Om Namo Bhagavate Sri Arunachalaramanaya
Maharshi Ramana taught two paths as the main spiritual practices (sadhanas) for the salvation of humanity. They are 1) the path of Self- enquiry, that is, knowing oneself (one’s real nature) by enquiring ‘Who am I?’, and 2) the path of self-surrender, that is, surrendering oneself (the ego) completely to God. The former is the path of knowledge (jnana marga), and the latter is the path of devotion (bhakti marga).
The path of knowledge (jnana marga)
Is not the aim of all the various researches going on in the world to know about the world and God – the second and third persons –, rather than to know oneself, the first person? Man, who makes so much effort to know about the world and God, still does not know who he himself really is. How? We say ‘I am a man’; this is not a correct knowledge of ourself, but only ignorance. We feel that we are a man because we mistake a human body, our possession, for ‘we’, the possessor. Separating ourself from our possession (the body) by means of the enquiry ‘Who am I?’ and acquiring the right knowledge about the possessor (‘I’) is the best research of all and the best knowledge of all. The knowledge ‘I am the body’ (which is the ego) is a false knowledge of ourself. The true knowledge of ourself is that in which we know that we are the unlimited Self (atman).
What is the benefit of thus attaining true Selfknowledge? It is only when one knows oneself as Self that real good can be done to all creatures on earth. How? Only when Self- knowledge dawns will the truth be known that we alone are the reality of all living beings, and only then will the true love towards all blossom in our heart. Until this Self-knowledge is obtained, one cannot truly love all creatures merely by talking and propagating on platforms. “Love thy neighbour as thyself”. It is only when one experiences the whole world and all the souls in it as the first person singular that the real love, a love for ‘not another’ (ananya-bhakti), will be achieved. Such Self-realization alone is the tap-root without which peace, love and happiness cannot thrive on earth. Therefore the sole and immediate need of the world is Self-enquiry, the medicine that destroys the evil ego. Only a true Knower of Self (atma-jnani) can really serve the world perfectly! The mere existence on earth of such a Jnani is sufficient to ensure the spiritual and moral welfare of the whole world.
The path of devotion (bhakti marga)
When correctly understood, self-surrender is the surrender of the ego (ahankara) to God. Self-surrender and Self-enquiry are in fact one and the same, both in their result – the extinction of the ego –, and in their practice. Self-surrender is the path, that of devotion, for those who believe in God. How? Since in fact the individual ‘I’ and the world are properties belonging to God, to claim the body as ‘I’ and ‘mine’ is the great sin of stealing the property of God. If this attachment to the body is surrendered (to be accurate, restored) to God, the state of egolessness will be achieved. This state devoid of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ is the state of Self.
Path of knowledge / Path of devotion, both are the same
Though on superficial observation there may appear to be a difference between the path of enquiry and the path of devotion, namely that an aspirant on the path of enquiry attends to Self while an aspirant on the path of devotion attends to God, it will be clear to one who earnestly applies himself to practice that both are the same, not only in the result, namely to be established in Self by means of the destruction of the ego, but also in practice.
A sincere devotee who wants to surrender himself completely to God should refuse from the very start to continue taking the body as ‘I’ and ‘mine’. If he again thinks ‘I am the body’ or ‘this body is mine’, he is committing the sin of dattapaharam, that is, taking back what has already been offered to God (*). Thus, the correct way of practicing self-surrender is for him to be very vigilant that the thought ‘I am the body’ or ‘this body is mine’ does not rise in him again. Now, how does he do this? Does he not try to be very watchful within lest the first person – the feeling ‘I am the body’ – should rise again, that is, does he not try always to remain with a sharp attention fixed on the feeling ‘I’? Hence, the same Self-attention which is going on in an enquirer is also going on in a devotee! Thus it is clear that an attention withdrawn from second and third persons and focused on ‘I’ is the correct and practical method of surrendering oneself to God. On the other hand, if a devotee seeks God outside himself, it will amount to being a second person attention. Since God ever shines as the reality of the first person, attending to the first person is the right attention to God and this is the true path of devotion.
— The Path of Sri Ramana, by Sri Sadhu Om
http://www.happinessofbeing.com/The_Path_of_Sri_Ramana_Part_One.pdf
(*) Refer to Post: Guru Vachaka Kovai, V. 486