Disciple: Is it not funny that the "|" should be searching for the "|"? Does not the enquiry,

"Who am I?" turn out in the end [to bel an empty formula? Or, am I to put the question to myself endlessly, repeating it like [al mantra?

Bhagavan: Self-enquiry is certainly not an empty formula; it is more than repetition of any mantra. If the enquiry, "Who am I?" were a mere mental questioning, it would not be of much value. The very purpose of Self-enquiry is to focus the entire mind at its Source. It is not, therefore, a case of one "I" searching for another "I."

...

Where the "I" merges, another entity emerges as "'" - "I" ( or "| am I") of its own accord. That is the perfect Self.

#SriRamanaMaharshi