I'm reading a book called 'Self-Inquiry' by Advance Yoga
Practice founder Yogani. Self-Inquiry is not particularly Buddhist
- it is utilized in Buddhist traditions (e.g. Ch'an Master Hsu Yun,
and many other previous Zen masters), but also in Hinduism and
other religions. Though the experience of I AMness and then
non-duality is discussed, the realisation of emptiness is not
reached through self-inquiry. For that we have to go into Buddhism.
However, the following article which is a slightly modified form of
a particular chapter in the e-book, and the e-book/book itself is
very relevant to me because self-inquiry is one of my main
practices currently.
http://www.aypsite.org/327.html
Lesson 327 – The Evolutionary
Stages of Mind
From: Yogani
Date: May 3, 2009
New Members: It is recommended you read from the beginning of the
web archive, as previous lessons are prerequisite to this one. The
first lesson is, "Why This Discussion?"
As we have discussed in the previous lesson, there are many styles
of self-inquiry, embodying a variety of systems of practice. Each
may emphasize a particular angle, with its own philosophy,
terminology and mental algorithms.
The styles can vary widely, from prescribing complete
conscious engagement in the minutest details of the identification
of awareness with objects of perception (sometimes called
mindfulness), to letting go of life altogether, including
all seeking. Whatever the teaching may be, it will always reflect
the experience of the particular teacher who is transmitting the
knowledge. There will be a bias, and the teaching may or may not
resonate with all students who come to study that approach. It is
up to the student to find a teaching that does resonate.
All self-inquiry teachings have one thing in common – they seek to
dissolve the identification of awareness with objects of
perception, including all thoughts, feelings and objects of the
world. The goal of self-inquiry is to eliminate the bondage of "me
and mine," as fabricated by the mind.
We all come at different stages of readiness to undertake this
unwinding of the ego, as it has been called. In truth, it will not
make any sense at all to most of us, until we have tasted the peace
of inner silence within us. Then we know there is something more to
us than the many props we have used to create our identity in the
world – the identity that we all know
will end as the body decays and dies. As soon as we have glimpsed
the eternal within ourselves, it is a whole new ball game. There is
something more than the limited and ever-grasping ego. To know it
we must make a journey that encompasses heart, mind and body.
Nothing less will do.
Times are changing. Now it is time for spiritual teachings to serve
the people, instead of the other way around. And in order to do so,
the teachings must be open, flexible, and, most importantly,
effective. To be effective, such teachings must be capable of
addressing every student at every level of readiness. If the
student has the desire to grow and is willing to make a commitment
of time and some discipline, then the teaching must be able to
deliver viable means, or it will be in need of some improvement.
This is okay. If teachings are flexible, they will serve the people
where they are, and evolve as the people evolve.
Self-inquiry is a particularly tricky one for application for
different levels of students. In the case of AYP, we begin with
daily deep meditation, which will cultivate inner silence.
Additional methods of yoga are be added as appropriate. A
foundational knowledge of self-inquiry is also necessary.
First, it is good to know that in our essential nature we are
unbounded pure bliss consciousness, and that all we are doing in
practices is unfolding what we already are in our daily life. It is
also good to know that this will lead to many practical benefits.
So, it is a worthwhile endeavor to be on the path.
Next, it is also good to know that there is a natural progression
in our spiritual unfoldment which occurs over time, usually over a
long time, except in the rare cases of people who are born near
enlightenment. In spite of what we may have heard, enlightenment is
not an overnight event for most people. There is no getting around
this, because each of us must go through a process of inner
purification and opening, and it takes time, even with the best of
teachings. Along the way, there are grades and stages, and the
journey never ends, even for those who are very advanced. Perhaps
especially for them, because they become much more aware of the
wider need for rising inner silence in the community, world and
beyond, and find themselves on the front line of that great
endeavor. We all help as we can, and the enlightened can help so
much more. The more we can do, the more we will be called to
do.
For the individual, there is a progression of integrated practices
that is mapped out in a step-by-step way throughout these lessons
for cultivating the necessary purification and opening. For
self-inquiry, there is a progression also. Not that it is required
for everyone to go through a progression of self-inquiry methods.
One may not even use structured self-inquiry methods at all, and
still be going through the process of self-inquiry based on the
natural emergence of inner silence and the increasingly clear
perceptions of Self (witness) in relation to the objects
of experience.
Regardless of structured self-inquiry methods, or the lack of them,
some recognizable stages of mind will evolve, and it can save time
and some confusion to be aware of these, particularly for those who
have a tendency to try and run to the end before covering the
beginning or the middle. The beginning and the middle can be just
as fulfilling as the end if we are reasonably well in touch with
where we are on our path. It does not have to be so mysterious.
