Self Inquiry - Direct Path to Self Realization, Awakening

[kungwu111]

Self Realization or Awakening is beyond all religions, and it cannot be a personal achievement.

What I want to share with you here is inquiry and recognition about the true self which came through some direct experiences.

Who am I really? What cannot be doubted is “I exist”. Apparently, I am that (the subject) which is aware. What is the subject of the awareness then?

The most significant aspect of the human mind is conceptual thinking. Everyone starts to form a “me concept” soon after birth, under the influence of one’s family and society: first you get a name; then you form some kind of idea about one’s appearance, sex, personality, etc; then you have family roles such as a daughter, a son, a wife, a husband, a mother or a father, etc.; then you have social roles such as a student, a doctor, a nurse, etc; some may have religious roles such as a Christian or a Buddhist, etc. Most people never question the reality of the “conceptual I”. However, it is obvious that I am not any concept (the object which I am aware of). I am the one (the subject) who is aware of all concepts. What is the subject that is aware of everything then?

Apparently, the true answer to this question cannot be conceptual as I am the one who is aware of all concepts. Since the human mind is used to complex thinking in addition to the influence of religions, cultures, etc., a common sense question such as this seemed to have become mysterious. The true answer to this question is within everyone but dormant in most people. That is why self realization is also called awakening.

When facing the question “what am I”, the conditioned mind will habitually come up with all kinds of conceptual answers. The most common assumption is “I am a body with a mind”. The true self is that which is aware of all organ senses (see, hear, smell, taste, touch, feel, etc.) and all thoughts. What is aware of all this?

Some people may sense "I am not just the body with a mind". Hence imagination of what "I" might be in the spiritual world arises, and this "I" then appears to be somewhere out there and unreachable. Again, what is aware of all imaginations?

When you are in stillness, you may be able to sense that you are the awareness itself. There are many other words used for pointing to the true answer: consciousness, beingness, stillness, presence, spirit or emptiness, etc. It is necessary to point out: Since humans are used to seek answers through thoughts or concepts, it is a common trap to mistake pointers as the answer in self inquiry. The principle is the same with "finger pointing to the moon is not the moon itself". The seeker needs to see the moon in the direction the finger is pointing to. Just like the moon’s physical existence, the existence of the awareness (Self) is beyond doubt. What does the awareness point to then?

This seemingly simple question has puzzled humans since the beginning of time. This is because the true answer to this question cannot be spoken. Self inquiry will inevitably exhaust the conditioned mind. No objects, including thoughts, feelings, emotions and phenomena can be you because you are that which is aware of them. They cannot stop you from being the awareness but they can be obstacles to its self recognition. When the mind eventually gives up and stops its attempt to come up with any conceptual answers to the question "what am I", the grace for the awareness to reveal itself may come. For example, there are people who believed in Buddhism for many years or even decades only experienced self realization (awakening) after they set aside all Buddhist teachings and face the question directly. Of course, there is no certain way as to how the experiences of the self recognition or awakening happen. Eckhart Tolle, author of “The Power of Now”, had such an experience when he was 29 years old. Here is the paragraphs from the book:

““I cannot live with myself any longer.” This was the thought that kept repeating itself in my mind. Then suddenly I became aware of what a peculiar thought it was. “Am I one or two? If I cannot live with myself, there must be two of me: the ‘I’ and the ‘self’ that I cannot live with.” “Maybe,” I thought, “only one of them is real.”

I was so stunned by this strange realization that my mind stopped. I was fully conscious, but there were no more thoughts...”

The next morning he was truly “awakened”...

When the true answer to the question "what am I" is revealed or recognized through direct experience, it is seen that the awareness itself (your true self) does not come and go. It is not born and it cannot die. The awareness is always present. It is beyond space and time. It is untouchable and unchanging. It is limitless and timeless. Nothing can then really shake the deep peace within you. Isn’t this what everyone truly wants in their deepest being?

[Harbal]

I'm afraid that reading this post has not lead me towards any kind of awakening, in fact, by the time I got to the end of it I could feel my eyelids closing.

[Lacewing]

I don't think this is your thing, Harbal.

But it resonates for me...

When you are in stillness, you may be able to sense that you are the awareness itself.

Yes... love this... when everything else is swept away... there you are, and there is no "you".

Maybe I've forgotten... but I honestly don't remember ever asking myself "What am I"? The driving question in my life has always been "What can I do with this?"

Self inquiry will inevitably exhaust the conditioned mind /... When the mind eventually gives up and stops its attempt to come up with any conceptual answers to the question "what am I", the grace for the awareness to reveal itself may come.

