It was Sri Ramana's basic thesis that the individual self is nothing more than a thought or an idea. He said that this thought, which he called the 'I'-thought, originates from a place called the Heart-center....from here the 'I'-thought rises up to the brain and identifies itself with the body: 'I am this body'. It then creates the illusion that there is a mind or an individual self which inhabits the body and which controls all its thoughts and actions. The 'I'-thought accomplishes this by identifying itself with all the thoughts and perceptions that go on in the body: for example, 'I' am doing this, 'I' am thing this, 'I' am feeling happy, etc. Thus, the idea that one is an individual person is generated and sustained by the 'I'-thought and by its habit of constantly attaching itself to all the thoughts that arise. Sri Ramana maintained that one could reverse this process by depriving the 'I'-thought of all the thoughts and perceptions that it normally identifies with. Sri Ramana taught that this 'I'-thought is actually an unreal entity, and that it only appears to exist when it identifies itself with other thoughts. He said that if one can break the connection between the 'I'-thought and the thoughts it identifies with, then the 'I'-thought itself will subside and finally disappear. Sri Ramana suggested that this could be done by mentally holding on to the 'I'-thought, that is, the inner feeling or 'I' or 'I am', and excluding all other thoughts....He said that if one can keep one's attention firmly on this feeling of 'I', and if one can exclude all other thoughts, then the 'I'-thought will start to subside into the Heart-center.
------------------------------------------No Mind - I am the Self (p.14-15)