The self-inquiry intensives at the samadhi center
are a rigorous form of Sadhana
or spiritual practice
designed to create conditions of ‘no escape’
for the egoic mind to bring about
the possibility of Samadhi and Awakening
to your true nature.
Self-inquiry can be done individually
and when it's done on your own
it's meditation
self-inquiry can be done with a partner
in what we call dyads
or it can be done with a group where
the entire group is focused on one person
who is doing the inquiry.
The main technique used during the
self-inquiry retreat is the dyad.
The Retreat format involves working from
early morning 6 a.m until 11 pm at night.
The participants are encouraged to enter
into a period of continuous practice,
continuously inquiring into Who We Are.
For this period of time all distractions
are set aside.
There are no devices, phones, books
or anything to engage the conditioned mind.
During the break periods, or while eating,
one continues to inquire.
This continuous practice creates a
strong inner pressure or inner energy.
Energy is diverted from the old condition
patterns and starts to build.
A sort of alchemy starts to happen.
Awakening is an energetic event.
There is a flip from the conditioned ‘I’,
the sense that you are this character,
to the true self, to the unlimited ‘I’.
The self-inquiry Intensive is the most
direct way to bring about Awakening
that I know of.
By Awakening, I mean realizing
the true Self beyond name and form.
It's called 'Kensho' in Zen. The word kensho
means 'seeing essence',
in Mahayana Buddhism it is 'Prajna Paramita',
the highest wisdom, the absolute
wisdom of our true nature.
In Western Traditions, the terms 'Gnosis'
or 'Apophaticism' refer to the realization
of our true or divine nature.
For this period of time, we turn
attention away from thoughts and
sensations away from the
outer world of form,
towards the self, continuously.
If we do this practice continuously,
eventually we will awaken from
identification with the false self,
to our true nature.
It's extremely simple but it's not easy,
because the ego construct which is made
up of samskaras or condition patterns,
will generate hindrances, just
as it does in meditation. The whirlpool
of the mind may generate thoughts,
we may experience egoic preferences,
the mind may focus on comfort
or discomfort,
it may become tired,
it may get confused or disoriented.
It may find the whole process intolerable
and want to give up.
It HAS to give up.
The conditioned ‘I’ may think it is
already awake, we have to humble the
conditioned mind.
It is said that one must want to awaken,
like a person with their hair on fire
wants a pond to jump into.
We must proceed with a beginner's mind,
a not knowing mind, a humble mind,
a mind that is open,
mirror-like, alive.
For this process we enter into the cloud
of unknowing, we let go of control and
connect to a sense of curiosity
and investigation.
During this process, one remains
equanimous with whatever comes up within
the mind and senses, having a complete
experience of everything arising in the
present moment.
We observe everything that is arising,
not pushing anything away and yet not
getting identified with anything.
We come to the true self by realizing
all that we are not.
We make the unconscious patterns that
are in play within the self-structure,
conscious.
When we inquire into who we are, first,
everything that is the false self will
come to the forefront.
All of our thoughts and blocks, repressed
emotions, imprints, and samskaras that are
part of the self-structure, will start to
come to the surface.
By not reacting,
by having a complete experience,
a purification starts to happen within the
self-structure.
This practice that leads to samadhi,
is cultivating single pointed focus.
You become continuously present,
observing what is,
allowing what is, always becoming aware
of subtler and subtler aspects of what is.
Gaining sensory clarity,
allowing the mind to be open,
responsive, without analyzing.
When self-inquiry is done with a partner
it can be particularly potent.
One can't drift off into the mind,
you're accountable, it's like meditating with
a partner. You have to be present because
you're being witnessed, you're staring
into someone else's eyes,
you can’t wander away.
At these retreats we begin the
self-inquiry when we're in the waking state,
but the practice can carry over into
dreaming and even deep sleep States.
Here I'm going to describe the dyad technique.
In this practice, one person is witness,
and the other engages in deep
inner investigation,
inquiring into their true nature.
First, decide who will be the witness
and who will start doing inquiry.
You will switch roles back and forth
all day long.
If you're doing this with a large group,
you will switch partners,
roughly every 40 minutes.
Sit across from your partner
looking into their eyes.
Maintain eye contact in silence.
As an introductory exercise, just look
into each other's eyes for about
three or four minutes.
Allow yourself to see this being
across from you.
Allow yourself to be seen.
The witness will connect to their
intention, to know who this being is,
that is in front of them.
The witness will say to their partner
‘tell me who you are’.
The imperative should come from a place
of sincere wanting to know.
For the one doing the inquiry,
simply allow yourself to be open,
to receive the imperative.
Inquire into who you are,
earnestly, sincerely, penetratingly.
Notice how the imperative lands within
the self-structure.
There may be an impulse to close the eyes,
or the eyes may remain open, simply let
it land in the deepest part of your being.
Take a moment or several moments to
observe the mind, body, the energy,
any phenomena that arises
within the self-structure.
