These chapters not only explain how self-inquiry is done and what it’s supposed to achieve, they also contrast the practice with others that bear a resemblance to atma-vichara, such as reciting “Who am I? Though valuable and interesting social document - it is layered with the then prevailing Scenes which reflect the behaviour and culture of the bygone era. The teachings, as enumerated by David Godman, provide a pathway to liberation of the Self by realizing the Self through Self Enquiry.

He did sometimes say that regular periods of formal practice were good for beginners, but he never advocated long periods of sitting meditation and he always showed his disapproval when any of his devotees expressed a desire to give up their mundane activities in favour of a meditative life. The second chapter in this part is about sat-sang, which may be literally translated as “sitting with the guru,” but refers to a kind of transference that flows from being together. Because since the ego which identifies the form of a body as ‘I’ has perished, he (the wise one) is the formless existence-consciousness. Francis Bacon once said 'Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested. Ignoring the Self the ajnani thinks the world is real, just as ignoring the screen he sees merely the pictures, as if they existed apart from it.As the practice develops, the thought ‘I’ gives way to a subjectively experienced feeling of ‘I’, and when this feeling ceases to connect and identify with thoughts and objects it completely vanishes. Wanting to reform the world without discovering one's true self is like trying to cover the world with leather to avoid the pain of walking on stones and thorns. To me Maharshi is a modern day Buddha or not so much a Buddha as he states that he belongs to no religious school of thought but to me he achieved what Shakyamuni Buddha did under the Bodhi tree in 535 BCE(enlightenment) or as Maharshi states 'self-realisation.

That nothing ultimately exist, that life is a meaningless dream, and everyone is the same entity playing hide-and-seek to 'experience' itself. When this expansion comes, one does not feel that one is running away from home, instead one drops from it like a ripe fruit from a tree. that all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.What happens when you make a serious quest for the Self is that the ‘I’-thought disappears and something else from the depths takes hold of you and that is not the ‘I’ which commenced the quest.

Although he was accessible to all alike, although questions were normally asked and answered in public, the guidance given to each disciple was nevertheless intensely direct and adapted to his character. The few writings he's credited with "came into being as answers to questions asked by his disciples or through their urging". In the early stages of practice attention to the feeling ‘I’ is a mental activity which takes the form of a thought or a perception.Sivaprakasam Pillai, who was already heavily influenced by traditional Advaita, and so had added notes about the traditional Advaitic negation method for his own clarification; these additional notes were later removed by Ramana. Take, for instance, the sculpted figure at the base of a gopuram (temple tower), which is made to appear as if it is bearing the burden of the tower on its shoulder. that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us; that the world may believe that you sent me.