Why Self-Inquiry?

Why must I inquire into my own self? The reason is because you have taken your self to be an entity that is limited to the body and mind. An entity that is born and will die.  An entity that assumes ownership of actions. An entity that believes itself to be the do-er of actions. An entity that believes it has feelings and emotions. An entity that believes that the present is not good enough and that someday or sometime in the future, it will achieve a state of peace or happiness or some state better than the present. An entity that hopes for a better day. An entity that is suffering and pining for a better mental state.

As long as there is a BELIEF in this entity, which you call 'me' or 'I' (the first person) there will no doubt be suffering.  The false belief in this self centered entity is the cause of all suffering.

There are essentially two main ways in which this false belief can come crumbling down. One, is the sincere and complete faith and belief in the sayings of the Sages or the Guru. The Sages have repeatedly said over the ages that "the REAL YOU are not the body nor the mind".  With sheer devotion to your Guru or the Sage, and if the mind is pure enough, just this LISTENING is enough and the false 'I' will immediately vanish. However, for the majority of seekers, due to years and years of mental conditioning and the strong belief in an entity called 'me', many questions persist which prevent him/her from executing the sheer devotion needed to accept the Guru's sayings. In such cases, where the belief in the entity 'me' is very strong, it becomes necessary to investigate, inquire, as to who is this 'me'. This investigation or inquiry by a 'me' into the nature of 'me' is called Self-inquiry (or Self-enquiry if you are British or from the Commonwealth!). With this inquiry, all one is doing is convincing oneself that there is really no-thing or no-one or no-entity called 'me'. It is all just a thought. It is the prime thought or the root thought (the 'I-thought') to which all other thoughts are attached. On proving the falseness of this prime thought (the 'I-thought' or the 'me') the other thoughts have nothing to hold on to and they gradually fall away, leaving only the PURE BEING to shine through effortlessly.

The Simple Truth of It All

You want to know your True Nature and hence it is assumed you are reading this message. Is that enough?  Reading this blog or any message on Advaita or Vedanta literature is certainly not enough.  People spend hours reading and discussing this subject without ever LISTENING to the message therein. After listening, the next step is to follow the pointers. Yes, there is a feeling of peace and calmness on reading these messages and literature or on discussing this subject. But are you really getting anything out of it other than mental entertainment? Be honest with your own self. Is it not true that once you are immersed back in your work or other activity, the feeling of happiness or peace that was present when reading or discussing Advaita or spirituality, passes away just as quickly. You are then left longing for the same feeling once again. That is called suffering- when you are longing for something or some feeling that you do not have currently and are constantly longing for or are in search of it. What does that tell you? That no state is eternal as all states are changing. Why are you still running after some "state" which you hope to achieve at some future time and place? Why not Realize that you are THAT STATELESS STATE- your TRUE NATURE- and you are ALREADY THAT. Would that not make more sense than running around in circles chasing any transient state ( for all states are transient)?

So, what is the solution to all this suffering? It is utterly simple. Simple when one makes a sincere, honest and concerted effort and yet extremely difficult if one is not sincere and does not have the desire to do so. All it needs is for you to inquire into your own self. Inquire into who is this "I" (the ego). Where did this "I" come from? Obviously, this "I" was not there in my sleep and there was no suffering or longing in my sleep. Now that there is an "I" in my waking state, I am suffering. You have to do the work of inquiry for no one else can do it for you. Upon inquiry you must have the firm conviction, that in fact, the "I" (the ego) does not have any independent existence nor does it have any substance. It is but a thought only (the I-thought). Unless and until one does this investigation into one's own self, all other efforts are entirely futile. Just try it and see how simple this whole process is. For there is nothing new to be gained here. Only the false has to be removed to reveal the REALITY which is already there.

Once this TRUTH is realized, then by all means do whatever you like including discussions about it or writing about it (like this author!).