That which rises and falls is the transient ‘I.’ That which has neither origin nor end is the permanent ‘I-I’ consciousness.

–Ramana Maharshi, “Talk 268,” Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, p. 233.

All one needs to know about self-inquiry (atma vichara) can be discovered in these two sentences.

The first manifestation of the Self, as far as the direct path teaching of Sri Ramana Maharshi is concerned, is as the I-thought. Further manifestations come “after” the I-thought while the unmanifest I (here: “I am that I am,” or I-I consciousness) comes “before” the I-thought.

In essence, the I-thought is the first stop “outward” and the last stop “inward.” This is what makes the I-thought a privileged place to begin the investigation of one’s true nature.

How is one to identify the I-thought? It’s a subtle thought-wave that may come in any of the following forms:

• As a discursive thought which includes an “I,” a “me,” a “my,” or a “mine.” (E.g., “I am sitting here.”)
• As a subtle thought appearing out of an I-specific point of view (without announcing as much).
• As a mental picture that, again, appears out of an I-specific point of view.

It must be seen that ignorance pertains only to what does not exist. But then the transient I, which Maharshi compassionately refers to without meaning to imply that it actually exists, does not actually exist.

One version of self-inquiry, as proposed above, would then go on to note that the unreality of this I-thought with a view to “asking without asking,” to “inquiring without inquiring” into what the permanent I that I really am is.

At this point, supreme concentration is involved–concentration as well as love. One must concentrate deeply on the nature of the permanent I (elsewhere, Maharshi says, “I want you to dive consciously into the Self.”), and one must love one’s own nature above all else–indeed, without compare. In this way does the I reveal Itself to Itself, reveal Itself as Itself.