Best Contemplation Questions?

[WelcometoReality]

16 hours 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?

Ego resistance means you're on the right path. No way to enlightenment that I know of that doesn't require you to meet your fears.

[theinevitableandi]

Play with this one i got some traction with this inquiry

Who is not aware?  

Im aware that i am not aware.

Who is the "I AM " thats aware of that answer?

I am .... 

Who is that I am?

...

 

its kind of like saying think of the NOW .... 

then you can try to think of the now ...

but notice how you can never think of the NOW...

You can only think in the NOW..

Because you are in the NOW...

 

 

 

"You are a little Soul, carrying around a corpse" Epictetus

 

Edited February 18, 2016 by pete

[Naviy]

Some of my current self inquiry questions are:

 

- What is the difference between unconscious state of mind and conscious ("mindful") state of mind? When the mind is lost in thoughts and experiences, does The Thing that is aware of these thoughts and experiences, remain unaffected by any activity of mind? Is there any difference for the awareness, if the mind is totally lost in thoughts or if it is very conscious? Also, how can I notice when I am conscious and when I am lost in thoughts? How does it exactly feel like? What is the exact difference between these two states, what changes?

- What do I believe is the difference between "Me" and "not-Me"?

- Why do I believe that "I" necessary has to exist?

- It seems like some of thoughts and body activity I can control, and some - I cannot. Is it really so? What makes me believe that I can control some of the activities of the mind and body? What do I mean by "control"? How does Will appear? How does it feel like - to make Will to appear? Do I really create any movement of Will? Why do I believe that I am the creator of any Will? How does it feel like - to create Will? Why do I attach the feeling of "My" to some of movements of Will?  

- What is the MOST real RIGHT NOW in the very real-time moment?

- Is there "I" right now? What is it? How does "I" feel like?

- Is there anything that is not activity of mind right now? (Activities of mind: confidence or lack of confidence, any experience, any feeling, thought or emotion, any will, any memory, any belief, any object).

[framu]

Yesterday I entered a pretty deep meditation. Took a pillow on my desk and rested on it with my head leaning forward. The whole experience shifted and I got very focused in a different way. I was so focused that I could see my thoughts from a very objectively place. It felt like i watched the content of my thoughts(WHAT IS A THOUGHT?).  I asked WHO AM I? and went looking for what I was. The other thing I did was trying to locate where I was (WHERE AM I?), which was impossible..

Is this the right way?

[growthaboveall]

Does anything exist other that what Im looking at right now?

Where physically am I?

Am I a physical object?
 

[Travis]

On Tuesday, February 16, 2016 at 0:56 PM, 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?

That's been on my mind a lot lately, as well. I'm getting to the point in my contemplation where the ego is not jiving with my direct experience and it feels like I'm going to be imprisoned within my own mind (but I recognize it's a feeling/emotion that is creating the thought, so that helps

Speaking of contemplation questions, and linking them to these experiences, I ask, 

What am I worried about? I'm worried that I'll lose my mind and become completely disconnected with reality.

With what reality?

What am I afraid of losing?

I'm afraid of becoming cognitively/emotionally/spiritually disconnected from what is.

What is? And how would I become disconnected from it? 

Also, something that goes overlooked in me when having these thoughts is "I want enlightenment now"  and "I need to get it before I die" which activates this sense of urgency and can contribute to anxious, panicky feelings that in turn produce more white noise mental chatter that jumps from thoughts to emotions, feeding further thoughts etc.

Asking these kinds of questions bridges the gap between what we fear and what we want to achieve. It shows us there's more to the story, and it's all just a story  

Peter Ralston's "The Book of Not Knowing" is a great read and will also help form more questions to contemplate. 

[The White Belt]

These seem to be self-inquiry questions. Is there a difference between self-inquiry and contemplation at all?

[Nahm]

How did I get here?

[Nahm]

Sometimes, on shrooms, I get a huge wave of "seriously,...what the fuck is ALL this?!"