Self-enquiry as taught by Sri Bhagwan is enough

[eranilkumarsinha]

Sri Bhagwan: The Guru will say only what I am saying now. He will not give you anything you have not already.


Sri Bhagwan: Questions are endless. Why worry about all these things? Never mind about liberation. First find out whether there is such a thing as bondage. EXAMINE  YOURSELF  FIRST......in a sense, speaking of Self-realisation is a delusion. It is only because people have been under the delusion that the non-self is the Self and the unreal the Real that they have to be weaned away by the other delusion called Self-realisation; because actually the Self always is the Self and there is no such thing as realising it. Who is to realise what, and how, when all that exists is the Self and nothing but the Self?

   



Dear Devotees,
 

Sri Bhagwan has taught that there should not even be a motto.

Sri Bhagwan: "He (referring to a devotee)) says he has 'Liberate Yourself'  for his motto. Why should there be any motto?"

Liberation is our very nature. Otherwise, why do we wish for liberation? When we suffer from a disease we want to get rid of it because remaining disease-free is normal. Normalcy, good health is our nature and not the disease. Exactly as we seek to get rid of disease, Sri Bhagwan has taught that the very fact that we wish for liberation shows that freedom from all bondage whatever is our real nature. However, nothing whatsoever is meant to be freshly acquired. But, nevertheless, we need to get rid of the absolutely false notion that we are bound through sadhana. Sri Bhagwan says that when we achieve that, there will be no desire or thought of any sort, either of liberation or of bondage.

Sri Bhagwan: So long as one desires liberation, so long, you may take it, one is in bondage.

Thanks very muc.
Pranam,
  Anil

[eranilkumarsinha]

                          FIRMEST  FAITH

Find firmest faith in one's sat-guru deep in the heart,
His force of Self will quieten down meandering mind;
Peaceful joy, and paternal love, we'll quickly find.
That's all one needs to try, in order to impart
Self knowledge, great miraculous, majestic art,
Which sets alight a magic life, ready to unwind.
Gracious virtues all unfold, most merciful and kind;
Mind's struck down by Realisation's sudden dart!


Sadhak struggled hard to climb the upward mountain way,
To the peak of Arunachala's state for which he yearned.
Through grace he came upon a wise and humble Sage one day,
Who said "by persistence and effort you have justly earned,
The right to Liberation and enjoy sweet eternal peace,
From Self Enquiry and Surrender you never once did cease"!

Sri Alan Jacobs
 

[eranilkumarsinha]

D: The mind does not sink into that state even for a second.
Sri Bhagwan: A strong conviction is necessary that I am the Self, transcending the mind and the phenomena.
D: Nevertheless, the mind proves to be a chord against attempts to sink it.
Sri Bhagwan: What does it matter if the mind is active? It is only on the substratum of the Self. Hold the Self even during mental activities.
D: I cannot go within sufficiently deep.
Sri Bhagwan: It is wrong to say so. Where are you now if not in the Self? Where should you go? All that is necessary is the stern belief that you are the Self. Say rather that the other activities throw a veil on you.
From Talks




Dear Devotees,

Crux of all spiritual matter is that mind somehow must be made to sink into the Heart. How to do it? Though we have forgotten that we are forever the unchanging Self , and not the ever changing, limited, little self,  Sri Bhagwan has taught to sternly believe that we are the Self, transcending the mind and the phenomena, and therefore, all that is necessary is to believe that we are the Self.  "Let go the passing thoughts and hold onto the unchanging Self" is all that is required to be done, and this is what Self-enquiry is all about. THOUGHTS  CHANGE  BUT  NOT  WE.  Is it not? However, some devotees keep on maintaining, as is obvious from the above conversation, that they are not able to do it, and they find it difficult to sink the mind in the Heart. They complain that the mind proves to be a chord against the attempts to sink it. So, what to do?

Dear devotees, There is one very easy way to do it. Many devotees of Sri Bhagwan have affirmed the efficacy of this unfailing sadhana. I have practiced it and whole-heartedly love this sadhana.  Along with the practice of the Enquiry, as taught by the Guru, attach the heaviest thing, in the three worlds, to the mind so that it gravitates towards and sinks easily into the Heart. ATTACH  THE  NAME  AND  FROM  OF  THE  GURU  TO  THE  MIND  AND  IT  WILL  AUTOMATICALLY  BEGIN  TO  SINK  INTO  THE  HEART.  This is certain because Guru literally means heavy or weighty, and I am certain that it will enable its practiser to journey from the name to the Nameless, from the form to the Formless, and from the relative to the Absolute, easily.

