WHO AM I ?

Every living being longs always to be happy, untainted by sorrow;

and everyone has the greatest love for himself, which is solely due 

to the fact that happiness is his real nature. 

Hence, in order to realize that inherent and untainted happiness, which indeed he daily experiences when the mind is subdued in deep sleep, it is essential that he should

know himself. For obtaining such knowledge the enquiry ' Who am I?' in quest of the Self is the best means.

' Who am I?', I am not this physical body, nor am I the five organs of sense perception;

I am not the five organs of external activity, nor am I even the thinking mind. Therefore, summarily rejecting all the above-mentioned physical adjuncts and their functions, saying 'I am not this; no, nor am I this, nor this' - that which then remains separate and alone by itself, that pure Awareness is what I am.  

This Awareness is by its very nature Sat-Chit-Ananda (Existence-Consciousness-Bliss).

( The Collected Works of RAMANA MAHARSHI - Edited by Arthur Osborne)