With some basic knowledge, we will do much better, and not be so
much exposed to the hazards of taking blind leaps led by our
over-eager mind (more on the "pitfalls of the mind" in an upcoming
lesson).
Assuming one is engaged in daily deep meditation, here are five
stages of mind that self-inquiry may play itself upon as we move
along in our development:
Pre-Witnessing – Information
and intellectual assessments about truth provide inspiration, and a
tendency to build mental castles in the air, ideas reacting with
ideas, which is non-relational self-inquiry. So we do what is
necessary to cultivate the witness.
Witnessing – Perceiving the world, our thoughts and feelings as
objects separate from Self. It is the beginning of
relational self-inquiry, chosen or not.
Discrimination – The reversal of identification by logical
choices based on direct perception rooted in stillness. This is
more advanced relational self-inquiry which is able to discern the
real from the unreal.
Dispassion – Rise of the condition of no judgment and no
attachment. The process of self-inquiry becoming automatic to the
point of all objects and self-inquiry itself being constantly
dissolved in the witness.
Unity – The merging of subject and object: "I am That.
You are That. All this is That." Ongoing
outpouring divine love and service to others as
universal Self.
While progress on the road to
enlightenment may be erratic, difficult or non-existent when
engaged in self-inquiry as a stand-alone approach, it is quite a
different story when self-inquiry is used in concert with a path
based on an integration of tried and true yoga methods.
The cultivation of inner silence (the witness) in deep meditation
assures that our perception will be expanding from within over
time, and this provides for an increasingly fertile field for the
process of self-inquiry to occur. So too, does our experience in
daily samyama practice cultivate our ability to release in
stillness and live more from the level of our abiding inner
silence.
As purification and opening proceed within us, our self-inquiry
methods will change and refine over time, as we migrate from
pre-witnessing to witnessing, discrimination, dispassion and
unity.
The steady emergence of inner silence and our ability to release
our intentions and perceptions within it are the dynamics behind
the progression of self-inquiry from non-relational to relational,
until the experiencer and the experience have merged to become
One, self-sufficient, active in the world, and free of the
bondage of identification and suffering.
Pre-Witnessing
How meaningful is self-inquiry of the absolute
(non-duality) kind when we are still in the
pre-witnessing stage of mind? This is when all things are still
considered primarily on the level of thinking and logic. In this
state, what does it mean to us when we hear, "All this you see here
in the world is illusion, and you are the reality behind it."
We might have some inspiration, a desire may be kindled to know
more, to be more. Hopefully. But the more we think about it, the
more layers we will create around that essential desire to know the
truth. How many times will we have to repeat the question "Who
am I?" before we will have a glimmer of who and what we really
are? And how many books will we have to read? This is why we call
pre-witnessing the stage of inspiration and building castles in
the air. Not much more than this can happen until we move to
the next stage. With suitable inspiration, we will be compelled to
take action beyond pounding the idea against the infinite with our
tiny brain! The mind can only run in circles for so long before we
realize that we must add something else to the mix.
Once we are inspired to uncover the truth, it is important to take
action, intelligent action. Self-inquiry purists will say, "Take no
action. Do nothing. Just be!" Well, we can attempt to do that for a
very long time in pre-witnessing mode. No doubt we can develop some
witness quality by working on just being. But there is a much
faster way.
If we commit to take action using all the tools that are available
to us, we can travel very quickly along the road of realizing what
we already are – our inner most Self. With deep meditation
and a full battery of supporting practices we will move surely into
the witnessing stage.
Witnessing
As mentioned before, the
witnessing stage is a whole new ball game. It should be pointed out
that there is witnessing and there is witnessing. There is a
continuum of development as witnessing emerges. It begins as a
passive inner condition perceived as a separation from the events
going on around us, often first noticed during the occurrence of
dynamic events. Everyone has had the experience of time
standing still when a dynamic event occurred, like a car
crash, explosion or other sudden change in our physical
environment. When the witness begins to emerge, ordinary events are
gradually experienced more in this way also. As witnessing
continues to advance, our body, thoughts and feelings become
objects of perception that are separate from our sense of self, our
witness. This is an important development.
Before the witness has developed to the point where our thoughts
and feelings become objects of perception, self-inquiry will be
mostly non-relational, meaning not fully connected with who we are
– pure consciousness. The dawn of the witness sets the stage for
real self-inquiry, and an ongoing change in our life experience,
for this is when the process can move beyond ideas to the direct
experience. And the direct experience is beyond all
experience. In the initial witness condition, we are experiencing,
but we are not the experience. We are beyond it, seeing from the
point of view of separate pure awareness.
There are a few more steps beyond the emergence of the witness that
we must go through. It is not enough to be strongly established in
inner silence, seeing the changing world as separate from
ourselves. We must do something with it to move it forward.
