Beginner Self-inquiry

[Max_V]

How much time should I be aiming for when just starting out with this? I have to find a way to fit it into my day too since I meditate and read too.

[Visitor]

Use your meditation and reading towards self-inquiry.

[Max_V]

@Visitor So I could do it not during specific session but just when I'm meditating and reading?

mhh alright, I will give that a try

[Shanmugam]

you can do self-inquiry at any time... When taking bath, eating, waiting for something, brushing your teeth etc...  

Just focus on the 'i' thought, the feeling of separation between you and the world... Find the sense of doer of all actions, including thinking... When each thought like 'i am this', 'i want to know this', 'i want to do this', 'i like this' etc arises, focus on that 'I' to whom the thought appears. When you see a thought as your thought, look at that 'you' who claims ownership of that thought..

Place your attention on that first person feeling, the feeling of separation.Then inquire into the source of your original existence from which this separation arises..

This is the method of self-inquiry taught by Ramana Maharshi.

 

Edited July 5, 2017 by Shanmugam

[Toby]

7 minutes ago, Shanmugam said:

you can do self-inquiry at any time... When taking bath, eating, waiting for something, brushing your teeth etc...  

Just focus on the 'i' thought, the feeling of separation between you and the world... Find the sense of doer of all actions, including thinking... When each thought like 'i am this', 'i want to know this', 'i want to do this', 'i like this' etc arises, focus on that 'I' to whom the thought appears. When you see a thought as your thought, look at that 'you' who claims ownership of that thought.. Place your attention on that first person feeling and hold on to that. When the next thought arises, trace the thought back to the original feeling of separation.. Repeat this for each thought

This is the method of self-inquiry taught by Ramana Maharshi.

I guess it's a slight misunderstanding of Ramana's approach. You take the "I"-thought and trace it back to the "source" where it arises from. There (where it arises from and subsides to) is no separation or feeling of separation.

But I agree that it can be done any time.

Edited July 5, 2017 by Toby

[Shanmugam]

@Toby   You are right, My mistake but I have edited it... I just read a few pages from David Godman's edited version of Ramana's talks.. In the introduction of the chapter about self-inquiry written by David Godman, it seemed he was suggesting to hold on to that first person 'I', the feeling of separation but in Ramana gives more details on this in his answer to the seeker.

As per the chapter, it is first essential to distinguish between the 'i' thought and the pure 'I', the Self... And then trace its source back to the consciousness from which it arises.

Edited July 5, 2017 by Shanmugam

[Nahm]

@Max_V Start with 20 minutes a day. Start with meditation and be aware of all the sensations within you body. Be aware of the sensations around you, sound, air, etc. Shift your focus back and forth between the two. Let them merge together as they naturally already are. Ask what am I. 

Watch Leo's 3 part enlightenment videos. IMO he did an incredible job with them. 

[Dodo]

17 hours ago, Max_V said:

How much time should I be aiming for when just starting out with this? I have to find a way to fit it into my day too since I meditate and read too.

Most was covered by posts above, so I want to add only that its good to self inquire while falling asleep, the process just might continue subconsciously throughout the sleep cycles and you find yourself waking up in self inquiry.

Edited July 5, 2017 by Dodo

[Loreena]

On 7/5/2017 at 8:09 PM, Dodo said:

Most was covered by posts above, so I want to add only that its good to self inquire while falling asleep, the process just might continue subconsciously throughout the sleep cycles and you find yourself waking up in self inquiry.

Have you tried this ?? I am gonna try this and will report to you within a week. Might be difficult at first but I will give a try.

[Leo Gura]

@Max_V 30 to 60 minutes at least. Your mind has to get into a groove and focus.

[Socrates]

Still feels futile to me. I really feel like i am spinning my wheels. How is it supposed to feel when you are making progress in self inquiry? 

[Leo Gura]

@Socrates You become gradually conscious of all your false identifications. You become clearer about what you are NOT.

[Telepresent]

@Socrates  I find that I feel stuck almost all the time, but then 'out of the blue' suddenly I recognise something false and stop believing it, then and there.  And it feels like 'Aha!  I understand now!  I'm so close!'  And then I assimilate my new perspective, and in almost no time I feel stuck again.

Of course, what's happening in all that time that I'm feeling stuck is that I'm sniffing around the edges of my new perspective, and finding what's wrong with it; this seems to be a process I have little direct or conscious control over, but become aware of the moments that I find the falseness in a flash.

Over and again and again and again...

[Telepresent]

On 05/07/2017 at 6:51 AM, Max_V said:

@Visitor So I could do it not during specific session but just when I'm meditating and reading?

mhh alright, I will give that a try

I find I need to do both.  I need the concentrated sessions in order to really hammer the work at 'get somewhere'.  I also fuel it and help to assimilate new understandings by keeping my mind tuned to a self-inquiring frequency as much as possible in my day-to-day