The text presents self‑inquiry (ātma‑vicāra) as the central and essentially sufficient practice. The practical core is a disciplined turning of attention away from thoughts and objects toward the one who is aware of them, using the question “Who am I?” not as a mantra but as a pointer. When any thought arises, the recommended procedure is to ask, “To whom has this thought arisen?” recognize the response “to me,” and then investigate, “Who is this ‘me’?” This repeated redirection traces the “I‑thought,” the sense of being an individual subject, back to its source. Rather than analyzing conceptually, the practitioner is encouraged to rest in the bare feeling of “I am,” without adding any attributes such as “this” or “that.”

A related exercise is to maintain steady attention on the “I‑feeling” itself, sometimes described as a subtle awareness that becomes apparent as the “I‑thought” is traced back. The instruction is to abide in this non‑verbal sense of being, allowing attention to remain there instead of following the stream of mental content. Thoughts are neither suppressed nor indulged; each time they appear, attention is gently but firmly turned back to the subject who is aware of them. Over time, this cultivates a kind of self‑attention in which the mind’s habitual movement outward is gradually weakened.

The book also stresses that this inquiry is not confined to formal meditation sessions. The same inward turning is to be sustained amid ordinary activities, so that even while speaking, working, or engaging with others, a portion of attention remains with the witnessing “I.” For those whose minds are too agitated for direct inquiry, simple awareness of the natural breath is admitted as a temporary aid to quieten the mind, after which attention is to be shifted back to the sense of “I.” In all these variations, the practical thrust is the same: to focus on the subjective sense of self, question its assumptions, and remain with the pure awareness that underlies the changing play of thoughts and experiences.