Evolution compels us to do so. With a little nudging, it happens
naturally enough. This is where self-inquiry can have its greatest
impact on our over all path to enlightenment, because we are able
to make conscious choices based in our stillness. We see our
thoughts, feelings and perceptions of the world for what they are,
without being entirely identified with them. We are then able to
engage in a way that is liberating rather than binding, both for
ourselves and for others.
Other yoga practices are an aid to this process, such as samyama,
spinal breathing pranayama, and additional practices that cultivate
ecstatic conductivity (kundalini awakening) in the body. As we
become more established in both inner silence and ecstatic
conductivity, we experience refinements in perception and the
movement of dynamic stillness into our thought processes. These
developments support steadily increasing effectiveness in
relational self-inquiry.
Discrimination
When we think of
discrimination, the normal interpretation is that we are choosing
between this or that thing – choosing between this or that idea.
Non-relational self-inquiry is like that, choosing between things,
ideas, and ways we imagine we would like for life to be. This kind
of discrimination is circular, goes nowhere fast, and may go
nowhere for a long time. Even choosing not to think is a gigantic
task when undertaken non-relationally, without the witness present
to support our endeavor.
With the rising presence of the witness, the entire dynamic of
self-inquiry changes. Then we are choosing between that which is
object (things, ideas, emotions) and that which is subject
(witness, Self). And that kind of choosing is not a doing
at all. It is a letting go. A surrender, even while we are being
active in the world.
We all know what we want. We want to know the truth. We want to be
happy. We want to be free. Since childhood we have been told that
the truth will set us free from the burdens of this life. So we
want That.
As the witness becomes more and more abiding and quietly observing
every thought and feeling, we come to know ourselves as
That, unshaken and independent of all of our experiences,
including our own thoughts … then we are finally in the position to
make choices that will unwind the habitual identification with
experiences and the dream we have been in up until now.
It is a new perspective from which we can clearly see what is real
and what is not. At the same time, it is both as profound and as
simple as directly perceiving what is eternal and what is not. And
we can discriminate accordingly, making logical choices that are
grounded in stillness, unwinding the lingering habit of the mind to
identify itself with the objects of experience, both outside and
inside us.
In the language of advaita (non-duality), it is called neti
neti, which means not this and not this. When the
witness is sufficiently present for relational self-inquiry to
occur in the form of discrimination, then neti neti becomes a
reality. We directly perceive what is true and what is not, and we
can easily choose. Before then, neti neti will be an exercise of
the intellect, and can be as ineffective and exhausting as any
other non-relational self-inquiry. We will know the witness is
dawning in earnest when discrimination becomes easier. It is a
telltale sign.
A certain excitement comes with the realization that we have
arrived at the point of being able to choose with certainty that
which is real over that which is not. There can even be an
enthusiasm to the exclusion of all else, and we have to guard
against throwing out the practices that have brought us to this
point. There can be a tendency to plant our flag on the notion that
we are That, and fixate on the idea that all we have to do
from then on is hang onto That.
If this happens, it can be slipping into non-relational
self-inquiry again. It can happen to advanced practitioners. Much
better we should continue with the practices that brought us to
this point and strengthen the presence of the witness beyond all
tendencies we might have to imagine that we have attained anything.
Even the most advanced practitioners must guard against falling
into non-relational self-inquiry.
Certainly we can take giant leaps toward realization when our
ability has risen to clearly discriminate between objects (external
and internal) and the subject (the witness – our Self). It
is prime time for self-inquiry. But it will not be the only thing
going on, assuming we have been wise and continue with our daily
routine of yoga practices. All methods combined will assure our
rapid forward progress.
Self-inquiry is useful, but it cannot be trusted to operate alone.
Certainly not at the discrimination stage, or at any prior
stage.
There will come a time when discrimination begins to give way to
something else. It is the letting go of the need to make choices
anymore. The subject (witness) becomes so well established that
choices no longer need to be made. We just are, and we can allow
everything in our field of awareness to just be, even as we are
interacting normally in every day living. We call this the
dispassion stage. It is the stage of being completely unruffled by
anything that happens inside or outside us.
Dispassion
The condition of dispassion
is one of the primary goals of self-inquiry. Those who are very
enthusiastic and dedicated to self-inquiry are very passionate
about developing dispassion. This is non-relational self-inquiry,
of course. We all have to begin somewhere. We can’t begin at the
end, though we may certainly be passionate about the ideal we have
chosen, and that serves a purpose. It is our bhakti (devotion to
our chosen ideal).
Dispassion is not a doing at all, and is beyond self-inquiry
itself. It isn’t even a letting go, for it is beyond choice.
Dispassion is a state of being. It is the subject (the witness, our
sense of Self) developed through an integration of
practices to the point where all the objects of experience are
taken in stride, without identification. This applies to events,
relationships, and all that is going on in the body, heart and
mind.
