Iam-consciousness And Self-inquiry - Respond To "how To Become Enlightened"

[Light_Ray]

Hi there,

 

Leo is talking about self-inquiry meditation tought by Ramana Maharshi in his video "how to become enlightend", isn`t he? Where does he has this technique he is talking about from? I have read some instructions about self-inquiry like this one but I am still not sure how it shall work. There are some other Advaita-Vedanta teachers like Sri Nissagadata Maharaj or Mooji, which teach to just be present and become pure awareness by just being, observing and letting go.

Nissagadata writes:

Quote

My teacher told me to hold on to the sense 'I am' tenaciously and not to swerve from it even for a moment. I did my best to follow his advice and in a comparatively short time I realized within myself the truth of his teaching. All I did was to remember his teaching, his face, his words constantly. This brought an end to the mind; in the stillness of the mind I saw myself as I am -- unbound.

I simply followed (my teacher's) instruction which was to focus the mind on pure being 'I am', and stay in it. I used to sit for hours together, with nothing but the 'I am' in my mind and soon peace and joy and a deep all-embracing love became my normal state. In it all disappeared -- myself, my Guru, the life I lived, the world around me. Only peace remained and unfathomable silence.

My Guru ordered me to attend to the sense 'I am' and to give attention to nothing else. I just obeyed. I did not follow any particular course of breathing, or meditation, or study of scriptures. Whatever happened, I would turn away my attention from it and remain with the sense 'I am', it may look too simple, even crude. My only reason for doing it was that my Guru told me so. Yet it worked! Obedience is a powerful solvent of all desires and fears.

Is self-inquiry nothing else than staying in IAM-consciousness? Is it this what is Leo talking about in his video about how to become enlightened?

I on my own discovered three types of awareness: I can observe awareness itself or I can observe objects (like feelings, sounds etc.) or I can observe objects while being aware of observing. What type of awareness do you use while entering IAM presence? What do you focus on? What type of awareness do you use for self inquiry? How does self inquiry actually work?

Leo says you ask yourself "who am I" and you try to dig deep. I guess that the desired result of asking "who am I" is to enter this state of pure being Nissagadata is talking about, isn´t it? In the instruction of self-inquiry it is said that you ask yourself "who am I" to destroy thoughts and remain in IAM consciousness. Actually the self-inquiry instruction of Ramana Maharshi seems to be a little different of what is Leo talking aboutin his "how to become enlightened" video.

Can anyone bring light into this chaos? It`s very confusing to me.

Thanks for your help

Edited February 20, 2016 by Light_Ray

[bobbyward]

I agree with what you are saying what leo seems to be advocating is more of a looking with awareness process rather than abiding in the I am. I would describe the '' i am '' as a non conceptual sense of being. 

and the purpose of asking the questions '' who am i '' or whatever is to temporarily get rid of the mind and abide in this non conceptual sense of being. in fact if you can just go to this non conceptual sense of being without the questions, then there is no need to ask the questions, but most people cant do that. the idea is to take attention away from objects ( thoughts, the body and the world) and rest it in its source awareness. 

ramaji describes it as a '' no thought state, its a state of deep relaxation '', ramana maharshi also said '' you dont need to get rid of anything except for thoughts ''. 

I have done tons of research on this and this abiding in the I AM state is what most mean by self inquiry.

 

this is a good video on it 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 20, 2016 by bobbyward

[Leo Gura]

If you can just sit down and become what you actually are (infinite empty awareness) then by all means do that.

In reality what you'll discover is that you can't do that.

There are layers upon layers of misguided beliefs and ideas that will get in your way. The self-inquiry process helps clear those misconceptions away gradually over time.

You basically keep querying for a direct experience of your True Self every time you genuinely wonder, "Who/what am I?" And the mind generates all sorts of wrong and deluded answers, you throw those away and query again and again and again until finally the mind runs out of ideas, surrenders, and the True Self is revealed.

Especially when you first start this process (the first 12 months) it helps to question various aspects of your beliefs about self and who you really believe you are. Without this foundation of doubt, you won't get very far because the mind is too certain that it already knows everything. And the mind is also very murky and vague about what it believes your are. Even the false beliefs are vague. It helps to clarify even your false beliefs so that you can understand why they are false.

[Light_Ray]

Thanks for answering, Leo.

On 20.2.2016 at 6:44 AM, Leo Gura said:

Especially when you first start this process (the first 12 months) it helps to question various aspects of your beliefs about self and who you really believe you are. Without this foundation of doubt, you won't get very far because the mind is too certain that it already knows everything. And the mind is also very murky and vague about what it believes your are. Even the false beliefs are vague. It helps to clarify even your false beliefs so that you can understand why they are false.

My mind is very sure that my true self is pure love, but as a rational concept it does not bring me love. As having studied buddhist teachings a while I know that there is no "I" and that feelings and thoughts are just unpersonal phenomenas. Shall I question that?

How do you question "various aspects of your beliefs about self and who you really believe you are"?

