Question: You say one can realize the Self by a search for it. What is the character of this search?

Bhagavan: You are the mind or think that you are the mind. The mind is nothing but thoughts. Now behind every particular thought there is a general thought, which is the 'I', that is yourself. Let us call this 'I' the first thought. Stick to this 'I'-thought and question it to find out what it is. When this question takes strong hold on you, you cannot think of other thoughts.

Question: When I do this and cling to my self, that is, the 'I'-thought, other thoughts come and go, but I say to myself 'Who am I ?' and there is no answer forthcoming. To be in this condition is the practice. Is it so?

Bhagavan: This is a mistake that people often make. What happens when you make a serious quest for the Self is that the `I'-thought disappears and something else from the depths takes hold of you and that is not the 'I' which commenced the quest.

Question: What is this something else?

Bhagavan: That is the real Self, the import of 'I'. It is not the ego. It is the Supreme Being itself.