Is dispassion a state of indifference, a state of uncaring? Does it
mean we do not act or react in the world? It does not mean that. It
is just the opposite. Much of spiritual development is paradoxical,
with less becoming much more.
The gradual emergence of dispassion means we are becoming more free
to act for the good of all. Inner silence will move to do
this through us more and more, the further we travel along the
path. It is the paradox of enlightenment. The more we have gone
beyond, the more engaged we will become for the benefit of others.
This is the nature of divine consciousness.
We really have to give credit where credit is due. Deep meditation
(if we are doing it) is the primary cultivator of dispassion,
because dispassion is an advanced stage of the witness. A
stand-alone path of self-inquiry can lead to dispassion also, but
it is rare. To succeed, self-inquiry must ascend to the level of
meditation, the transcendence of all objects of attention. If
self-inquiry is done like this over time, then the witness will
dawn and, in more time, there will be dispassion. It is a difficult
path, because it lacks a structured and efficient routine of
practice. The concept of practice itself may be lacking.
Self-inquiry of the stand-alone variety will be about constantly
remembering to release all objects of perception, including all
thoughts, feelings and perceptions of external objects. When
self-inquiry becomes a deeply ingrained habit, then that will be a
kind of ongoing meditation. How an approach like this will fit into
daily life is another question, since it requires ongoing
self-inquiry to be incorporated into every nook and cranny of our
daily life. This may not be practical for someone with a family and
career. There can be direct conflicts, particularly before the
witness has dawned.
On the other hand, if deep meditation and other sitting practices
are undertaken in a structured twice-daily routine,
and life is lived normally, the witness will be coming up naturally
as a support to family and career, and also as a support to
undertake self-inquiry in a way that does not disrupt the normal
flow of life. Deep meditation provides the witness, and
self-inquiry provides the perspective in a way that is not
replacing everyday life and activities, but enhancing them.
Dispassion is at home in the marketplace, as well as in the remote
retreat. It is all the same. The combination of daily deep
meditation and gradually emerging self-inquiry provides flexibility
for living, and is a much faster path as well.
Unity
No one knows what the true nature
of existence is outside the realm of time and space. Yet, oddly
enough, we can experience it directly. The reason we say "We cannot
know" is because the reality we are all able to experience through
deep meditation and self-inquiry is outside the field of knowing.
It is That, and thousands of volumes have been written
attempting to describe That.
In the end, the best we can do is say, "I am That." Then
we can carry on with the many descriptions of That – pure
bliss consciousness, void, Tao, God, Allah… It doesn’t really
matter what we call it. That is as good a word as any, and
we are That. All that exists is That.
If it sounds a little impersonal, it is not intended to be. For
That is the source of all love, compassion, goodness,
creativity and happiness in the world. That illuminates us
with these divine qualities, and is the source of all good
deeds.
There is a misunderstanding that has been perpetuated by some
teachers – the premise that becoming That is the only
thing of importance and nothing here on earth matters at all. In
fact, according to this premise, nothing here on earth exists. In a
philosophical sense this may be true. We learned it in high school
quantum physics, yes? Yet, when taken on the level of intellect, it
is one of the biggest traps for getting stuck in non-relational
self-inquiry.
There is the idea that it matters not one bit what becomes of this
earth or the multitude of life that is on it. There is a
distinction between one who is truly enlightened and one who has
created a division between themselves and the rest of the world
through non-relational self-inquiry, enforced by a rigid
intellectual view. With clear relational self-inquiry based in
stillness, we can reject this out of hand. Neti
neti!
The enlightened one will be he or she who remains engaged for the
benefit of all as That. Advancement on the path to
enlightenment brings with it the perception that we can only be
free when all are free, for we are One with all who are
suffering.
The image of the lone sage on the mountaintop, indifferent to the
travails of the world, is fiction. If a sage is not engaged in some
way for the benefit of others, their condition will be in question.
True enlightenment is the spontaneous outpouring of divine love,
which is working constantly to uplift everyone. The sage becomes a
willing and wide open channel for That, which does nothing
even while doing everything.
So, while yoga and self-inquiry are often viewed as a going beyond,
never to return, it is not so. We can never leave what is here and
now, for it is what we are in our own Self. The journey of
yoga, and of self-inquiry, is a journey beyond all that is, ending
in a return and full engagement for the betterment of humankind – a
journey from here to here. This is the highest knowledge,
and its highest manifestation in this world.
"I am That. You are That. All this is That."
It is an unending outpouring of divine love, whose fundamental
nature and ultimate fruition is life everywhere residing in the
Oneness of unity. It has always been That and
will always be That. The witness and self-inquiry lead to
direct realization of That.
The guru is in you.
Note: For detailed discussion on the
practical utilization of self-inquiry, and how to avoid ineffective
uses of self-inquiry, see the Self-Inquiry book.