Best Contemplation Questions?

[Truth]

I'm looking to ask more questions about my ego, Examples:

- What are thoughts?

- What are beliefs?

- Who am I?

- What is truth?

- Why do I suffer?

- Why do I try to be so certain?

Things like this, what are some questions that you've asked that really gave you insights into truth?

 

I was watching the Secret to spiritual success - Matt Kahn. and he gave me an insight into contemplation which is pretty awesome

 

"You can ask any question, you can contemplate any question spiritually, and if you did it from a place of relaxation, you wouldn't necessarily find the answer that is other words to resolve the question you have. The answer would be realizing that the question was only manufactured in your consciousness as a reflection of how out of alignment or how unrelaxed you live your life. So what if an answer is just words that conformed you've returned to relaxation and questions are reminding you how unaligned you are, but they have nothing to do with one another. People have questions and think an answer is gonna resolve it, people say "Who am I?" and they're waiting for someone to say something, instead of saying "the question I'm asking is proof that I'm not relaxed, let me relax, let me become the answer, not the one listening for an answer and then whatever amazing insight I have is just my consciousness shifting out of question mode to answer mode to confirm that I've returned to relaxation as proof to how aligned I now am."

Edited February 15, 2016 by Truth
Insight

[Leo Gura]

If you what you seek is classic enlightenment -- dissolution of the self -- then the two most important questions are:

• Who am I?
• What am I?

And others that go to the root of your existential nature. Examples might include:

• Who is perceiving?
• Who is aware?
• What is aware?
• Where am I?

[Truth]

11 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

 

And others that go to the root of your existential nature. Examples might include:

• Who is perceiving?
• Who is aware?
• What is aware?
• Where am I?

I'll definitely use these, thanks

[Emerald]

What are emotions? 

How do I experience emotions?

Where do emotions originate from?

What is the relationship between thoughts and emotions?

What senses do I experience (sight, sound, touch, taste, smell, thought, anything else)?

Are my senses connected or separate from one another?

Do I arbitrarily link certain senses together? (example: arbitrarily linking sight with touch)

[Ludwig]

What is lacking?

[Truth]

2 hours ago, Emerald Wilkins said:

 

What is the relationship between thoughts and emotions?

What senses do I experience (sight, sound, touch, taste, smell, thought, anything else)?

Are my senses connected or separate from one another?

Do I arbitrarily link certain senses together? (example: arbitrarily linking sight with touch)

Ooh I really like these. good list.

[ZenMonkey]

I like to use what's there. If I am sad: who is aware of the sadness? etc.

Also when you see that your attention wanders you can ask: "Who is aware of my attention?"

[Emerald]

5 hours ago, Truth said:

Ooh I really like these. good list.

Thank you.  

[str4]

The thing I contemplated today was:

Is my memory of past things really evidence that the things really happened?

And I don't mean that I'm questioning my memory.

But I mean that is memory really a reflection of something that really happened, or is it just a hologram of a sort of a thing that never happened anywhere, but the hologram leads me to believe that it really happened. What if there is no time at all, and all I am living is in a present moment. When I try to remember things happened in the past, the reflection of my past just comes from somewhere and was never a reality.

[JKG]

What is sight, what are sounds, what are thoughts? / What are sensations?

Can I trust my memory? Where does my memory come from? How does the memory work?

How can I know where I physically am?

 

[Huz]

19 hours ago, quantum said:

What is sight, what are sounds, what are thoughts? / What are sensations?

Can I trust my memory? Where does my memory come from? How does the memory work?

How can I know where I physically am?

 

what do you look for when answering questions like these?

[step1]

22 hours ago, str4 said:

The thing I contemplated today was:

Is my memory of past things really evidence that the things really happened?

And I don't mean that I'm questioning my memory.

But I mean that is memory really a reflection of something that really happened, or is it just a hologram of a sort of a thing that never happened anywhere, but the hologram leads me to believe that it really happened. What if there is no time at all, and all I am living is in a present moment. When I try to remember things happened in the past, the reflection of my past just comes from somewhere and was never a reality.

This is when things start to get freaky..  This is the bit i'm afraid of.

[JKG]

1 hour ago, Huz88 said:

21 hours ago, quantum said:

What is sight, what are sounds, what are thoughts? / What are sensations?

Can I trust my memory? Where does my memory come from? How does the memory work?

How can I know where I physically am?

 

what do you look for when answering questions like these?

Sensations are probably just consciousness, energy, whatever you want to call it.

You probably cannot trust your memory. It are just thoughts and images which arise.

I probably cannot know where I am because you have to trust your sensations and your memory...

So basically you know nothing

[Azrael]

My favourite one that to this day got me the most insight is:

"What is my next thought?"

Maybe, a little bit counter-intuitive but I'll ask that question and then just notice what my brain does. I'm actually trying to discover the game of silence and thoughts and how these two play together. I had one of my most shocking sittings with that question in which I understood on a way deeper level what it means that Free Will doesn't exist. 

Try to catch the moment in which the next thought comes up and observe how you actually think about your next thought and trick yourself and then you're off to the races for another round of monkey mind.

[Avi]

Mine are: 

Is this happening right now or am I just perceiving that this is happening? 

Who is aware of my awareness? 

Am I asleep? 

What/Who am I without this thought? 

Just a few though I find the more that meditate and contemplate the more angles I find of questions. 

[Galyna]

On 2/16/2016 at 11:36 PM, Leo Gura said:

If you what you seek is classic enlightenment -- dissolution of the self -- then the two most important questions are:

• Who am I?
• What am I?

And others that go to the root of your existential nature. Examples might include:

• Who is perceiving?
• Who is aware?
• What is aware?
• Where am I?

Where am I? 

 

okay this question is very freaky and scary for the ego, because sometimes I feel like I will be taken to mental clinic and that is why I can not go further. 

I am really scared to damage my psyche. Lots of people here and on other forums advise how they experience really mad conditions. Some of them share pretty crazy stories. 

 

Is there any mild way to do this?

[Galyna]

On 2/16/2016 at 11:06 AM, str4 said:

The thing I contemplated today was:

Is my memory of past things really evidence that the things really happened?

And I don't mean that I'm questioning my memory.

But I mean that is memory really a reflection of something that really happened, or is it just a hologram of a sort of a thing that never happened anywhere, but the hologram leads me to believe that it really happened. What if there is no time at all, and all I am living is in a present moment. When I try to remember things happened in the past, the reflection of my past just comes from somewhere and was never a reality.

There is no time, scientific world is screaming about it. Watch youtube videos about quantum mechanics, they are my favorite

[Naviy]

12 minutes ago, Galyna said:

Where am I? 

 

okay this question is very freaky and scary for the ego, because sometimes I feel like I will be taken to mental clinic and that is why I can not go further. 

I am really scared to damage my psyche. Lots of people here and on other forums advise how they experience really mad conditions. Some of them share pretty crazy stories. 

 

Is there any mild way to do this?

Don't be a pussy

[Galyna]

But of course, we can NOT trust any science because it is not a direct empirical knowledge, but Quantum Physics and Mechanics have some good points on time.

[Huz]

how do you guys go about your practice? Do you just ask one question and try to find the answer for the session or do you ask multiple questions?