Guru's Name and Form possess very special powers. Guru's Name and Form are filled with bliss, and even constant remembrance of His Name and Form fills His devotees with bliss. 

THE  HOLY  NAME,  THE  HOLY  FORM  AND  THE  HOLY  FEET  OF  THE  GURU ARE  SACROSANCT, and undoubtedly, they contain power when thought of, spoken or chanted. This is why the divine Poet of Sri Bhagwan's Divine Court, Sri Murugunar sang in 'Seventy Verses in Praise of the Guru's Holy Feet' that the Guru's Holy Feet will be doing its job of ripening one to be rid of dross, so that the inner pull of the Self would be felt strongly. Nurturing and protecting It watches over loving devotees whose delusion is immolated, in the vast fullness of final realisation!

Therefore, it follows from the above that doing Enquiry, with love for Him in the hearts, is the Key to attainment of the Final Goal, for His Name, His Form and His Holy Feet are but ploys to attract His preys. For, in truth, He is That, and His Lotus Feet is but the silent, effulgent, unbroken, Fullness of Illumination "I-I" at the core of our existence or being.  For, He is none other than the Self.  FOR,  LOVE  FOR  HIM  IS  THE  LOVE  FOR  THE  SELF.     


Thanks very much.
Pranam,
  Anil   
 

[eranilkumarsinha]

Sri Bhagwan taught: By steady and continuous investigation into the nature of the mind, the mind is transformed into That to which 'I' refers; and this is in fact the Self.




Dear Devotees,


In whom this false, limited 'I' is? Sri Bhagwan has taught that by steady and continuous investigation into the nature of the mind, the mind is transformed into That to which 'I' refers, and so long as we do not thus enquire, this false 'I' will continue to thrive, live and parade. We must understand why Sri Bhagwan gave us the analogy of the impostor in a marriage function. To the groom's party, the impostor said he belonged to the bride's party, and to the bride's party, he said he belonged to the groom's party.  Similarly, the ego poses as both the Self as well as the body.  Yes, the ego appears to possess consciousness. Does it not? That consciousness is of the Self in which the insentient 'I'-thought appears to shine.  Sri Bhagwan, out of great compassion for the mankind, taught that the ego, like the ghost, can survive only so long as one does not enquire. The impostor in the marriage party started to take to flight as soon as the enquiry was launched as to who actually he is, and as soon as people began to find that he was neither a friend of the groom's party, nor that of the bride's. Sri Bhagwan assigned such worst treachery to the ego! It belongs neither to the Self nor to the body, but arises in between and forms what is known as 'heart knot'. This knot is the bondage, and when the knot is cut by the Enquiry, that is liberation. 

So, self-limiting identification with names and form, in other words, with 'I'-thought must cease.  We now know that the ego or the 'I'-thought cannot exist without objects, and therefore, if attention is focussed on the subjective  awareness or feeling of 'I' or 'I am', with profundity, intensity, continuity and steadiness (steadiness because one need not do it forcibly, violently, but with love), such that the thought of  'I am this or that' does not arise, ego-'I' will be bereft of association with its objects, and without objects it cannot survive.  ONLY THIS ATTENTION NEEDS TO BE SUSTAINED.  That is all we are required to do.  The falsity of the ego mind is revealed, and the direct experience of the Self arises. THEREFORE,  CONSTANT  ATTENTION  TO  THE  INNER  AWARENESS  OF  'I'  IS   ESSENTIAL. 

Sri Bhagwan: Self-enquiry is the direct method. All other methods are practiced while retaining the ego and therefore many doubts arise and the ultimate question remains to be tackled in the end. But in this method the ultimate question is the only one and is raised from the very beginning.



Thanks very much.
Pranam,
  Anil

[eranilkumarsinha]

Quote from my post no. 4187
THE HOLY NAME, THE HOLY FORM AND THE HOLY FEET OF THE GURU ARE SACROSANCT, and undoubtedly, they contain power when thought of, spoken or chanted. This is why the divine Poet of Sri Bhagwan's Divine Court, Sri Murugunar sang in 'Seventy Verses in Praise of the Guru's Holy Feet' that the Guru's Holy Feet will be doing its job of ripening one to be rid of dross, so that the inner pull of the Self would be felt strongly. Nurturing and protecting It watches over loving devotees whose delusion is immolated, in the vast fullness of final realisation.