[Light_Ray]

On 20.2.2016 at 5:34 AM, bobbyward said:

I agree with what you are saying what leo seems to be advocating is more of a looking with awareness process rather than abiding in the I am. I would describe the '' i am '' as a non conceptual sense of being. 

and the purpose of asking the questions '' who am i '' or whatever is to temporarily get rid of the mind and abide in this non conceptual sense of being. in fact if you can just go to this non conceptual sense of being without the questions, then there is no need to ask the questions, but most people cant do that. the idea is to take attention away from objects ( thoughts, the body and the world) and rest it in its source awareness. 

ramaji describes it as a '' no thought state, its a state of deep relaxation '', ramana maharshi also said '' you dont need to get rid of anything except for thoughts ''. 

I have done tons of research on this and this abiding in the I AM state is what most mean by self inquiry.

 

this is a good video on it 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks, bro, your answer brings clarity to me

Edited February 21, 2016 by Light_Ray

[werlight]

Friends..

First of all I want to thank Leo for creating this platform. It is an amazing opportunity to exchange ideas and learn from each other. Leo: I am a big fan. I enjoy your videos and have huge respect for you and what you are doing.

Now, going into the subject of this forum.. If you want to experience enlightenment the first thing you need to do is understand what enlightenment IS and what it is not.

This is a complex and very important subject so I will divide my explanation in a few sections.

But first let me give you some background about myself and make a brief disclaimer. I am a regular guy. I have a beautiful family that I love profoundly, I studied in an IVY league school, I am a successful business executive and have been fortunate to travel around the world and learn many cultures. I don't live in a cave, I am not a monk, and I am not religious or dogmatic AT ALL. I have no agendas, I don't need and I am not interested in attention of any kind and I am not trying to convince anyone about anything. I don't believe or have faith in anything. Everything I say comes from my own experience. Not from a book or a teacher of any kind. In fact I have no teachers and I am not a member of any cult, religion or association. I don't claim to know all the mysteries of the universe. And I have never done drugs of any kind.

Now, having said that. I AM interested in sharing my experience and what I learned. Not to convince you about my ideas but to spark your curiosity. It is an invitation to look inside yourselfs to find the answers.To find the truth.

There is a lot of confusion out there.. it is very common to see people confuse enlightenment with the consequences of enlightenment.

Let me explain..

Enlightenment is just a word to describe an experience and a process that is so profound and so beautiful that it dramatically changes the way you see yourself and everything around you.

Enlightenment is not meant to be available only to a small group of lucky, fortunate or special people. Enlightenment is meant to experienced by everyone.

[Leo Gura]

13 hours ago, Light_Ray said:

Thanks for answering, Leo.

My mind is very sure that my true self is pure love, but as a rational concept it does not bring me love. As having studied buddhist teachings a while I know that there is no "I" and that feelings and thoughts are just unpersonal phenomenas. Shall I question that?

Yes! Absolutely question all that.

How do you question? You sit down with a piece of paper and ask yourself, "What is actually true? What do I really know for sure? And how come I'm so certain about it?"

And if you do that long enough, you will slowly discard layer after layer of false beliefs.

[werlight]

Before talking about what enlightenment IS I will talk about some of the misconceptions about enlightenment.

First: Realizing the true nature of reality is NOT enlightenment. It is a consequence of enlightenment. In other words if you want to become enlightened your objective is not to realize the nature of reality your objective must be to realize your own nature, your own essence.

Second: Enlightenment has nothing to do with the “dissolution” of Ego. This is a huge mistake or misunderstanding. Our ego is an intrinsic part of who we are as humans.

In fact, an inevitable consequence of enlightenment is acceptance and a profound love for everything that is, including your ego. The answer is not rejection. The answer is love and compassion. What is true is that the ego slowly and naturally diminishes (becomes less important) as a consequence of enlightenment. But it must always be accepted as part of who we are.

Third: It doesn't have to take decades or years of self contemplation to become enlightened. What is true is that certain conditions need to be in place for it to happen and you have to develop certain skills and that can take some time.

Fourth: You can spend millions of hours trying to think yourself into enlightenment and you will never achieve enlightenment, praying will not help either. You must feel yourself into enlightenment. You must become who you are.

Fifth: Enlightenment should never be a goal. It is not something you should try to achieve. Your goal should be to look deep inside yourself in full clarity and stillness and to stay present. And some other things that i will talk about later.

Now what IS enlightenment..

Enlightenment is remembering and experiencing your essential (true) nature. The reason it is called enlightenment is because when it happens you become your true nature, you become pure awareness, pure love and pure light..

[werlight]

On February 21, 2016 at 4:33 AM, Light_Ray said:

Thanks, bro, your answer brings clarity to me

ramaji is right .. in my experience the I AM state has to come to you through your fellings. you can not "think" your way to it.. 

let me give you a tip.. I AM, as everything else in this universe, is a  vibration of energy at a certain frecuency. I AM IS at a frecuency of pure love,  joy and compasion. Combined ! .. So to experience the I AM state you need to become (tune in) with that frecuency.

That is why some people say you must love yourself into enlightenment, because you literally have to be able to become love if you want to experience who you are ( I AM).

 

 

[werlight]

16 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

Yes! Absolutely question all that.

How do you question? You sit down with a piece of paper and ask yourself, "What is actually true? What do I really know for sure? And how come I'm so certain about it?"

And if you do that long enough, you will slowly discard layer after layer of false beliefs.

I just saw your last video Leo.. I loved it. Thanks for sharing !