http://www.thegreatonwardpress.com/9974/05/index25article4.html
To St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226…) is attributed the remark, “What you are looking for is what is looking.” This is also a succinct statement of the intent of Self-enquiry (capitalized), which means to look for what is looking, or to watch for what is watching.
You will never be satisfied with anything in the world because everything in it changes. The only thing that will ever really satisfy you is your true Self, which transcends all changes.
Whenever you are suffering, focus the attention on what is looking by asking a question something like,
What is aware?
What is it that never changes?
What is it that cannot be affected?
and then look. Don’t conceptualize an answer! By looking, you will become disidentified from any kind of thought or image that you see. If you have the sensation that what is watching is located in the head or chest, remember again that anything that you can watch cannot be what is watching. This applies to any sense of a localized object, even to an observer. You may now have the sensation of receding away from all mental objects towards an inner You, which is prior to, or inward from, all mental objects. Stay in this state until involvement with thoughts recurs, then repeat the question and look again. This state is one of stillness, peace, and fullness in which you are disidentified from everything in manifestation.
If you still have the sense that there is an observer that is looking, ask,
What is it that is aware of this observer?
and then look. This will help you to recede even further.
With practice, you will find that you stay in this state for longer and longer periods before asking again. Eventually, you will be able to omit asking, and simply look at what is looking. You may also begin to feel the pull of the Self itself and, with more practice, the Self may pull you in and hold you with little or no effort from you. And finally, you may realize that the Self is always what you are, and is always what you have been.
Every incident of suffering is another cue to disidentify. Whatever happens or does not happen is never up to you, so the only thing that you can “do” in any situation is to disidentify from it. This will bring an immediate but profound sense of silence and peace which will be irresistible inspiration for continued disidentification.
Enquiry into the Self may be summarized by the reminder,
Go inward.
Go inward past all thoughts, feelings, emotions, sensations, and perceptions, as far as possible until you can see that none of the mind’s contents are You or Yours. If you are still suffering, you have not gone far enough. Go still further and see that there is nothing there. You will then see that You are not a concept or object because You are what sees them. You Yourself are nothing that You can see or conceptualize. While you are inward, You will be unmoved and untouched by anything that happens in the body-mind or the world because You will see that You are unmovable and untouchable.
Outward is emptiness, frustration, dissatisfaction, anxiety, and boredom, and nothing that you really want. Your security cannot be found in what is ever-changing. It can only be found in what is never-changing. What you are looking for is what is looking. It is the home of peace and fulfillment and everything you really want.
Do not be deceived by the apparent simplicity of this practice! It is far more powerful than the mind can ever imagine because it brings you to the real You, which transcends the mind and therefore cannot be understood by the mind.
While you are inward, the activities of the body-mind and of the rest of the world may continue but they will not affect You. The more time you spend inward, the more you will realize your true nature, and the better you will feel.
… Initially, enquiry is most easily practiced in sitting meditation with a minimum of distractions. However, its real value is realized only when you use it to remain disidentified in all forms of activity. Ultimately, Self-enquiry is transformed from an active practice into the realization that ever-present, pure witnessing is what You are. … [The Sage] Ramesh [Balsekar] says,
“Self-enquiry is a passive rather than an active process. Mind is allowed to subside into its source even while engaged in normal activity, which then becomes an undercurrent of witnessing that gradually extends throughout all waking hours and begins to pervade all one’s activities without intruding on them or interfering with them.”
Nisargadatta Maharaj was a striking example of successful enquiry. In an article in the October 1978 issue of The Mountain Path, Jean Dunn, a disciple of his, wrote that he once said,
“When I met my guru he told me, ‘You are not what you take yourself to be. Find out what you are. Watch the sense “I Am”, find your real Self.’ I did as he told me. All my spare time I would spend looking at myself in silence. And what a difference it made, and how soon! It took me only three years to realize my true nature.”
— Stanley Sobottka,
A Course in Consciousness
(http://www.faculty.virginia.edu/consciousness/), Chapter 22 – Disidentification through Enquiry
Filed under: natural philosophy
