From Self-Investigation to Self-Abidance

Summary

The transcript explores the concept of awakening and enlightenment through the metaphor of recognizing one's true self, akin to King Lear realizing he is John Smith. It outlines a two-step process: first, the recognition of being awareness itself, and second, understanding the inherent qualities of this awareness, such as peace and fulfillment. The speaker emphasizes that awakening is not an extraordinary event but a simple recognition of one's true nature, accessible to all. The discussion also touches on the practices of self-inquiry and self-abidance as methods to achieve this realization.

Takeaways

• 😌 The concept of 'waking up' in meditation is akin to the lucidity of recognizing a dream while asleep, and it signifies a deeper awakening to the nature of reality.
• 🧘‍♂️ Enlightenment or awakening involves a two-step process: first, recognizing one's true self ('I am awareness'); second, understanding the inherent qualities of that awareness.
• 👤 The initial recognition of being 'John Smith' rather than 'King Lear' is a metaphor for realizing one's true identity beyond roles and identities.
• 🌟 The inherent qualities of awareness include peace, imperturbable stillness, and fulfillment, which are not immediately apparent but become evident through deeper inquiry and abidance.
• 🔍 'Atma Vichara' or self-inquiry is a process of exploring one's experience to recognize the unchanging awareness amidst changing thoughts and feelings.
• 🧘‍♀️ Self-abidance is the stage following self-inquiry, where one rests in the awareness of being aware, allowing the qualities of awareness to reveal themselves.
• 🌱 The transition from self-inquiry to self-abidance is not a clear-cut line; it's a fluid process where one may oscillate back and forth.
• 🌈 Enlightenment is not an extraordinary experience but a simple recognition of one's essential nature, which is available to everyone but often overlooked.
• 🌟 The sense of lack and disturbance that drives much of human behavior begins to evaporate as one abides in the nature of awareness, leading to a profound inner transformation.
• 📚 The script emphasizes the importance of not mistaking the cultural and exotic associations with terms like 'enlightenment' for the actual experience, which is a quiet recognition of one's being.

Q & A

What is the first step in the process of awakening or enlightenment as described in the script?

The first step in the process of awakening or enlightenment is the recognition of oneself as awareness, which is the underlying presence behind all thoughts and feelings. This involves noticing that while thoughts and feelings come and go, the awareness that perceives them remains constant.

How is the second step of the awakening process different from the first?

The second step in the awakening process is the recognition of the nature of awareness itself, which includes qualities such as inherent peace, imperturbable stillness, and fulfillment. This step is about resting as awareness and abiding in its innate qualities, rather than actively exploring or inquiring as in the first step.

What is the significance of recognizing the inherent peace in awareness?

Recognizing the inherent peace in awareness is significant because it puts an end to the fear of death and the sense of impending disappearance. It is an acknowledgment of the ever-present nature of awareness, which is a fundamental aspect of our being.

How does the recognition of awareness as unlimited impact our sense of lack?

The recognition that awareness is unlimited helps to dissolve the chronic sense of lack that often motivates our actions and desires. This realization brings about a sense of fulfillment and an end to the feeling of deficiency that is commonly experienced.

What is the role of self-inquiry (Atma Vichara) in the process of awakening?

Self-inquiry, or Atma Vichara, plays a crucial role in the awakening process by prompting individuals to explore their experiences and recognize the constant presence of awareness behind all transient thoughts and feelings. It is an active phase of investigation that leads to the recognition of one's true nature as awareness.

Can you explain the concept of 'self-abidance' as it relates to the awakening process?

Self-abidance refers to the phase in the awakening process where one rests in the recognition of their true nature as awareness. It involves ceasing the active inquiry and simply being or abiding as awareness, allowing its qualities to become more apparent and impressionable.

Why does the script suggest that the terms 'awakening' and 'enlightenment' are not always used?

