, an ongoing attempt to remain with the root sense of self rather than its mental elaborations.

Godman emphasizes that this inquiry is not an analytical exercise, nor a mere repetition of the phrase “Who am I?” as a mantra. It is characterized as a feeling-inward investigation that refuses to follow the stream of thoughts that define identity, such as “I am the body” or “I am the doer.” By persistently withdrawing attention from these derivative notions and returning to their source, the “I”-thought is said to lose its borrowed energy and sink back into pure awareness. In this way, the ego is gradually weakened, not by direct confrontation with each thought, but by undermining the very root from which all thoughts arise.

Within this presentation, self-inquiry is distinguished from other spiritual disciplines. Practices such as mantra repetition, breath control, or devotional exercises may calm or purify the mind, yet they are described as working on the level of the mind’s contents, whereas self-inquiry addresses the sense of “I” itself. Because it investigates the meditator rather than any object of meditation, it is held to be the most direct and efficient method. It can be applied continually, even amid daily activities, by repeatedly returning to the question “To whom?” and then to the silent attention to the “I”-sense.

As this discipline matures, the active questioning gradually gives way to a more effortless abidance in the Self. The deliberate effort to bring attention back to the “I”-sense is eventually replaced by a natural, continuous resting as pure awareness, free from the reappearance of the egoic “I”-thought. This stable abidance is identified with Self-realization, in which the false “I” has subsided and only the Self, the “I-I,” remains evident. In this light, self-inquiry is not a method for improving the ego or refining the personality, but a radical means of exposing the ego’s unreality and recognizing that the seeker and the sought are, in truth, not two.