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advaita vedanta · Ribhu Gita (Shivarahasya Purana), translated by Dr. H. Ramamoorthy — a core text in Ramana Maharshi's tradition, who recommended it highly and practiced it with his devotees daily

The Bhavana: "I Am Not the Body, I Am Not the Mind, I Am Brahman"

A single declarative bhavana (contemplative feeling-conviction) drawn from and named after the Ribhu Gita's constant refrain, repeated again and again until identification with the body and mind gives way to the natural, ever-present sense of being Brahman.

The theory, briefly

The Ribhu Gita is built almost entirely from one repeated move: the sage Ribhu tells his disciple Nidagha, in chapter after chapter, that he is not the body, not the mind, not any limited thing, but Brahman itself — the same declaration stated hundreds of times in slightly different words, not as an argument to be followed once but as a conviction to be worn into the mind through sheer repetition.

This is not incidental to the text; it is the text's own explicit method. As recorded by Ramana Maharshi's devotee Annamalai Swami, the Maharshi himself distilled the whole book into one instruction: "That bhavana 'I am not the body, I am not the mind, I am Brahman, I am everything' is to be repeated again and again until this becomes the natural state." He is also recorded saying that this repetition is "only an aid to self-enquiry, but a very powerful aid" — meaning it is not offered as a substitute for direct inquiry into the sense of 'I', but as a support that steadies and deepens it.

The text's own verses describe the fruit of this steady, daily conviction directly: "By such steadfast practice and by personal experience and by the repeated daily conviction of being the Self, be happy... there shall be no rebirth" — framing the repetition not as mere positive thinking but as the wearing-away of the habitual identification with body and mind until only the natural, ever-present Self remains felt as obvious.

The practice

Repeating the Bhavana

15–25 minutes · Seated, quiet — no specific posture prescribed; traditionally also carried as a silent refrain through the activities of the day, not confined to formal sitting

  1. 1Sit quietly and let the body and breath settle.
  2. 2Silently and slowly say to yourself: 'I am not the body, I am not the mind, I am Brahman, I am everything.'
  3. 3Pause after saying it — don't rush to the next repetition. Let the words register as a felt conviction, not just a sentence.
  4. 4Repeat the phrase again, letting each repetition wear a little more of the ordinary sense of being 'this body' or 'this mind' away.
  5. 5Let the same recognition extend to the breath itself — the exhale is Brahman, the inhale is Brahman, even the pause between breaths is Brahman — nothing held back from what you're repeating.
  6. 6If a thought, doubt, or distraction pulls attention away, simply return to the phrase and continue.
  7. 7The text calls this repetition itself, ultimately, 'ever the japa' of Brahman — not a means pointing toward something else, but already what it's pointing to. Let that soften any sense of working toward a result.
  8. 8Continue for as long as feels natural, treating the repetition as an aid that supports a direct feel for what is actually asking 'who am I?' underneath it — not as a mechanical chant to complete.

The source explicitly frames this repetition as an aid to self-enquiry, not a replacement for it — the Maharshi is recorded distinguishing the two even while endorsing the practice strongly.

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