Self-attentiveness (Atma vichara) during daily activities.

Comments by Michael James regarding the question of whether self-inquiry (Atma vichara) can be done and continue throughout the day, and during one's daily activities-


"Whatever work we may do need not stand in the way of our practising ātma-vicāra, because however much work we may have we still find time to think many unnecessary thoughts, so if we spend the time we normally spend attending to such thoughts attending to ourself instead, that will be sufficient. Whatever thoughts may be required for you to do your work effectively are obviously necessary, so you should attend to those thoughts as usual, but if you spend all or most of the rest of your time trying to be self-attentive, you will gradually find that a subtle degree of self-attentiveness can continue even while you are attending to all the necessary thoughts that your work entails."


(Michael James, on the teachings of Sri Ramana Maharsi, www.happinessofbeing.com)