Dear Devotees,

Sri Bhagwan has taught unequivocally that Self is the Guru. Has He not? That means that the Guru always was, has always been and will always will be with us.

As has been sung by the great Poet above (quote), Sri Sadhu Om has also written (see current Mountain Path) that we need not seek the Guru, because He is already doing His job of ripening one to be rid of one's predispositions, and pulling the individual from within by grant of glimpses and awareness of the existence-consciousness. Is He not? Guru, in truth, is the Self, and the very nature of the Self is Grace, and Grace is always operating and doing its part. It cannot be otherwise. So, the great devotee, Sri Om says that we need to concern ourselves only with seeking our own real Self. WE  NEED  TO  DO  DILIGENTLY  OUR  PART--THAT IS, SEEKING  OUR  OWN   REAL  SELF.
Dear devotees, with so much, nay everything, at stake, I do not understand why should we not do that much, that is, our part. Sri Bhagwan even has enlightened us that the Guru is always in search of the earnest seeker. Therefore, first we need to be earnest seekers, rest will follow, of themselves.

Sri Sadhu Om: The mind can never imagine or understand what work the Guru is doing within. If it tried, it would be like someone trying to remember his grandfather's wedding.

Sri Bhagwan: If you seek either God or Guru--they are not really two but one and identical--rest assured that they are seeking you with a solicitude greater than you can ever imagine.

So, the Guru is seeking us with unimaginable solicitude. How else are we here? How else do we remember Him and are walking His Path? It is His Grace and Solicitude.

Thanks very much.
Pranam,
  Anil   

[eranilkumarsinha]

Sri Sadhu Arunachala (Sri A. W. Chadwick) reminisced thus:
Bhagwan certainly had a special message for the West where He was much appreciated. His purely rationalistic arguments and the lack of sentiment in His Teachings had a great appeal. He never preached or laid down the law, but always concentrated on turning the seeker back on himself and pointing out to him that it was entirely up to him, the Guru could only indicate and guide, for no one could give Self-realisation to others.   
After I had been here a day or two Bhagwan asked somebody to give me a copy of 'Who am I?' and told me to read it. Here is contained the essence of His teaching, though given by Him as a youth of only 21 it never needed to be changed. Bhagwan might talk all sorts of philosophy and explain syatems in answer to questions, but His teaching and instruction for Sadhana was all contained in 'Who am I?'. Everything else, as far as He was concerned, was padding or expansion for those who were not satisfied with the simplicity and straightforward explanation of this little book.  He had always insisted that the book should be sold so cheaply that it was available to the poorest and originally it cost no more than half an anna.
This wonderful little book comprises one of the first set of instructions given by Bhagwan in about 1902 in writing as He was not speaking at that time. They are direct from His own experience and in no way influenced by His reading of various Upanishads and other sacred writings which were afterwards brought to Him to explain. Later reading these books, He realised the philosophic import of what had happened to Him as so was able to co-ordinate His experiences and fit into the Hindu tradition. But in this book we have His teachings at first hand and uncoloured. Here we find their very essence and by help of this single brochure can learn all that is necessary. No more is needed.
Source: A Sadhu's Reminiscences of Ramana Maharshi




Dear devotees, I wish to add that Sri Bhagwan not only had a special message for the West, but His Message is for the West, East, South and North, that is, for all mankind.   It is also well-known that Sri Bhagwan almost always sought to turn the seeker back on himself. This is exactly what the Guru and His small brochure did to me--turned me back, from seeking outside of myself, on myself. It is worth note here that the small brochure 'Who am I?' was also the first book that I happened to chance upon way back in the early nineties. The small booklet, in my view, is as devastating as a fusion bomb, in the spiritual realm. 
I am sure that whoever is once turned back on himself, there is no looking back for such one, because even the trickling bliss of the Swarupa or the existence-consciousness is enough to beckon such a one on and on till one is merged, without any vestige of the relative falsity, into the Fullness of the Atma-swarupa. 

Pranam,
  Anil     

[eranilkumarsinha]

Sri Bhagwan: He (God) is always the first person, the I, ever standing before you.


Dear Devotees,

Since we give precedence to worldly things, we are not able to recognise God who is ever standing before us as the 'I', that is, I-God. If we give all else and seek Him alone, He will remain as the I, the Self. Therefore, even when we use the Name of God with devotion and call upon Him with yearning and go on to surrender to Him unreservedly, God or 'I'-Supreme alone will remain. So, meaning, import and significance of 'I' is God. The mistake lies in thinking that 'I' is what 'I' is not. The Father or the Source of our personal 'I' is the Real I-God. This apparent individual 'I' rises and sinks, whereas its true significance does not. This is why when we try to find out the Source of the false individual 'I', we reach its true significance. The individual is an illusion, it must go away. 
Sri Bhagwan: 'I'-Supreme alone is. To think otherwise is to delude oneself.

