Category Archives: Self Inquiry

Self Inquiry

Guided Self Inquiry

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Student: What is the Atman?

Teacher: What you see in your eyes is the Atman. What you see in the reflection is the Atman.

Student: What is reflected anywhere, which is nothing but this body, is the Atman, then the Atman would be affected by every kind of defect to which the body is subject. So there would be a defective Atman. This body is subject to death. This Atman cannot then be called immortal. When this body goes, the Atman also will go, if the body is the Atman. If I am well-dressed, the Atman is also well-dressed. If the body is blind, the Atman is blind. If the body is crippled, the Atman also is crippled. If the body is diseased, the Atman would have disease. There is something wrong with my understanding.

Teacher: That which you see in the state of dream is the Atman.

Student: One feels as if one is chased or driven away or being killed even in dream. One feels sorrow and grief and passes through unpleasant experiences in dream also. One cries, weeps and sobs when one has painful experiences in dream also. The dreaming person can be sorry, can be affected in a serious manner like the waking one and he has even the experience of destruction etc. There is something wrong with my understanding.

Teacher: He who is in the deep sleep state, that is the Atman.

Student: It is as if it is not there at all! It is a zero, an annihilation, a negation of all things! This Atman is a darkness which knows neither its own self nor others. What kind of thing is this sleep? Neither it knows that it is, nor does it know that anything else is. It is like complete annihilation, as it were. How could self-annihilation be the Atman? There is something wrong with my understanding.

Teacher: I was just making you ready to hear the truth. Atman is not an individual thing. It is due to which every experience is possible, yet it itself does not experience anything – just watches with detachment. It is not personality consciousness like waking state; it is also not non-consciousness like deep sleep state. It is awareness without individuality. It is just awareness without yours or mine. When you look at my eyes or to anybody’s eyes, you can see it. It is not like your Atman but you yourself are Atman, or it is not like your awareness but you yourself are awareness. You are taking yourself to be the body and are asking what is Atman, but actually you are Atman who has forgotten its true nature and is wrongly taking it to be the body. The Atman is bodiless just like space which has no body but is everywhere.

Derived from Chhandogya Upanishad by Swami Krishnananda

Self Inquiry

Self Inquiry – More Techniques

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While reading something for a few minutes, when you are immersed in it, i.e. when the I sense has dissolved, just inquire who is reading and see if you notice a presence*. There has to be somebody/something that is reading in the absence of the I sense.

While watching TV for a few minutes, when you are immersed in it, i.e. when the I sense has dissolved, just inquire who is watching/listening and see if you notice a presence*. There has to be somebody/something that is watching/listening in the absence of the I sense.

*Presence word is a pointer. Awareness word is more accurate. When I sense has gone and there is no false identification, you are pure awareness and awareness can recognise itself.

Self Inquiry

Guided Self Inquiry

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Teacher: Please look at the flower in front of us.
Student: Okay.

Teacher: Where exactly do you experience it?
Student: In the garden.

Teacher: Not the physical location, but the place of experience. The light rays are converted into electrical signals in your body and then your mind sees it. So, you experience it within you. Do you follow?
Student: Yes, I understand the basic Physics and since mind is part of me who is looking at the image of the flower, so I am looking at the flower within me.

Teacher: Good, now how far is your awareness from the flower?
Student: Well, my awareness is right there where flower is. There is no gap between my awareness and the flower.

Teacher: Can you now close your eyes and imagine the same flower. Now, how far is awareness from the flower?
Student: Same as before. Whether eyes are open or close, there is no gap between my awareness and the flower.

Teacher: Great! awareness takes the shape of the flower. Now, how far are you from the awareness?
Student:  I am there where my awareness is. There is no gap between myself and the awareness.

Teacher: Excellent, since there is no gap between you and the awareness, is there anything else that you realise?
Student: Well, let me think for a moment……. This is amazing! I am the awareness.

The above dialogue is inspired from the writings of Sri James Swartz.

Self Inquiry

Self Inquiry for Self Realisation

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The following procedure can be used for Self inquiry:

As explained earlier there are 5 shells and Atman is beyond these shells. The innermost shell is Annamayakosha (body), then there is Pranamayakosha (breath/energy), the next one is Manomayakosha (mind), the penultimate one is Vijnanmayakosha (intellect) and the outermost one is Anandamayakosha (bliss). Atman (Self) is beyond Anandamayakosha. Let us now negate each one of these by Self inquiry.

Negation of Annamayakosha (body),  Manomayakosha (mind) and Vijnanmayakosha (intellect) can be done by following the logic mentioned here which is based on the principle that if you are the witness to something then you cannot be that thing.

Negation of Pranamayakosha (breath/energy): Air is inhaled from the atmosphere and exhaled back into the atmosphere. Something that is borrowed from somewhere and given back to it after its use cannot be me. Morever, there is no intellect associated with breath/energy which I have and hence I cannot be Pranamayakosha.

Negation of Anandamayakosha (bliss): Sometimes I feel bliss after getting up in the morning after deep sleep. This also happens after listening to soul stirring music. Anandamayakosha is said to contain the reflection of the Self. This means that I reach the reflected Self when I experience bliss. Since I am the experiencer/knower of the bliss and every other kosha, I am beyond all of them and hence I am Atman/Self.

Self Inquiry

Self/Atman Inside Body Misconception

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Generally, we identify ourselves with body-mind and the Atman/Self is not known to us. Also, for spiritual quest we are advised to look within. These considerations lead us to believe that if Atman is there it is something very small inside the body. If we look at Panchakoshas concept explained in Vedanta this misunderstanding can be corrected. There are 5 shells and Atman is beyond these shells. The innermost shell is Annamayakosha (body), then there is Pranamayakosha (breath/energy), the next one is Manomayakosha (mind), the penultimate one is Vijnanmayakosha (intellect) and the outermost one is Anandamayakosha (bliss). Atman is beyond Anandamayakosha.
Self Inquiry

I am not body-mind proof

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While a spiritual guru would often say that certain knowledge is beyond intellect, I will still try an approach in two parts to prove logically that a being is beyond a body-mind complex.

Part-A

Let us consider the following statements:

  • If I can witness a book lying on the table, I am not that book. The book is separate from me.
  • If I can witness my pen, I am not that pen. My pen is separate from me.
  • If I am a witness to myself listening to music, I am not music. The music is separate from me.

This can go on and on…….

Based on the above, we have the following axiom:

Axiom: If I can witness something or if I am a witness to something, I am not that something. I am separate from that. Now, consider the following deductions:

  • I can witness my hands, legs etc. or my body, so I am not my body.
  • I am a witness to the reflex action that happens due to electric shock, sudden pain etc., so I am not my nervous system.
  • I am a witness to my drowsy state at the time of sleeping. So, I am not my subconscious mind.
  • I am a witness to the emotions of being happy, sad etc. and am a witness to the sensations of taste, smell etc. So, I am not my conscious mind.
  • I am a witness to my intellect making choices, so I am not my intellect.

Part-B

During deep sleep, while my mind is unconscious or it does not seem to exist, I do find myself when I am awake. This means that I did exist even when the mind did not seem to exist. So, I cannot be my unconscious mind.