A person on the path of jnana yoga must start to enquire. One of the most well-known enquiries is, ‘Who am I?’ This is the method that Ramana Maharshi suggested. If one answers the question with ‘I am John Smith,’ then one has not even started on the path of jnana yoga. One still has not emptied the mind of trivial, insignificant, superficial and logical answers. One’s name is only a label to differentiate one socially from the neighbour who is perhaps called Fred Smith. The name is merely a means to an end which allows one’s mail to reach. It is a marker, a label – it is not one’s identity. One’s name is not who one is.
To make progress in jnana yoga you have to throw out all definitions about your existence. You must be overwhelmed by the feeling that you do not know who you are. If you merely ask the question ‘Who am I?’, if you do not ask the question with intensity and the overwhelming need to know, then nothing will happen. If you ask the question like a parrot, then the implications of the enquiry will not penetrate the deeper layers of your being. This is why jnana yoga is difficult for most people; few people can become completely obsessed and filled with enquiry into their own nature.
Ramana Maharshi was a jnana yogi. He asked himself the question, ‘Who am I?’ He did not merely ask the question for five minutes every morning before breakfast. His whole being vibrated with the enquiry twenty-four hours a day, whether awake or asleep. The enquiry invaded and permeated his deeper being. The enquiry continued constantly, whether consciously or unconsciously. The question continued whether he was walking, sitting or talking. His whole being tackled the enquiry. His whole being was poised on the edge of a precipice. And the result? He realized his real nature. He became self-realized. This is the path of jnana yoga. It requires that a person has such a personality that he tenaciously clings to the enquiry and desperately needs to know the answer . . . as though everything depends on the answer.
It is not necessary to pose the question ‘Who am I?’ Any question can be asked, but it must be a question for which you desperately seek an answer. If you are really ready for the path of jnana yoga, then you probably don’t need to pose the question. The question will already be there. It will be nagging at you from under the surface of your mind. If you have to sit down and ask yourself: ‘What will be the question that I will ask myself?’ then jnana yoga is not your path. There is no question that sufficiently obsesses you, and you do not deeply and seriously question the nature of your being and existence. If you have a question that haunts you day and night, then that question will be your vehicle in jnana yoga.