Self-inquiry is not for advanced people.
It is a very simple down to earth method for all kinds of persons...
In fact if you are too clever, you will not see the simplicity of it! That is why this is suitable for you, and everyone who is not obscured by their cleverness. This method is not for 'wise people'. It is designed for simple minded person honest to find out his present reality.
You are aware and present right now isn't it? Can you even deny that? Just ask yourself Who am I.
http://www.advaita.org.uk/discourses/teachers/essence_wheeler.htm
In my first conversation with Bob Adamson, the very first thing he asked me was (as I recall it), “Well, do you know what it is? Do you know what Nisargadatta Maharaj understood and what he was pointing to? Is it absolutely clear yet?” I remained silent. All my former concepts and acquired knowledge were utterly useless. After a pause, he asked me, “Do you exist right now? Are you aware right now?” I said, “Yes.” He said, “That’s it! That is what is being pointed out. It is your own being and awareness. You know it already. It is just recognizing this. There is nothing more to know beyond this.”
See this:
(Ken Wilber)
There are many things that I can
doubt, but I cannot doubt my own consciousness in this moment. My
consciousness IS, and even if I tried to doubt it, it would be my
consciousness doubting. I can imagine that my senses are being presented
with a fake reality – say, a completely virtual reality or digital
reality, which looks real but is merely a series of extremely realist
images. But even then, I cannot doubt the consciousness that is doing
the watching…
The very undeniability of my present awareness, the
undeniability of my consciousness, immediately delivers to me a
certainty of existence in this moment, a certainty of Being in the
now-ness of this moment. I cannot doubt consciousness and Being in this
moment, for it is the ground of all knowing, all seeing, all existing…
Who am I? Ask that question over and over again, deeply. Who am I? What is it in me that is conscious of everything?
If
you think that you know Spirit, or if you think you don’t, Spirit is
actually that which is thinking both of those thoughts. So you can doubt
the objects of consciousness, but you can never believably doubt the
doubter, never really doubt the Witness of the entire display.
Therefore, rest in the Witness, whether it is thinking that it knows God
or not, and that witnessing, that undeniable immediacy of
now-consciousness, is itself God, Spirit, Buddha-mind. The certainty
lies in the pure self-felt Consciousness to which objects appear, not in
the objects themselves. You will never, never, never see God, because
God is the Seer, not any finite, mortal, bounded object that can be
seen…
This pure I AM state is not hard to achieve but impossible
to escape, because it is ever present and can never really be doubted.
You can never run from Spirit, because Spirit is the Runner. To put it
very bluntly, Spirit is not hard to find but impossible to avoid: it is
that which is looking at this page right now. Can’t you feel That One?
Why on earth do you keep looking for God when God is actually the
Looker?
Simply ask, Who am I? Who am I? Who am I?
I am
aware of my feelings, so I am not my feelings – Who am I? I am aware of
my thoughts, so I am not my thoughts – Who am I? Clouds float by in the
sky, thoughts float by in the mind, feelings float by in the body – and I
am none of those because I can Witness them all.
Moreover, I can
doubt that clouds exist, I can doubt that feelings exist, I can doubt
that objects of thought exist – but I cannot doubt that the Witness
exists in this moment, because the Witness would still be there to
witness the doubt.
I am not objects in nature, not feelings in
the body, not thoughts in the mind, for I can Witness them all. I am
that Witness – a vast, spacious, empty, clear, pure, transparent
Openness that impartially notices all that arises, as a mirror
spontaneously reflects all its objects…
You can already feel some
of this Great Liberation in that, as you rest in the ease of witnessing
this moment, you already feel that you are free from the suffocating
constriction of mere objects, mere feelings, mere thoughts – they all
come and go, but you are that vast, free, empty, open Witness of them
all, untouched by their torments and tortures.
This is actually
the profound discovery of… the pure divine Self, the formless Witness,
causal nothingness, the vast Emptiness in which the entire world arises,
stays a bit, and passes. And you are That. You are not the body, not
the ego, not nature, not thoughts, not this, not that – you are a vast
Emptiness, Freedom, Release, and Liberation.
With this discovery…
you are halfway home. You have disidentified from any and all finite
objects; you rest as infinite Consciousness. You are free, open, empty,
clear, radiant, released, liberated, exalted, drenched in a blissful
emptiness that exists prior to space, prior to time, prior to tears and
terror, prior to pain and mortality and suffering and death. You have
found the great Unborn, the vast Abyss, the unqualifiable Ground of all
that is, and all that was, and all that ever shall be.