Therefore, whatever form our sadhana may take, we must finally come to the one I, the Self. For Self-realisation is but the God-realisation.   


Thanks very much.
Pranam,
  Anil

[eranilkumarsinha]

     DREAM   HALL   OF   MIRRORS


What we need to do is inwardly turn
And Self Enquire; that's the best of all!
Then turn to Bhagwan, and in surrender fall,
Then watch the flame of Agni slowly burn
All vile vasanas away; ego it will spurn!
Don't be perplexed in the Dream Figure Hall
Of Mirrors, which fill the seeming world, but call
For Grace! through effort, Moksha one can earn!


Sadhak was perplexed by figures in life's dream,
His Sad Guru said to him "my dearest son,
Forget all those people, they only seem
As real; pray turn within and wake up upon
Your bed, forever end that dread samsara"!
Soon he was free, thanks to great Lord Ramana!

Sri Alan Jacobs     

[eranilkumarsinha]

Sri Sadhu Om:

One of the many new ideas that Bhagwan has given us is that the real guru is a guru only in the view of the disciple. Though others may claim to be gurus, among Bhagwan and His real disciples you will find no one saying, 'I am the guru'. Bhagwan always used to praise guru as God Himself, but when asked who is guru, He pointed to Arunachala. He never accepted worship for His own form, but instead always encouraged people to direct their devotion towards Arunachala. When people praised Him as the SADGURU, He asked, 'But who brought me here? It was Arunachala.'
Likewise His disciples will always point only to Him as the guru, and not to themselves. Not only will they say that they are not the guru, but they will not even have the slightest feeling that they are the guru--that is the sign   of a true disciple. They will not allow any 'I' to rise as an obstacle between any other aspirant and Bhagwan.
When Alexander the Great invaded North India, he was told about a great sage who lived in a cave on the nearby mountain, so he went to visit him early one morning, and found an elderly man dressed in rags crouching at the entrance of a cave warming himself in the morning sunshine. When Alexander asked him what service he could do for him, the sage at first kept quiet, but when Alexander persisted, saying that he was the most powerful emperor in the world and could therefore give him anything he wanted, he finally just waved his hand indicating to Alexander to step aside in order to stop obstructing the warmth of the sun. If we rise as an 'I' thinking 'I can guide others', we would be standing as an obstacle between those others and the shining of Bhagwan's Grace, just as Alexander was standing as an obstacle between the old sage and the warm sunshine.
Source: Mountain Path





Dear devotees, when Sri Bhagwan's Grace is showering munificently, and on the Path of Jnana- Vichara, as taught by Him, He alone is the Guru, rising as an 'I' thinking that 'I can guide other', it is allowing the ego to take subtler forms to escape searchlight of the Enquiry, and thus it is akin to giving a new lease of life to the ego.  This is why even now Bhagwan Sri Ramana is the Guru in Sri Ramanasramam, and no one there claims to be guru. There is no need for anyone to do so either, for 'Mouna Vyakhya', or 'Teaching in Silence' is going on perennially there.  All anyone needs in Sri Ramanasramam is to observe silence of the speech and mind to get tuned to the Silence of the Self there.   
Thanks very much.
Pranam,
  Anil     

[eranilkumarsinha]

Dear Devotees,

Some one quoted thus in a letter to Sri Sadhu Om: I was not able to meditate in the way I had always become accustomed to. In the past, meditation has been an active process of intense effort whereby the ego sought out some elusive 'I-I'. Now I feel less and less able to concentrate within--by that I mean directing my mental gaze inwards towards some subtle centre. In fact, I don't feel that I understand the term 'self-enquiry', which seemed so crystal clear when I started on this path. I recall that once when somebody brought up the subject of kriya yoga, you said something to the effect that you were mystified how 'action' could lead to a state of 'inaction'. This seems to be the situation in which I now find myself. The old idea of meditation being an active process of seeking within seems to have fallen by wayside--for who is to do seeking , and for what?

