Why/how Self Inquiry Works?

[Viking]

why asking yourself over and over again the same question makes you realize you are nothing? is it because all other options are eliminated and thats the only option thats left?

Also if enlightenment is just a realization why doesnt it stick? 

[Loreena]

@Ilya  Practice more and more self inquiry. It works like magic. 

First try, then say. 

There's no point if you're going to be negative about it. 

Enlightenment is a different ball game altogether. 

[Telepresent]

Because it's not about just asking the same question over and over again.  It's about interrogating the answers that come.  When an answer comes, "I am this, I am that, I am here...", whatever it is, you need to examine that answer.  Find the truth in it - or the lack of truth in it.  It's no use going 'no I'm not that because someone else said I'm nothingness'; you have to strip away the layers of 'you' that 'you' think 'you' are.  And most of these are invisible to you.

To be honest, it seems to me that an awful lot of people misunderstand self-inquiry.  It's an ongoing, difficult, oftentimes frustrating process, and in the end you're not actually looking for an answer.  No answer is going to come.  You're looking to remove the assumptions/beliefs (both created by you and inherited from society/parents/school/peers/etc.) which sit in your mind and pose as answers.  And most of them you aren't even aware of at the moment.

So, yeah, I suppose it is 

50 minutes ago, Ilya said:

because all other options are eliminated and thats the only option thats left

but that's going to take years of ongoing, daily inquiry.  Still, it comes away piece by piece; sort of a series of little disillusionments.  I'm not 'there' yet, but my perspective and understanding of everything have significantly changed through a simple application of critical thinking to the situation I find myself in.  Which is really cool.

Just remember to not let your mind cheat you by stating answers from other people (such as "I am nothing").  If it helps, you can reframe the question slightly: "What is I?" "What is true?" etc.