Go deeply into this feeling of'I'. Be aware of it so strongly, so intensely that no other thoughts have the energy to arise and distract you. If you hold this feelmg of 'I' long enough and strongly enough, the false 'I' will vanish leaving only the awareness of the real, immanent 'I', consciousness itself.

Your Self is intimate to you. You are aware of the Self. Seek it and be it. That will expand as the Infinite.

--

The Self is more intimate than the objects. Find the subject, and the objects will take care of themselves. 

Find your Self. Then there is an end of these vagaries of the mind - Talk 211

We cannot go anywhere other than where we are. We are always here. We are this present moment. This moment is eternal and infinite. This must be understood. This is Bhagavan’s teaching. Bhagavan’s dying words were, “Where can I go? I am Here.” Even in his last moments Bhagavan was teaching and pointing to the Self. All movement is in our imagination. If we do not move our mind, the outside movement becomes moot. When imagination comes to full stop, Self becomes Self-evident.

To see this, we need Grace. And the wise say that Grace is Always Here. And Self is Grace. And there is nothing but That. It is not possible to see this beauty with our eyes. One must recognize it is as one’s own being.

Bhagavan gave these verses he had selected from the Yoga Vasishta to a departing visitor, saying they contained the essence for the path of a pure life:

Steady in the state of fullness,
which shines when all desires are given up,
and peaceful in the state of freedom in life,
act playfully in the world, O Raghava!

Inwardly free from all desires,
dispassionate and detached, but outwardly active in all directions,
act playfully in the world, O Raghava!

Free from egoism, with mind detached as in sleep,
pure like the sky, ever untainted,
act playfully in the world, O Raghava!

Conducting yourself nobly with kindly tenderness,
outwardly conforming to conventions, but inwardly renouncing all,
act playfully in the world, O Raghava!

Quite unattached at heart but for all appearance acting as with attachment,
inwardly cool but outwardly full of fervour,
act playfully in the world, O Raghava!

D: How is the Guru found?

M: God, who is immanent, in His grace takes pity on the loving devotee and manifests Himself according to the devotee’s development. The devotee thinks that He is a man and expects a relationship as between two physical bodies. But the Guru, who is God or the Self incarnate, works from within, helps the man to see the error of his ways and guides him in the right path until he realises the Self within.

D: What should the devotee do then?

M: He has only to act up to the words of the Master and work within. The Master is both ‘within’ and ‘without’, so He creates conditions to drive you inward and at the same time prepares the ‘interior’ to drag you to the Centre. Thus He gives a push from ‘without’ and exerts a pull from ‘within’, so that you may be fixed at the Centre.

You think that the world can be conquered by your own efforts. When you are frustrated externally and are driven inwards, you feel ‘Oh! there is a Power higher than man!’

The ego is like a very powerful elephant which cannot be brought under control by any less powerful than a lion, which, in this instance, is no other than the Guru, whose very look makes the elephant-like ego tremble and die.

You will know in due course that your glory lies where you cease to exist. In order to gain that state, you should surrender yourself. Then the Master sees that you are in a fit state to receive guidance, and He guides you.

D: How can the silence of the Guru, who gives no initiation nor does any other tangible act, be more powerful than His word etc.? How is such silence better than the study of scriptures?

M: Silence is the most potent form of work. However vast and emphatic the scriptures may be, they fail in their effect. The Guru is quiet and Grace prevails in all. This silence is more vast and more emphatic than all the scriptures put together.

D: But can the devotee obtain happiness?

M: The devotee surrenders himself to the Master and it means that there is no vestige of individuality retained by him. If the surrender is complete, all sense of self is lost, and then there can be no misery or sorrow. The eternal Being is nothing but happiness. That comes
as a revelation.

From Maharshi’s Gospel

In the old days, when we had the benefit of regularly receiving personal instructions from Sri Bhagavan, one of them was that we should get into a meditative state before going to sleep. If this was done, Sri Bhagavan said, sleep overtook one as a natural sequel to fatigue and was not induced or preceded by lying down. Also, we were advised to go into meditation first thing in the morning, immediately after getting out of bed. This ensured a serenity of mind and also a feeling of tirelessness throughout the day. If this was done, he said, the state of mind experienced immediately before sleep is resumed on waking.

-- Kunju Swami

There is a verse from Kaivalya Navaneeta that Bhagavan often quoted. It speaks of the need for vigilance even after the Self has been experienced for the first time. In the verse the disciple is speaking to his Guru:

D: 'Lord, you are the reality remaining as my inmost Self, ruling me during all my countless incarnations! Glory to you who have put on an external form in order to instruct me. I do not see how iI can repay your grace for having liberated me. Glory! Glory to your holy feet!'

The Guru replies:
'To stay fixed in the Self without the three kinds of obstacles [ignorance, uncertainty and wrong knowledge] obstructing your experience, is the highest return you can render me'

The Guru knows that without vigilance, an initial experience of the Self may slip away.