Then simply convey to your partner what
has arisen as a result of
doing this inquiry.
What's coming up in the present moment,
what's the most REAL thing
happening in this moment.
If there are thoughts or doubts
or if there's a feeling that nothing is
happening, just observe the most real
thing about this moment.
Connect with your I AM-NESS.
Inquire into who you are by being aware
of this I am-ness, the sense of existence.
Don't think that there is a right
or wrong answer,
we're not looking for an answer on the
level of the mind. Don't think that you
have to please someone with your answer,
be free, playful.
You don't have to search for an answer,
be free in the not knowing.
A Bible passage comes to mind unless, you
become like little children you will
never enter the Kingdom of Heaven,
Jesus said.
There was a sense of ‘I’ that you had when
you were a little kid, the sense of YOU,
the unconditioned you,
it was there when you were a teenager,
it's there at every point in one's life.
Feel that sense of ‘I’ right now,
that sense of I am.
What is that sense of I am?
I t has no quality, it doesn't change.
The body changes, the mind changes,
the phenomena of life changes.
Sensations change, but that sense of ‘I am’
does not change, it has no location.
‘Tell me who you are’
it is not a question, it is an imperative.
One trap people fall into is that they
mistake it for a question.
It is not about getting the right answer
with words, it's about
knowing who is answering.
WHO is responding.
The practice is to report any phenomena
that arises within the self-structure
to your partner. Explaining as clearly
and as truthfully as you can.
There are some rules to this game:
Don't refer to your partner as ‘you’ and
don't refer to anything that your
partner may have said in a previous dyad.
This is not a conversation.
In this practice, we also eliminate words
like ‘I’, ‘mine’ or ‘myself’.
When we use the word ‘I’ we habitually
refer to the ‘false I’, the condition self
so we want to communicate
whatever comes up without
using this dualistic language.
If you know that you are referring to
the ‘false I’ then don't use the word ‘I’
instead of saying I am feeling tired
or I am feeling angry, say there is a
feeling of tiredness arising,
or there is a sense of anger within the
self-structure.
Is it true that I am tired?
Is it the body that is tired?
Am I the body, or am I aware of the body?
You can start with what is obvious,
but don't miss the subtle.
Go into the feeling,
the sensory layer, the somatic field.
If a feeling comes up, where does it live
in the body? How does it move? How does it
change through time?
If there's sadness or anger, what
do those feel like? Notice any energetic
contraction, any holding or resistance
within the body, having a complete experience
of everything arising in the
present moment.
During this process, the witness holds
the container of Silence.
Witnessing without reaction,
without encouragement, the witness
maintains a neutral face and lets go of
any body language.
When witnessing, you disappear,
there's only your partner.
Make sure that you're understanding
your partner,
following what is being said.
Don't zone out or stare
through your partner.
If something is said that you don't
understand, you can say ‘clarify that’.
This is the only thing the witness can say.
As a witness you may be feeling what
the other person is feeling,
you may even synch breaths and movements.
This happens spontaneously, you don't
have to try to do anything.
It’s possible for the witness to enter a
samadhi state where there's no
separation from the one being witnessed.
Don't sympathize with the partner.
Don't play into their drama. Be totally neutral.
This neutrality allows the freedom of
expression to unfold. You are a mirror.
A mirror has no opinion,
judgment or preference.
At the retreat, the facilitators will
come around and use various tools and
their own intuition, to point
participants beyond their conditioned
minds, towards a direct experience
of their true nature.
The dyad facilitator may come and
observe, and may ask you questions.
If this happens, stay connected with
your partner's eyes,
don't turn and look at the facilitator,
simply answer the question but stay
connected to your partner.
Stay awake in the ‘not knowing’.
Primordial Awareness is inseparable from
Stillness and Presence.
It is a stillness and presence beyond
the movement and stillness of
the limited mind.
It is closer than the you that
you think you are.
It is neither near nor far,
because these are mere concepts.
Don't try to manufacture some answer
with the mind or philosophize about
who you are. Let the thoughts
and experiences come up, observe them and
report them, but don't get caught in their
content. We want to objectively report
what is coming up within the self-structure.
We want to express freely in an
inhibited spontaneous way.
don't overthink it
this process is incredibly simple
you don't have to do anything other than
Observe and Report
it is the condition mine responding
trying to answer
who are you
there is nothing to attain there is only
the dropping of the false identification
and realizing the truth of the true eye
primordial awareness is so simple and
obvious that the Mind misses it
it is always the conditioned mind that
looks
that moves
the conditioned mind is nothing but
movement looking here and there
if you give up that movement then what
remains
who is aware ever present in the seeing
the Zen master dogen said to realize
your true nature is to realize the self
to realize the self is to forget the
self
to forget the self is to be actualized
by Myriad things
to be actualized by Myriad things
your mind and body as well as the mind
and body of others drops off
when mind and body drop off there is
only direct experience of what is
samadhi is the dissolving of the
illusion between Observer and observed
experience and experiencer