Aspects of Indian Spirituality, which offer a way of life which is simple, and the philosophy behind ancient Indian practices such as Yoga, meditation, Karma and reincarnation are explained as Ramana Maharshi explained them to his followers. In saying this, there are some passages that are open for interpretation which depends on the attunement and spiritual depth of the reader.

It is open to discussion whether the καθὼς clause, which here follows, characterizes the above statement, as Meyer and many others urge, or whether, with Godet, the sentence, "That they all may be one," should not be taken as a general statement, to be followed by the καθὼς clause, which characterizes the following words. 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. It's one of the Scriptures which i always recommend for "understanding" the life changing Wisdom which the Great Ramana expressed. Both are creations of the mind and, so long as the mind is engrossed in either, it finds itself unable to deny their reality.In the natural sphere, as the parts of a whole organism are mere and more developed, and increasingly resemble individualities in their separation, they are in the same proportion dependent on the whole for the life that is in them. It is no use complaining of the niggardliness of the ocean; the bigger the vessel the more he will be able to carry. The first 80 or so pages are quite hard work but well worth the endeavour as a foundation to further chapters. So long as the sense of duality persists in you, you seek a Guru, thinking that he is different from you.

I suspect since humankind first developed an awareness of a spiritual dimension to existence Self Enquiry in some form has been practised.

According to David Frawley, "atma-vichara" is the most important practice in the Advaita Vedanta tradition, predating its popularisation by Ramana Maharshi.

Question: But you have often said that one must reject other thoughts when one begins the quest, but the thoughts are endless. Work performed with attachment is a shackle, whereas work performed with detachment does not affect the doer. The result of the union of believers with God, and therefore with each other, will be that the world will see in it a proof of the divine origin of Christianity, and will believe that the Father sent the Son into the world. In the early stages effort in the form of transferring attention from the thoughts to the thinker is essential, but once awareness of the ‘I’-feeling has been firmly established, further effort is counter-productive.When he began speaking again, people came to ask him questions, and he soon acquired a reputation as a sage. But the ajnani is unable to comprehend this, because for him the standard of reality is the waking state, whereas for the jnani the standard of reality is reality itself. Either the thoughts are eliminated by holding on to the root-thought ‘I’, or one surrenders oneself unconditionally to the higher power. There is no difference between dream and the waking state except that the dream is short and the waking long. Always it was followed by the feeling, the indubitable conviction, that one had been taken up by Sri Bhagavan, that henceforth he was in charge, he was guiding.