But why is that only halfway home? Because
as you rest in the infinite ease of consciousness, spontaneously aware
of all that is arising, there will soon enough come the great
catastrophe of Freedom and Fullness: the Witness itself will disappear
entirely, and instead of witnessing the sky, you are the sky; instead of
touching the earth, you are the earth; instead of hearing the thunder,
you are the thunder. You and the entire Kosmos because One Taste – you
can drink the Pacific Ocean in a single gulp, hold Mt. Everest in the
palm of your hand; supernovas swirl in your heart and the solar system
replaces your head…
You are One Taste, the empty mirror that is
one with any and all objects that arise in its embrace, a mindlessly
vast translucent expanse: infinite, eternal, radiant beyond release. And
you… are… That…
So the primary Cartesian dualism – which is
simply the dualism between… in here and out there, subject and object,
the empty Witness and all things witnessed – is finally undone and
overcome in nondual One Taste. Once you actually and fully contact the
Witness, then – and only then – can it be transcended into radical
Nonduality, and halfway home becomes fully home, here in the
ever-present wonder of what is…
And so how do you know that you
have finally and really overcome the Cartesian dualism? Very simple: if
you really overcome the Cartesian dualism, then you no longer feel that
you are on this side of your face looking at the world out there. There
is only the world, and you are all of that; you actually feel that you
are one with everything that is arising moment to moment. You are not
merely on this side of your face looking out there. “In here” and “out
there” have become One Taste with a shuddering obviousness and certainty
so profound it feels like a five-ton rock just dropped on your head. It
is, shall we say, a feeling hard to miss.
At that point, which
is actually your ever-present condition, there is no exclusive identity
with this particular organism, no constriction of consciousness to the
head, a constriction that makes it seem that “you” are in the head
looking at the rest of the world out there; there is no binding of
attention to the personal bodymind: instead, consciousness is one with
all that is arising – a vast, open, transparent, radiant, infinitely
Free and infinitely Full expanse that embraces the entire Kosmos, so
that every single subject and every single object are erotically united
in the Great Embrace of One Taste. You disappear from merely being
behind your eyes, and you become the All, you directly and actually feel
that your basic identity is everything that is arising moment to moment
(just as previously you felt that your identity was with this finite,
partial, separate, mortal coil of flesh you call a body). Inside and
outside have become One Taste. I tell you, it can happen just like that!
(Source:
Boomeritis, Sidebar E: “The Genius Descartes Gets a Postmodern
Drubbing: Integral Historiography in a Postmodern Age”. More to be found
in The Simple Feeling of Being, a collection of Ken Wilber’s
inspirational, mystical and instructional passages drawn from his
publications, based on his experiences.)
You don't need to be enlightened to know which teacher is good...if you are enlightened you don't even need a teacher. LOL your logic is funny
Just follow what I say, have faith that I won't mislead you. If you have problems I and Thusness can help you.
By the way, self-inquiry won't lead you insane, because it is the practice of turning the light around: it is withdrawing attention to concepts into the source of mind, the light of awareness.
You can only become insane when your attention is fixated on concepts and intellectualizing. That is why I kept telling you don't think of quotes, don't keep thinking of things. I am actually helping you get out of your mental loop.
Just practice 'Who am I'... trace the radiance back to its source. If thought arises, ask, to whom does it arise? Of course to me, but Who am I? Keep inquiring back to the source.
Here's a hint: You are aware of thoughts, so you are not your thoughts (including thoughts of body, human, etc). You are aware of your body, so you are not your body.
What is it that is aware and present? What is this? Who am I?
Originally posted by An Eternal Now:Here's a hint: You are aware of thoughts, so you are not your thoughts (including thoughts of body, human, etc). You are aware of your body, so you are not your body.
What is it that is aware and present? What is this? Who am I?
Originally posted by Yui Hirasawa:
conscious or the mind?
It is not what words can grasp.
A person only dealing with words, quotes, intellectualization will never see this....
The Sutra of Hui-Neng:
There was a youth named Shen-hui from teh Kao clan of Hsiang-yang; thirteen years old, he came from Jade Spring to call on the Master.
The Master said, "Friend, you've come a long way, a hard journey; have you brought the basis along? If you have the basis, you should know the host. Try to express it."
Shen-hui said, "Nondwelling is the basis, seeing is the host."
The Master said, "How is it appropriate for you, a novice to speak glibly?"
The Master hit him three times with his staff and asked, "When I hit you, are you pained or not?"
He replied, "Both pained and not pained."
The Master said, "And I both see and do not see."
Shen-hui asked," What is it to both see and not see?"
The Master said, "My vision is such that I always see the excesses and errors of my own mind, while I do not see the right and wrong or good and bad of other people. Thus I both see and do not see.