The script suggests that the terms 'awakening' and 'enlightenment' are not always used because they carry cultural connotations and expectations from Eastern traditions that may lead to misunderstandings. These terms are often associated with extraordinary experiences, whereas the recognition of one's true nature is a simple and ordinary realization.

How does the script differentiate between the experiences of ordinary people and spiritual figures like Ramana Maharshi, Jesus, or the Buddha?

The script clarifies that there is no privileged access to the nature of one's own mind for spiritual figures like Ramana Maharshi, Jesus, or the Buddha. They did not have a more direct or greater access; rather, they were single-pointedly focused on recognizing their true nature, just as anyone can.

What is the significance of the phrase 'I am awareness' in the context of the script?

The phrase 'I am awareness' signifies the fundamental recognition of one's true nature as the underlying consciousness that perceives all experiences. It is a pivotal realization in the process of self-inquiry and self-abidance, leading to a deeper understanding of one's being.

How does the script describe the transition from self-inquiry to self-abidance?

The script describes the transition from self-inquiry to self-abidance as a natural flow where the active exploration and recognition of awareness lead to a resting state where one simply abides in their true nature. This transition is not always clear-cut, and there can be a back-and-forth movement between inquiry and abidance as one's understanding deepens.

What is the practical advice given in the script for someone seeking to engage in self-inquiry and self-abidance?

The practical advice given in the script is to engage in self-inquiry by exploring one's experiences and recognizing the constant presence of awareness. Once this recognition is clear, one should rest in self-abidance, being aware of being aware, and allowing the innate qualities of awareness to emerge and impress themselves upon the individual.

Outlines

00:00

🧘‍♂️ Enlightenment and the Nature of Awareness

The first paragraph discusses the concept of enlightenment, comparing it to the experience of waking up from a dream. It emphasizes that enlightenment is not an extraordinary event but a simple recognition of one's true nature. The speaker uses the analogy of King Lear and John Smith to illustrate the two-step process of enlightenment: first, recognizing one's true identity ('I am John Smith'), and second, understanding the nature of that identity (the inherent qualities of awareness). The paragraph highlights that this recognition is not exclusive to any spiritual figure but is accessible to everyone, and it involves recognizing the peace and fulfillment that are intrinsic to awareness.

05:02

🔍 The Process of Self-Inquiry and Self-Abidance

The second paragraph delves into the practices of self-inquiry and self-abidance as part of the spiritual journey. Self-inquiry involves an active exploration of one's experiences to recognize the constant presence of awareness behind thoughts and feelings. This process is described as a method of investigation, where one distances themselves from objective experiences to realize 'I am that which knows experience.' Self-abidance, on the other hand, is a more passive phase where one rests in the awareness of being aware, allowing the innate qualities of awareness, such as peace and a sense of fulfillment, to manifest. The paragraph clarifies that these practices are not linear but rather a fluid process of moving between inquiry and abidance.

10:02

🌱 The Evaporation of Lack and the Emergence of Peace

The third paragraph continues the discussion on self-abidance, emphasizing that it is a phase of resting in one's essential nature with less doing and more being. It describes how, over time, the practice leads to a decrease in disturbance and a dissolution of the chronic sense of lack that typically accompanies life. This is not described as a state of constant happiness but rather an absence of suffering and lack. The paragraph concludes by suggesting that once the nature of one's being is clear, one should simply rest in oneself, allowing the qualities of awareness to become more prominent.

Keywords

💡Meditation

Meditation is a practice of focused attention and awareness that aims to train the mind to achieve a state of consciousness for various benefits. In the context of the video, meditation is used as a tool to guide individuals to a state where they can become aware of their dreams and eventually recognize the nature of their own awareness, which is a key aspect of the awakening process discussed.

💡Awakening

Awakening, as used in the video, refers to a profound spiritual or psychological shift where an individual becomes fully conscious and aware of their true nature. It is likened to waking up from a dream, recognizing the illusory nature of the perceived reality, and realizing one's inherent awareness and peace. The script discusses a two-step process of awakening: first, recognizing one's awareness, and second, recognizing the nature of that awareness.

