Day 1 - How to do Self Inquiry - The Dyad Process (Tell me Who you Are)

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

[Music]

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

[Music]

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 eye right now

that sense of I am

what is that sense of I am

it 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

[Music]

don't refer to your partner as you and

don't refer to anything that your

partner may have said in a previous diet

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 eye the condition

itself so we want to communicate

whatever comes up without using this

dualistic language

if you know that you are referring to

the false eye 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

I can start with what is obvious but

don't miss the subtle

go into the feeling

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

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 sink breaths and movements

this happens spontaneously you don't

have to try to do anything

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

[Music]

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

[Music]

it is neither near nor far

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