"...our normal conception of self is a false self. What many people see as themselves is not their true selves." ~ Eric Putkonen ("True Self" - January 2006, Edge Life Magazine online)
Question: In Self-Inquiry, to whom is the question "Who am I?" addressed?
Bhagavan: To whomever or whatever you are, is given the way for finding out your true identity. The ego-self, when it feels the necessity to know its own origin; or is, for whatever reason, impelled to rise above itself, takes the suggestion and goes deeper; and there, discovers the true source and reality of itself. So, the ego-self of first, in beginning to know itself, ends in perceiving its Self.
It is therefore the ego, or body-mind, that begins the quest.