💡Enlightenment

Enlightenment is a term often associated with Eastern spiritual traditions and refers to a state of profound understanding or insight. In the video, it is discussed as the ultimate recognition of one's true nature, which is not an extraordinary experience but a simple recognition of the inherent qualities of awareness, such as peace and fulfillment. The speaker suggests that the term is laden with cultural connotations and prefers to use 'awakening' or 'recognition of our own being' instead.

💡Self-Inquiry

Self-Inquiry, or Atma Vichara in Sanskrit, is a process of introspection and investigation into one's own nature. It involves questioning and exploring one's thoughts, feelings, and experiences to discover the underlying awareness that remains constant. In the video, self-inquiry is described as the first step in the awakening process, where one actively investigates to recognize 'I am awareness.'

💡Self-Abidance

Self-Abidance is the second step in the process of awakening, following self-inquiry. It involves resting in the awareness that has been recognized during self-inquiry without further inquiry. The video explains that in self-abidance, one simply abides as awareness, allowing the innate qualities of awareness, such as peace and fulfillment, to become more apparent.

💡Awareness

Awareness, in the context of the video, refers to the fundamental consciousness that underlies all thoughts, feelings, and perceptions. It is the subject of self-inquiry and self-abidance, and the recognition of one's awareness is the first step towards awakening. The video emphasizes that awareness is not the thoughts or feelings but the background presence that is aware of them.

💡Peace

Peace, as discussed in the video, is an inherent quality of awareness that becomes more evident as one practices self-abidance. It is described as an imperturbable state of inner tranquility that is distinct from the temporary states of happiness or contentment. The recognition of this inherent peace is part of the awakening process and contributes to the dissolution of the fear of death and the sense of lack.

💡Fulfillment

Fulfillment, in the video, is another quality of awareness that is realized through the process of self-abidance. It is not an external achievement but an inner sense of completeness and lack of deficiency. The video suggests that the recognition of fulfillment as an inherent aspect of awareness can lead to the dissolution of the chronic sense of lack that often motivates human behavior.

💡Recognition

Recognition, in this context, is the act of becoming consciously aware of one's true nature, particularly the nature of awareness itself. The video describes two stages of recognition: first, recognizing that one is awareness, and second, recognizing the qualities of that awareness, such as peace and fulfillment. Recognition is central to the process of awakening and enlightenment.

💡Investigation

Investigation, as used in the video, refers to the active process of exploring and examining one's own thoughts, feelings, and experiences to discover the underlying awareness. It is a part of self-inquiry and involves a deliberate and focused effort to understand what one truly is, leading to the recognition of awareness as distinct from the content of consciousness.

Highlights

The concept of waking up in a dream to realize it's a dream is analogous to the awakening to the true nature of reality.

Enlightenment is compared to King Lear recognizing he is John Smith, signifying the recognition of one's true self.

The first step in enlightenment is recognizing 'I am awareness', which is a partial awakening.

The second step is recognizing the inherent qualities of awareness, such as peace and fulfillment.

The recognition of awareness leads to the end of the fear of death and the sense of lack.

Enlightenment is not an extraordinary experience but a simple recognition of one's essential being.

Great spiritual figures like Ramana Maharshi, Jesus, and Buddha had no privileged access to the nature of their minds.

Enlightenment is often accompanied by a relaxation in the mind or body, which can be mistaken for the enlightenment itself.

The term 'Atma Vichara' from the Sanskrit tradition refers to self-inquiry and self-abidance.

Self-inquiry involves exploring one's experience to recognize the awareness that remains constant.

Self-abidance is resting as awareness, experiencing the innate qualities of awareness without further inquiry.

In practice, self-inquiry and self-abidance are not distinct steps but flow into each other.

The practice of self-inquiry and self-abidance leads to a gradual decrease in the sense of lack and disturbance.

The sense of lack and suffering evaporates, similar to how a headache leaves, not as an experience but as the dissolution of one.