Yes! Seems so! All of our struggle keeps us from that which we strive to "reach" BECAUSE our very struggle gives the illusion that we are separate when we are not! So when we surrender our struggle, we can see that oneness is already there!

So wonderful and inspiring! (Excuse me while I go outside and twirl around a few times. )

Isn’t this what everyone truly wants in their deepest being?

It would seem so... and yet, here we are thrashing around like we do. But I see it as just "playing out" infinite creative possibilities. Perhaps we forget that it's all play (when we stop being children), and then the supposed "seriousness" and separateness of it becomes convincingly horrifying and miserable. And we get tangled up in our own creations to such a degree that we think it's all happening TO US. When we're worn out from struggling with that, we seek to remember what is behind all of it. Complete connection and perfection!

[Jaded Sage]

What is awakening?

[thedoc]

What is awakening?

It's much like Enlightenment in Buddhism, if not the same thing, and that is to become aware of reality as the Zen Buddhists teach it. What that entails is the awareness that the individual is an illusion, and what we perceive as an individual, is actually part of a universal mind or awareness. This also has some similarities to some Christian doctrines, that claim that God is in each of us, and we are all part of God.

[Jaded Sage]

I don't think there's mention of a universal mind. I think that's new age bullshit that got roped in with it. Why call it awakening.

[Jaded Sage]

What is awakening?

It's much like Enlightenment in Buddhism, if not the same thing, and that is to become aware of reality as the Zen Buddhists teach it. What that entails is the awareness that the individual is an illusion, and what we perceive as an individual, is actually part of a universal mind or awareness. This also has some similarities to some Christian doctrines, that claim that God is in each of us, and we are all part of God.

I don't think there's mention of a universal mind. I think that's new age bullshit that got roped in with it. Why call it awakening.

[Walker]

What is awakening?

It's much like Enlightenment in Buddhism, if not the same thing, and that is to become aware of reality as the Zen Buddhists teach it. What that entails is the awareness that the individual is an illusion, and what we perceive as an individual, is actually part of a universal mind or awareness. This also has some similarities to some Christian doctrines, that claim that God is in each of us, and we are all part of God.

I don't think there's mention of a universal mind. I think that's new age bullshit that got roped in with it. Why call it awakening.

Self-enquiry is a method, a how-to. Very powerful. It’s about the sustained focus of attention upon the present, which includes thoughts that may appear other than the dominate 24/7 thought, "Who Am I?" Self-enquiry does not confer grace (1a), but grace is required for enlightenment.

[Jaded Sage]

Self-enquiry is a method, a how-to. Very powerful. It’s about the sustained focus of attention upon the present, which includes thoughts that may appear other than the dominate 24/7 thought, "Who Am I?" Self-enquiry does not confer grace (1a), but grace is required for enlightenment.

I dunno, self inquiry is exactly what got me all the grace I have.

[Walker]

Self-enquiry is a method, a how-to. Very powerful. It’s about the sustained focus of attention upon the present, which includes thoughts that may appear other than the dominate 24/7 thought, "Who Am I?" Self-enquiry does not confer grace (1a), but grace is required for enlightenment.

I dunno, self inquiry is exactly what got me all the grace I have.

Well I don’t know of any uncool Graces.

[Jaded Sage]

I'm not sure I know what that means, but I assure you my grace is coolness too.

[Walker]

I'm not sure I know what that means, but I assure you my grace is coolness too.

It simply means any Graces you can think of, including the Greek, are cool.

[thedoc]

What is awakening?

It's much like Enlightenment in Buddhism, if not the same thing, and that is to become aware of reality as the Zen Buddhists teach it. What that entails is the awareness that the individual is an illusion, and what we perceive as an individual, is actually part of a universal mind or awareness. This also has some similarities to some Christian doctrines, that claim that God is in each of us, and we are all part of God.

I don't think there's mention of a universal mind. I think that's new age bullshit that got roped in with it. Why call it awakening.

There is nothing new age about "universal mind" or "one mind", the concept has been a part of Zen Buddhism from very early on and I believe it predates Christianity. If the new age'rs are using the term, they've borrowed it from Zen that has been around for a long time.

[Jaded Sage]

I've read about zen and saw nothing. Maybe I'll find it another day and be forced to agree.

[thedoc]

I've read about zen and saw nothing. Maybe I'll find it another day and be forced to agree.

That would depend on what you have been reading and who wrote it. If your source was a non-Buddhist writing about Zen, then it might be questionable, they might not even be aware of the concept. I have read about a dozen books written by Zen Buddhists, trying to explain what they believe.