"You say you are both pained and not pained - what about that? If you are not pained, you are the same as wood or stone; if you are pained, you are the same as an ordinary man, so you get angry and resentful.
"The seeing or not seeing you spoke of just now are two extremes; being pained and not being pained are birth and death. you don't even see your own essential nature, yet you dare to play with people."
Shen-hui bowed and apologized.
The Master also said, "If your mind is confused and you do not see, you ask a teacher to seek the path. If your mind is enlightened, then you see your essential nature, and you cultivate practice based on the teaching. You are confused yourself and do not see your own mind, yet you come asking me if I see or not. I know my seeing for myself - how could it substitute for your confusion? If you can see yourself, that could not replace my confusion either."
Shen-hui bowed again, more than a hundred times, seeking pardon for his error. he worked for the master diligently, never leaving his side.
One day the Master said to the congregation, "I have something with no head, no tail, no name, no label, no back, no front: do you recognize it?"
Shen-hui came forth and said, "This is the original source of all buddhas, my buddha-nature."
The Master said, "I just told you it has no name or label; then you immediately call it the original source, the buddha-nature. Later on, when you have a bunch of thatch covering your head, you will still just be a follower of intellectual understanding."
After the death of the Grand Master, Shen-hui went to the capital and popularized the Ts'ao-ch'i teaching of immediacy. He wrote Notes Revealing the Source, which was very popular in this time. (This was Ch'an Master Ho-ts'e).
Originally posted by An Eternal Now:You don't need to be enlightened to know which teacher is good...if you are enlightened you don't even need a teacher. LOL your logic is funny
Just follow what I say, have faith that I won't mislead you. If you have problems I and Thusness can help you.
By the way, self-inquiry won't lead you insane, because it is the practice of turning the light around: it is withdrawing attention to concepts into the source of mind, the light of awareness.
You can only become insane when your attention is fixated on concepts and intellectualizing. That is why I kept telling you don't think of quotes, don't keep thinking of things. I am actually helping you get out of your mental loop.
Just practice 'Who am I'... trace the radiance back to its source. If thought arises, ask, to whom does it arise? Of course to me, but Who am I? Keep inquiring back to the source.
Do you think practicing recitation of Amituofo conflicts with self enquiry? People like me who practice recitation of Amituofo at the same time practice self enqiury. Do you think it is right or I should concentrate on one practice only ?
I don't think there is any conflict between chanting and self-inquiring. In fact it aids. Why? Self-inquiry does not work if the mind is wandering. Chanting helps stilling the mind, which helps set a conducive mind state for successful inquiry.
Are there categories of people - say the mentally ill, for example - who should not be intensively meditating or practicising self-inquiry?
I don't think self-inquiry is dangerous. Meditation is more dangerous. Why?
Because in meditation, if you have mental illness, without proper technique and guidance, you can enter hallucination states and increase delusion. In such states one might also be susceptible to spirit influences. If a person has mental illness and wants to meditate, the teacher must observe the conditions and guide him properly and stop him if his condition is aggravated by his practice.
However there is no danger of self-inquiry leading to hallucination states, since the practitioner is asked to reject all illusory mind states and thoughts however enticing and interesting, in order to discover the source of his awareness and identity. Which means as soon as a thought arises, that practitioner must ask, 'To whom? Who am I?' and disregard that thought, so the thought does not even begin to take root.
However, self-inquiry must be done correctly: it must be tracing the radiance back to its source, so the thoughts should be disregarded, instead of engaging in endless intellectualizing of what 'I' am.
If self-inquiry increases thoughts and confusions instead of leading to more calmness and insight and experience, then something is wrong.
At the same time, understand that self-inquiry is not an immediate solution to mental illness. Those who have mental illness must continue seeing his psychiatrist and take appropriate treatment and medicine.
i see. thats good :)
Originally posted by Yui Hirasawa:AEN i think I chant AMTF for the time being.
If I go to a zen centre in the future I practise Koan if the zen teacher allowed.
Or sitting meditation.
I believe koan and self inquiry and meditation all need teacher.
in the book mindfulness in plain english, the authour gt tell us the importance of an experienced teacher to guide.
I also recite heart sutra without thinking of the meaning just recite until I feel it’s enough like 30 times for example.
I managed to break free from my former faith influences.
Wow, recite heart sutra 30 times in one sitting? Cool.
Originally posted by Dawnfirstlight:Do you think practicing recitation of Amituofo conflicts with self enquiry? People like me who practice recitation of Amituofo at the same time practice self enqiury. Do you think it is right or I should concentrate on one practice only ?