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| Who am I?We are not stories! Yet when we ask the question “Who am I?” we most commonly answer by giving a story, i.e. “I am a good person,” “I am shy,” “I am different than others.” We are not our attachments! “My relationship gives me meaning,” “My children make my life worthwhile,” “My work gives me purpose,” “I can’t live without you.” We are not somebody in comparison to someone else! “I am less intelligent than you,” “My life is more interesting than yours,” “You are more talented than I.” We are not our defenses! “I won’t let you in because you might hurt me,” “I won’t show how much I care because I might cry,” “I can’t bear to feel your heartache,” “I can’t forgive what they did.” The egoic mind both efforts and delights in labeling, categorizing and judging. From these workings of the mind we develop stories about how things are. We then superimpose identity onto our stories, believing the activity of the mind is who we are. From our focus on the creations of the mind we become distracted from realizing the truth of who we are. Spiritual inquiry is a way to bring about profound change of heart, it helps us to recognize the attempts of the mind to categorize us as autonomous. Inquiry also helps us to recognize the truth that we are inescapably united to “what is.” Spiritual inquiry helps us to recognize our ultimate identity without the labels that make us distinct. We know we are alive when we reside in the present moment—breathing, feeling, experiencing, allowing, and being intimate with “what is.” The immediacy is here now, as we experience life as it arises, when it arises. Our mind clings to its efforts to define who we are and reacts to immediate experience with thought. Thought orients us to the future and the past. In doing so, it acts as a filter from what is real and diminishes our inner peace. The mind shrinks from “what is” by comparing it to the past. It notes that life is not as it was a moment or a year ago. It has preferences and likes some experiences better than others. So it screens life experiences as better or worse, compared to what was previously. The very act of the mind doing so disconnects us from “the now” and we lose our experience of contentedness. The mind draws away from “what is” by contrasting it to some imaginary future. It notes that life is not as it desires it to be. It says “I will be happy when things are the way I want them to be!” In doing so, the mind distances us from “the present.” Identified in egoic stories we are a step ahead (or a step behind) of ourselves in some illusory state of being and are detached from “the present” moment. Inner peace comes from utterly accepting the movement of life as it flows through us. This includes the radical acceptance of our body sensations, our emotional currents and the events around us. When there is no disconnect there is no mental-made suffering caused by the reactions of the mind. When we see through the mind we become less reactive to life as it is, we remain aware and know who we are. |
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Inquiry:
Inquiring into the fundamental questions of life is essential to being truly alive and awakening our full potential.
When we allow the deeper questions in life to live within our consciousness, they invoke wisdom and presence, giving us the clarity to live in ways that bring fulfillment and happiness. We allow these questions to enter into our awareness by giving them space and actively engaging to them. There are several ways to explore inquiry questions:We can journal our responses to them.We can work with a partner, giving a monologue on our thoughts for 10 minutes while our partner just listens without feedback.Or we can talk out loud to pet or plant.Inquiry Questions: How do I orient to the past and the future? Which orientation is predominant for me? |
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