Who am I?

Whatever is that which rises as ‘I’ in this body, that alone is the mind. If one inquires into (investigates) in what place the thought called ‘I’ first appears in the body, one will come to know that it is in the heart (‘hṛdaya’). That alone is the birthplace of the mind. Even if one continues thinking ‘I, I’, it will lead one to that place. Of all the thoughts that appear in the mind, the thought called ‘I’ alone is the first (or original) thought. Only after this arises, other thoughts arise. Only after the first person (‘I’) appears do second and third persons (all others) appear; without the first person, second and third persons do not exist.*

(Bhagavān Śrī Ramaṇa’s  [ ‘Who am I ?’ ]

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* 'hṛdaya’: the spiritual heart (only superficially it may be considered to have a location in the illusory body); the center or essence of one's own being 

Note: In the original version of this work, “the thought called ‘I’ alone is the first thought,” appears in bold-face for emphasis.  

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