Can meditation be the same as self-inquiry ?

[Shin]

When you recognize the space/silence inherent in everything, and just observe it,

Is it already inquiring, or there is a deeper layer that I never touched ?

There is no difference between meditation and day to day life where I'm at,

When I inquire, the only thing that I instantly focus on after a question is this space/silence too.

It may sound stupid af, but I prefer to ask ??

 

[Vinnie]

Depends how you define meditation. If its presence, then no. If its 'sitting' with something, then yeah. 

[Aakash]

if i understood the question right, i would say there is still deeper levels. as far as i've come to understand it, the space/ silent doesn't exsist. once you notice this it can't be divisable by anything. so you don't have to question the nature of it throughout anything. you can't even imagine it or focus on it. you just know the nature of it. 

[Aakash]

then to answer the top question, as a person whos pretty much used self inquiry to get where i am and hardly any meditation. yes it is a form of meditation with your eyes open. Its just a very dangerous ones, because you can get lost in concepts and create your own world out of thin air. whereas in meditation, the thing that is you is always there with you. 

Edited January 21, 2019 by Aakash

[DoubleYou]

A lot of times, a great inquiry ends up in meditation. For instance, the mind giving up, or the mind being overwhelmed. Either positively or negatively. Usually, silence follows.

There's no shoulds though. At some point it's better to drop these labels and go from intuition. Whatever feels right in the moment. Who cares what it's called?

Edited January 21, 2019 by DoubleYou

[Aakash]

 

[cetus]

53 minutes ago, Shin said:

Is it already inquiring, or there is a deeper layer that I never touched ?

The absolute is already inquiring without an inquirer.

[Aakash]

WOW @cetus56  that was actually a much better answer than all of mines put together! 

[Shin]

39 minutes ago, cetus56 said:

The absolute is already inquiring without an inquirer.

That's what I was thinking actually.

I only have the illusion that I'm doing anything am I ? 

Edited January 21, 2019 by Shin

[Aakash]

but it still wants to know what it is ? 

[SriBhagwanYogi]

@Shin Diffrent paths leading to the same place , self inquiry could be shortcut for someone.

I had same question look at this bro

https://youtu.be/pHUajtPXPDw

[Nahm]

If you ask

2 hours ago, Shin said:

there is a deeper layer that I never touched ?

the answer is always yes. 

(Sorry)

Because there is a “layer” which answers all questions. 

(I’m taking your question / this post, as a much bigger question, which is being sort of snuck in as a comparison between meditation & self inquiry. I am reading into your phrasing of “just observe it. If I’m wrong there, just ignore this post)

[NoSelfSelf]

You can meditate,you can meditate with inquiry deeper is realizing who you are as an observer who cant be seen...

[Anton Rogachevski]

Now you may practice surrender and dissolve into the silence you speak of. Let go of any desire for "deeper" truth, there's none.

[Joseph Maynor]

Yeah, in a sense I think so.  When you surrender to being you do also discover what the lens of No Ego points to.  But that's a very specific case.  In most cases Meditation and Self-Inquiry function very differently.  I still Meditate but I don't really do Self-Inquiry anymore.  Self-Inquiry became moot for me a while ago.  When you discover "being nothingness" you don't really need to cling to the question 'what am I?' anymore.  And also 'what am I?' is an unnecessarily Egoic question because it's designed to point an Ego to No Ego.  You don't ask 'what am I?' after discovering being.  It's the Ego seeker that asks 'what am I?'

Edited January 22, 2019 by Joseph Maynor

[Shin]

2 hours ago, Anton Rogachevski said:

Now you may practice surrender and dissolve into the silence you speak of. Let go of any desire for "deeper" truth, there's none.

What about seeing this is a «dream» and that I am everything ?

[Anton Rogachevski]

@Shin

Keep going and it will be obvious. You can't force this. Imagining it is not helping.

[Jkris]

Self enquiry my understanding falls into two types. 

1.holding on to the I feeling or sense of me continously. As advocated by saadhu om,Nisargadatta Maharaj. Rest others i dont know. 

2.Finding the source of I thought. This requires lot of will power. What ever perceived is not the perceiver. So pursue continously forcefully questioning to whom the thought appears emotion feeling occurs? It has to be very fast. The outgoing attention with every thought or experience is turned inwards. Its not a passive process but very agressive. After sometimes the inquiry will become auto pilot automatic. 

Request to share the experience of second type by anyone if practing self enquiry by this way. 

[Aakash]

@Jkris in words i can see that realting to what i do, i wouldn't say that its turned inwards - your already contemplating so the thought is already inwards, i did two first and then one to get the mystical experience. 

[Rilles]

I think so, I found that when Im inquiring Im better off just looking at “myself” in silence then asking “Who? Who?” like a retarded owl.