Feel into Existence.

[Tim R]

Self-Inquiry is one of the most important tools on the spiritual path and unfortunately, there are many misconceptions about it. People tend to think that it means something like asking oneself, perhaps during meditation, "who am I?", over and over again, hoping for a sudden insight that will clarify this question. 

But Self-Inquiry is not any form of questioning. Rather, it is a feeling into existence and a feeling into one's own nature. 

You can feel existence, can't you? in other words, when I say "existence", this word is pointing a feeling, isn't it?

And when I say "you", or better still, when you say "I" - you can feel your being, can't you? 

 

Feel into it. Draw your attention to the feeling of existing, to the feeling of being "me", being "I".

"I am".

"Existing".

Don't you see that these are pointing at the exact same feeling?

It's not that you feel existence and yourself. What you feel when you feel existence and what you feel when you feel "I am" are the exact same feeling.

Look for yourself and try to feel the difference between those two feelings. Try to see if you  can find anything there.

 

Try then to feel the boundaries of existence. Where does existence, where does "I am", stop?

Who are you?

[Mason Riggle]

"I have no other self than the totality of things of which I am aware." - Alan Watts

 

[Terell Kirby]

52 minutes ago, Tim R said:

But Self-Inquiry is not any form of questioning. Rather, it is a feeling into existence and a feeling into one's own nature. 

Yes, feeling into Existence is an important step, but only a prelude to becoming Existence itself.

All should keep this in mind while on the path.

[Tim R]

26 minutes ago, Terell Kirby said:

Yes, feeling into Existence is an important step, but only a prelude to becoming Existence itself.

There is no "becoming existence". You already are existence, the entirity of it. That's what you're supposed to feel into.

[Terell Kirby]

2 minutes ago, Tim R said:

There is no "becoming existence". You already are existence, the entirity of it. That's what you're supposed to feel into.

You are already Existence, but that does not mean you are conscious of it. The knowing of one’s True nature is critical.

The process of going from not-knowing to knowing is the process of becoming. It is the spiritual path. 

Becoming is God-Realization, which many new age spiritual teachers shirk and deny by focusing solely on feeling techniques and cessation. Those are useful, but there one must aim higher to bear the most fruit.

[Fearless_Bum]

@Terell Kirby how do you know you're conscious of something?

[BipolarGrowth]

Felt a minor shift just reading this. Good stuff. Pretty much exactly how I’ve been doing self-inquiry in the past couple months. Way better than repeating “who am I?” Lol

[Tim R]

@Terell Kirby

2 hours ago, Terell Kirby said:

You are already Existence, but that does not mean you are conscious of it.

That's the whole point of self-inquiry

2 hours ago, Terell Kirby said:

The process of going from not-knowing to knowing is the process of becoming.

I can't become what I already am, and this doesn't have anything to to with whether I am aware of it or not.

In my book, "becoming aware of" and "becoming" are not the same word and are not pointing at the same. But that might just be quibbling over words, unless your understanding of "becoming" and "becoming aware of" radically differs from my and common understanding and use of those words?

3 hours ago, Terell Kirby said:

Yes, feeling into Existence is an important step, but only a prelude to becoming Existence itself.

By "feeling into existence" (together with "feeling into the sense of I-am-ness") I meant "becoming aware of the unity", i.e. becoming aware of yourself as existence, by trying to feel the alledged difference.

Because people constantly say that they feel themselves to be not the same as the entirity of existence, so I say to them "feel into it, deeply".

Feeling into existence really is no prelude to any becoming.

Because the discovery of who you are will be much rather something felt instead of something "known", or "experienced". And it certainly will not be a "becoming". And I'm using the word "feeling" because it's the strongest word I have, even though I know that it comes with potential for misinterpretation. 

[Terell Kirby]

32 minutes ago, Tim R said:

In my book, "becoming aware of" and "becoming" are not the same word and are not pointing at the same.

I agree to some extent. On the path, we become aware of reality as having no distinctions.

But what we become is the Creator of the reality in which we see no distinctions.

This is how I separate the basic insights of Non-Duality from actual God-Realization. (I acknowledge that this distinction can be collapsed on the simple truth that they are both mental constructions).

This is based on two of questions which are: 1. What is reality? 2. What is my relationship to it? Feeling into can answer number one, becoming (otherwise known as Being) can answer number two.

But then again .. all of this is just words, language is way too limited to convey anything of deep substance.

 

Edited January 4, 2022 by Terell Kirby