The ultimate realization is the absence of lack and suffering, which is the essential nature of our being.

Investigating through self-inquiry and resting in self-abidance are the methods to realize one's true nature.

Transcripts

I have another question for you in

relation to this because they might have

one of your meditations you guide very

beautifully - there's a prison sleeping

the sleep state you wake up to that so

can you say that again but when the

person is asleep yes when I'm asleep I

wake up to a certain point I wake up I

become aware hey it's a dream I was in a

dream and similar to that there's this

kind of similar

awakening yet like in the dream you wake

up to your yes and Wednesdays similar to

death

there's awakening I'm awake now yes so

apparently there's some kind of other

awakening to really awake to to see that

this that this is the awake spare yes so

the awakening in this case is let's use

a different analogy luckily for this and

for your question King Lear and John

Smith work better than the dream so what

what is referred to as waking up or

enlightenment is that's putting like

this to begin with King Lia's

recognition I am John Smith well of

course it's not King Lear the recognizes

I am John Smith did John Smith that

recognizes I am transmitted so the first

step of what we ever let's call it a

two-step process the first step is the

recognition oh I'm John Smith I was

never King Lear and the second step is

is to recognize the nature of John Smith

not just the recognition I am John Smith

but then the recognition of the nature

of myself so it's not enough just to

recognize I am awareness although that

is the first step and it's a big first

step so first of all instead of losing

ourselves in thoughts and feelings we

recognize I am the awareness with which

my thoughts and feelings unknown and in

which they appear

the first step but that's not yet

awakening we could say it's a partial

awakening the second step is to

recognize the nature of that awareness

because the recognition the recognition

I am awareness doesn't bring with it all

at once the recognition of the qualities

or the nature other ones what is

important to recognize is the is the

inherent peace the imperturbable 'ti of

awareness it's it's inmate fulfillment

in other words it's necessary to

recognize that peace and happiness on

the nature of awareness at the end the

good that the recognition that a wench

is ever present that's the that's but

that puts an end to the fear of death

the sense I'm going to disappear and

then the recognition that whence is

unlimited puts an end to the sense of

lack in other words that's the discovery

that the nature of awareness is

happiness so it's there are these two

discoveries festival

I am awareness the second discovery the

discovery of the nature of awareness and

that is what is called awakening or

enlightenment and awakening

enlightenment a phrases that I rarely if

ever use I use them if somebody else

uses the word that I tend not to use

them because for those of us that have

been to India either

intellectually or physically or any

Eastern culture these terms are ladened

with the cultural packaging of those

countries and therefore they tend to

have exotic colorful extraordinary

associations with them how many people

here have not at least at some stage

during their spiritual search imagined

enlightenment as an extraordinary

experience

how many people that I don't mind which

way did I say it how many people have

not at some stage felt enlightenment

with six was an extraordinary experience

yeah we've all felt it live it with all

nearly all of us I certainly used to

feel that when I first came across the

idea of enlightenment it was through the

Vedantic Vedantic in the Sufi tradition

and so I always thought it was just like

my ordinary experience but it was just

going to be ten times better than the

best thing I could imagine in my

experience and the idea of enlightenment

and Awakening and because very often the

simple recognition of our own being

which I find much more accurate phrase

hood as this simple recognition is often

accompanied by a great relaxation in the

mind or the body which triggers an

unusual side effects in the mind or the

body did these did these side effects

have been mistaken for the recognition

itself and therefore we have we have

this idea that in the Enlightenment is

something extraordinary it's not

extraordinary enlightenment is the

simple recognition of the nature of our

own essential being or its recognition

of itself and nobody has privileged

access to it

Ramana Maharshi and Jesus and Lao Tzu

and the Buddha they didn't have any any

greater or more direct access to the

nature of their own mind

the newer I have they were just very

single pointed in about it so in

micrometers is the recognition of our

own being is is actually it is it can

sometimes be accompanied by unusual side

effects in the mind and the body but it

can equally happen so quietly that the

mind belly registers it

thank you for your free clear and

precise explanation once more and still

I have a question hahahaha

until that was coming I could yeah

however however yeah I do kind of

understand this first realization you

speak about it just now and the second

one is more less like kind of deepening

of this young learning yes and I wonder

now I probably know the answer but just

to make sure what can I do to locate

minis on spelling

that the term Atma vichara so for those

of you that know the Sanskrit tradition

is usually translated self inquiring and

[Music]

