The mind consists of thoughts. The “I”-thought is the first to arise in the mind. When the enquiry “Who am I?” is persistently pursued, all other thoughts get destroyed, and finally the “I”-thought itself vanishes, leaving the supreme non-dual Self alone.
For the mind that has gained skill in concentration, Self-enquiry becomes comparatively easy. It is by ceaseless enquiry that the thoughts are destroyed and the Self realised—the plenary Reality in which there is not even the “I”-thought, the experience which is referred to as “Silence”.
The nature of Awareness is Existence-Consciousness-Bliss.
When the world which is what-is-seen has been removed, there will be realization of the Self which is the seer.
The realization of the Self which is the substratum will not be gained unless the belief that the world is real is removed.
Just as the spider emits the thread (of the web) out of itself and again withdraws it into itself, likewise the mind projects the world out of itself and again resolves it into itself.
The thought “Who am I?” will destroy all other thoughts, and like the stick used for stirring the burning pyre, it will itself in the end get destroyed. Then, there will arise Self-realization.
Whatever one does, one should do without the egoity “I”. If one acts in that way, all will appear as of the nature of Siva (God).
The Self is that where there is absolutely no “I”-thought. That is called “Silence”. The Self itself is the world; the Self itself is “I”; the Self itself is God; all is Siva, the Self.
Just as the pearl-diver ties a stone to his waist, sinks to the bottom of the sea and there takes the pearls, so each one of us should be endowed with non-attachment, dive within oneself and obtain the Self-Pearl.