Q.: Why does an Upanishad say, “He whom the Atman chooses, to him alone does It reveal Itself, not to others”. Does not this seem arbitrary?

Ramana: No. It is correct. It chooses those only who devote themselves to It, who become Its devotees. Such It draws them inwards to Itself. One must turn inward to find the Atman. He who thinks of It, It will draw to Itself. All such thoughts as ‘Attainment is hard’ or ‘Self realisation is far from me’, or ‘I have got many difficulties to overcome to know the Reality’, should be given up, as they are obstacles; they are created by this false self, ego. They are untrue.
Do not doubt that you are the Reality; live in that understanding. Never question it by referring your realisation of it to some future time. It is because people are victimized and hypnotised by such false thoughts that the Gita says
that few out of millions realise the Self. The order of asramas [four stages of life] was established as a general principle, i.e. to regulate the gradual development of the ordinary run of humanity. But in the case of one highly mature and fully ripe for Atma vichara there is no graduated development. In this case jnana vichara, i.e. the Self enquiry and the blooming of jnana, are immediate and quick.