but but that that's in a better

translation or a deeper translation is

self abidance and in fact both self

inquiry and self abidance

are implied by the term Atma vichara so

again we could we could break it down

into two steps the recognition I am

awareness requires some exploration or

inquiry into our experience for instance

what we did last night was the first

stage of self inquiry notice that that

our thoughts are always coming and going

but whatever it is that knows our

thoughts always remains notice that

feelings are always changing appearing

disappearing but whatever it is that is

aware of our feeling remains in the

background to know the next cleaning etc

so in this way we we as it where we

explore our experience and we notice

this presence of awareness in the

background of all changing explain

this is a process of investigation it's

sometimes in sanskrit is referred to as

neti neti or I'm not this we noticed

that my thoughts are not essential to me

they come and they go but I remain and

my feeling sensations perceptions so we

distance ourselves from objective

experience we walk ourselves back until

there is this recognition yes I am that

which knows experience

I am nothing that is known I am lonoa

that that is the recognition I am

awareness that culminates the first half

cause we could call it self inquiry it

is an investigation into what we are and

it it results in the recognition I am

awareness now from there the second part

could be called self abidance

there's no more any inquiry to do it at

least not to do with this in this second

stage we simply rest as awareness we

simply abide in and as awareness and in

this abidance it's its qualities its

innate peace begin to impress themselves

upon us so the first step of this

two-step process the self inquiries that

is more active we're exploring our

experience we're exploring our thoughts

that we're exploring the presence of

awareness that remains behind our

thoughts its investigative it's we're

doing something whereas in the self

abidance

phase there's less doing it's more like

a resting of the mind in its essence

being aware of being aware that's self

abidance so in it and it's not a clear

line it's not first of all we do self

inquiry then we do self abidance we in

practice there's a grey line between the

two one of them flows into another but

then there may be a time where it's

necessary to come out of self abiding

since that

inquire again something we may be caught

by a particular feeling in which case we

may have to walk ourselves back again no

I am that which is aware of this feeling

this feeling is not essential to me no

matter how intimate it may seem or no

matter how painful it may be it is not

essential to me so now we are walking

ourselves back again to our essential

self and then again we abide so in

practice its back and forth between the

two but as time goes on is less and less

inquiry and more and more invite up

ITINs and in this abidance the qualities

of awareness if we can call them

qualities begin true it has it were

emerge out of the background and

particularly the qualities of peace and

the sense of fulfillment if we don't

want to call that happiness let's just

call it the absence of lack so there is

lesson that we feel less and less

disturbance less and less vegetation but

also the sense of lack which has

motivated us all our lives the sense of

light begins to evaporate good doesn't

mean to say we walk around with a broad

smile on our face all the time it's not

a state of happiness just that the

feeling of lack the chronic feeling of

lack that is a company company does most

of our lives it evaporates and that

evaporation is not it's not an

experience it's the same way that a

headache leaves us we couldn't say that

we wouldn't describe the disappearance

of a headache as an experience it's the

dissolving of an experience it's

difficult to describe the disappearance

of the headache in positive terms we

don't have a name for it so it's like

that it's the evaporating or the

dissolving of the sense of lack and the

name I give to what remains is at

the name I give it to the common name

for it's a sense of there is no lack

there is no suffering it's not an

extraordinary experience it is the

essential nature of our being that

everybody has access to but most people

don't notice it because of the exclusive

focus of our attention on objective

experience but to to go back to your

question if there is something to

investigate investigate self inquiry but

then if it is clear to you what you

essentially are then simply rest in

yourself