The work presents self-realization as ever-present, yet apparently veiled by certain recurring obstacles. Foremost among these is the basic misidentification of oneself with the body–mind complex, the so‑called “I‑thought” or ego. This identification expresses itself as the belief “I am this person,” with a particular history, body, and psychology, and it is reinforced by attachment to thoughts, emotions, and sensory experiences. Desires, fears, and the deep‑rooted vasanas or latent tendencies continually turn attention outward, sustaining the sense of a separate individual. Even doubt, lack of faith, and the tendency to postpone realization into an imagined future function as subtle supports for this ego‑sense.

The text gathers all these obstacles into a single pattern: the mind’s habitual movement away from the Self toward objects—whether those objects are physical, mental, or emotional. Restlessness, distraction, and the inability to sustain inquiry are not separate problems but expressions of the same outward‑turning momentum. When this movement is strong, it manifests as compulsive thinking, emotional reactivity, and the search for fulfillment in external circumstances. The obstacles are thus not treated as substantial entities in their own right, but as misdirected attention grounded in a fundamental misunderstanding of one’s real nature.

To address this, the central method proposed is self‑inquiry (ātma‑vichāra), focused on the sense of “I.” Whenever thoughts or emotions arise, the recommended approach is to ask, “To whom has this arisen?” and, having recognized “to me,” to pursue the question “Who am I?” back to the bare feeling of being. By persistently tracing all mental activity to its root in the “I‑thought,” attention is drawn away from objects and returned to the source, where the ego subsides. This is not a matter of suppressing thoughts but of refusing to follow them outward, allowing them to dissolve by remaining as the witnessing awareness.

Alongside inquiry, the text allows for supportive disciplines when the mind is too agitated for direct investigation. Devotion and surrender to the Self or to a guru, ethical and simple living, and practices that quieten the mind are presented as aids that purify tendencies and weaken vasanas. Discriminating between the changing body and mind on the one hand, and the unchanging knower on the other, gradually loosens identification with the body. Through steady practice, non‑attachment to desires and fears grows, and the belief that realization lies in some future event is undermined. What remains, when these obscuring movements fall away, is the natural recognition of oneself as the ever‑present Self, which was never truly bound.