To the above, Sri Sadhu Om responds thus: Self-attention is not to be done with any strain. Any other contemplation may need effort, but though this is called self-attention, it is nothing but a MENTAL  REST, relaxing the mind from attending to other things. Though it is said 'turn your mind towards self', it is not an action done by the mind. When the mind does not do anything but keeps itself at rest, it is truly attending to self. Since this is an effortless state, how can there be any strain? The mind will have a reaction of insanity or jumping in a topsy-turvy way only if it is strained--that is, if it is compelled to concentrate on any other thing, whether in the name of self-attention or any other meditation.
In our path of abiding in self, the mind returns to its home and takes rest from its adventures in yoga. Though this is called 'self-attention', it is nothing but a complete rest of the mind, and if practiced, it will not be the cause of what you have complained about in your letter, namely 'erupting into wild outbursts of anger and violence'. When, after a long period of effort and struggles to do sadhana, one gives up doing sadhana, then and only then does real sadhana--self-attention-begin.
Source: Mountain Path







Dear devotees, I shall say that one does not give up sadhana out of one's own volition, but that there comes a stage in sadhana of the Atma-vichara when understanding dawns intuitively and sadhana with effort drops or gives itself up of its own accord, and the mind takes rest from its adventures in yoga, as the great devotee Sri Om has observed. Then only, and only then, the thought-tortured  mind knows what the complete mental rest is all about. This is alone  the state of effortlessness in the sadhana of the Atma-vichara, Sri Bhagwan speaks of. Yes, this is also the real state of Self-attention, that is, real Vichara begins.
Pranam,
 Anil   

[eranilkumarsinha]

Dear Sri Ravi,

I became happy to see your quite apt response to my post today. Ji. yes,  as I have grasped, and intuitively understood,  in the culminating phases of the sadhana whether it is Jnana Marga (Vichara) or the Bhakti Marga, the Higher Power rises, subjugates the mind,  and finally merges  it in That which Is. 

Dear Sri Ravi Bhai Saheb, I wish to respond to your post later when I return home, for such discussion helps me as well.

Thanks very much.
Pranam,
 Anil

[eranilkumarsinha]

Quote from Sri Ravi:
"The mind truly cannot keep itself at rest!It has to be put to rest by a power that is beyond it.This 'Power' beyond it is what is secretly at work even when one is taking faltering and halting steps in a hit and miss fashion."






Dear Sri Ravi,


Ji, yes. Thanks very much, sir. Sri Bhagwan has taught Sri Viswanatha Swami that it is only by awakening a power mightier than the senses and the mind that these can be subdued. He has said that if one awakens and nurtures the growth of that power within, everything else will be conquered. One should therefore sustain the current of meditation uninterruptedly. Sri Bhagwan has also taught that moderation in food and similar restraints will be helpful in sustaining the current of awareness and thus maintaining the inner poise.   


Dear Sri Ravi, as regards Sri Aurbindo's quote, I have time only to say this much:



In a great game of pretension, I have assimilated the truth that it is Guru's Grace, in the first place, that one is drawn to a particular path, and it is Guru's Grace which sustains interest on it, and it is verily Guru's Grace that makes for the success of the effort to become Self-aware. Grace is therefore indeed the beginning, middle and the end. 
   




Quote from Sri Ravi:
"It is just that Yoga admits intermediate landing points between the outward running mind and aims towards turning it by degrees inwards progressively whereas 'jnana marga' seeks to turn it inwards at one go with an 180 Degree turn.In either case the mind has to become antar mukha or inwardly directed.
In both the paths,it is the power that is beyond the mind that is at work and that and that alone is the Deciding factor in bestowing freedom."






Dear Sri Ravi, why should there be difference? Ji, yes, there is no difference. All differences are from the stand-point of ignorance. The Realised does not see any difference.
However, it is not quite true to say that Jnana-marga (Vichara) seeks to turn the mind inwards towards the Self at one go with 180 degrees turn. Except in case of a few mature aspirants, it is simply not possible to turn the mind towards the Self by 180 degrees all at once. In Vichara also, it happens progressively only. However, it is worth mention here that Sri Bhagwan has taught that practicing Jnana Maraga is akin to travelling in an aeroplane in the spiritual realm.


As you would remember that elsewhere Sri Bhagwan has said that the moment one gets into a movement of quest for the self and goes deeper and deeper, the Real Self is waiting there to take one in. Then whatever is done is done by something else, and one has no hand in it.

Dear sir, till then, we  must carry on this demolition of wrong idea by enquiry, till our last wrong notion is demolished-till the Self is realised.

THEREFORE, OUR  DUTY  LIES IN  PRACTICE,  CONTINUOUS  PRACTICE  OF  SELF-ENQUIRY.  Rest is in the hand of the Guru to do.


