'I' is a Door: The essence of Advaita as taught by Ramana Maharshi, Atmananda & Nisargadatta Maharaj

by Philip Renard

A principal characteristic of the ego is the attachment to the opinions about oneself. That is to say, a self-image has been built that does not want to dissolve and would rather continue as it is. This is what we call the ‘person’; it is the maintenance of a self-image. When it comes to the ‘person’, each conscious activity of the body-mind involves the supposition that there is an ‘I’ doing something, and that this ‘I’ is a continuous, enduring entity.

“Yes, He is always the first person, ‘I’, ever standing before you. Because you give precedence to worldly things, God appears to have receded to the background. If you give up all else and seek Him alone, He alone will remain as ‘I’, the Self.”7

‘I’ signifies That which is limitless Light and sheer Freedom.

‘I’ is that which is always present, which turns out to be the entrance to Truth. The entrance will never be anywhere else, it doesn’t need to be searched. You don’t have to go anywhere to experience ‘I’. Wherever you go, you are already there. ‘I’ is already there. ‘I’ is a door, and it is always open.

He has been recognized as the authentic voice of Advaita and its message of the possibility of being liberated in this lifetime.

“A Guru has no disciples. However, the disciples, so long as they remain disciples, have a Guru.”8