“Regard everything as the Self only, until all thought of things ‘other’ than the Self is lost.”

—Ribhu Gita

1. Only the Self is.

2. If this statement is not experientially clear, then the teaching “kicks in” by saying: Regard everything as the Self only.

3. What is one to regard as the Self? “Everything” refers to “all experiences.”

4. Foremost among such experiences to be regarded as the Self is the appearance of the self. The self, being only an appearance, is not real. In fact, the appearance of the self is the revelation of the Self.

5. Since the self is not real, others, likewise, are not real. (If there’s no “me,” then there’s no “not-me” either.) Nor–since the self is not real and because all suffering “hinges on” the self being real–is suffering real. So, the self, others, and suffering are not real but instead are, in essence, only the Self.

6. Until the teaching is clear, jnana yoga suggests that one take up all apparent exceptions (“sticking points”) to the precept that the Self alone is. Explore any separative thoughts that seem to indicate that some object exists apart from the Self. This exploration will reveal that what a thought purports to be the case is not actually the case.

7. The realization is that only the Self is. You are That.