Thanks very much, bhai sahib.
Pranam,
  Anil 
 

[eranilkumarsinha]

Quote from Sri Ravi:
"We can readily see that all these masters are saying the same thing-God alone does everything and all that is needed is to cooperate and entrust ourselves to this leading.
Only that path is direct where we cooperate fully with the leading;that path is indirect where we fail to do so."


Dear Sri Ravi,

I never doubted that all Great Ones, in Essence, have said the same thing. So, ji, yes, I  can readily see that. I have discerned myself that everything is happening according to Divine Plan, and we need to willingly and lovingly, knowing that we are not the doers, sould cooperate.

While I have also understood that any path may turn out to be the direct and straight path for one who is attracted to it, and who willingly and lovingly cooperates fully in the leading, on that particular path, as you beautifully said, however, I would like to say that Sri Bhagwan termed only the Self-enquiry as the Straight Path for obvious reason. 

"manasam tu kim margane krte
Naiva manasam marga arjavat"
"What is the mind? If one searches to find out, then there would be no separate entity as the mind. This is the Straight Path."
V. 17, Upadesa Saram

Thanks very much, dear sir, for a very beautiful post.
Pranam,
  Anil
   

[eranilkumarsinha]

Dear Sri Ravi and Dear Devotees,

When asked why should Self-enquiry alone be considered the direct path to Self-realisation, Sri Bhagwan replied:

"Every kind of path except Self-enquiry presupposes the retention of the mind as the instrument for following it and cannot be followed without the mind. The ego may take different and more subtle forms at different stages of one's practice, but it is never destroyed. The attempt to destroy the ego or the mind by method other than Self-enquiry is like a thief turning policeman to catch the thief that is himself. Self-enquiry alone can reveal the truth that neither the ego nor the mind really exists and enable one to realize the pure, undifferentiated Being of the Self or the Absolute."

Self-enquiry therefore is direct path because the very existence of the mind is called into question. And the great Teaching makes it clear at the very outset that there is no mind, naiva manasam. And if there is no mind, what remains is the Swarupa.

Therefore, surrendering the ego and remaining without a trace of 'I'-thought and abiding as the pure 'I', and not as the figure of the pure 'I', is, in my view, the culmination of the sadhana of the Atma-vichara. The form of the Enquiry in the initial stages with most of its practisers, in my view, may not be exactly as the above. 


Thanks very much.
Pranam,
   Anil

[eranilkumarsinha]

Quote from Sri Ravi:
"The upshot of the whole thing that i wish to convey is this-just questioning the existence of mind is not enough as much as the Realization of what is at its source.Further as we already observed that a Higher power has to banish the mind and mind cannot annul itself-Why not seek it in the first place?"



Dear Sri Ravi,

Yes, in my view, Enquiry alone is seeking It directly, in the first place, rather than seeking it in second and third persons, and seeking It in myriad objects, that is, outside of oneself.

Yes, Enquiry is launched by the ego-mind, to start with. But we must understand intellectually and then experientially as to what happens when the Enquiry is launched. When one makes a serious quest for the Self, Sri Bhagwan has taught, without any ambiguity whatever, that the 'I'-thought disappears and SOMETHING from the depths takes hold of oneself, AND  THAT  IS  NOT  THE  'I' which commenced the quest! Sri Bhagwan says that it is not the ego. It is the real Self, the import and significance of 'I', the Source of the ego-self.

Moreover, we must understand the Teaching: Sri Bhagwan says that the moment the ego-self tries to know itself, it changes its character, it begins to partake less and less of the jada in which it is absorbed, and more and more of the consciousness of the Self.  This is why Sri Bhagwan taught that: 
Aham ayam kuto bhavati chinvatah
Ayi patatyaham nijavicharanam

Wherefrom does this 'I'-thought arise. If one enquires thus, it vanishes. This is Self-enquiry.
V. 19, Upadesa Saram

So, when the ego-self launches the enquiry, it, for sure, vanishes, because it is unreal. Hence the Enquiry as taught by Bhagwan Sri Ramana is the Direct Path, for 'I' casts of the illusion of 'I' and yet remains as 'I'.

Besides, dear Sri Ravi, I feel that we should not argue here that all paths are the direct paths, because Sri Bhagwan Himself has taught that  'Naiva manasam marga arjavat', that is, there is no separate entity as the mind and this alone is the Straight or Direct Path.


Thanks very much, dear sir.
Pranam,
  Anil