Today’s lesson begins by telling us, “We will repeat today’s idea from time to time,” and then it goes on to discuss two key practices that we need to continuously repeat until awakening has occurred. The practices are two types of inquiry.
1. After introducing the quotation that we are to say as we begin our 5-minute practice periods today, the lesson says, “Then, with this statement firmly in your mind, try to discover in your mind the Self Who is the holy Son of God Himself.” This instruction points to Self-inquiry, which is LOOKING to see what you are.
Some Self-inquiry practices that you can experiment with during meditation today are:
~ Listen to a sound in your environment & then ask, “Who hears this?” Turn attention to become aware of you, the awareness that hears.
~ If you find you were lost in thought, ask, “Who sees this thought?” Turn attention to become aware of you, the one who is aware of thought.
~ Notice the constant change that occurs in the mind, in emotions and/or in the sensations in the body, and then ask, “What is constant? What is not changing?” Turn attention to become aware of you, that which is constant and unchanging while everything else is changing.
~ Allow yourself to remember a much earlier time in your life, and then ask “What is the ‘I’ that was present then that is also present and completely unchanged now?” In this inquiry, the key is that the ‘I’ you seek is completely unchanged. Your body changed; your mind changed (opinions, education, etc). What is the same and is you?
I recommend practicing Self-inquiry during your 5-minute meditation breaks today. You could practice with different questions during different breaks. Which questions work best for you? Feel free to use other methods of Self-inquiry that you may have heard of. For example Mooji’s question was, “Can the seer be seen?”
Note: The reading that I shared in our meeting this past Tuesday night from “The Untethered Soul,” Chapter 3, was focused on Self-inquiry. If you need help with Self-inquiry, you could listen to that part of the meeting again. It began about 1 hour and 20 minutes into the meeting. Here is the link to the audio: https://awakening-together.org/dev2/audio-homework-50217-gentle-…/
2. The lesson points to another type of inquiry when it says, “Let graven images you made to be the Son of God instead of what he is be worshipped not today.” This brings up the question, “What ideas of ‘me’ do I have that are not what I am?’
If you focus on Self-inquiry during meditation, you can use the rest of the day to ponder this second question. Be open to notice what you tell yourself about you. Notice what roles you are heavily identified with. What judgments do you make about who you are? Pay attention to discover who YOU TELL YOURSELF that you are. See how many of these false images you can uncover in your thoughts today. Realize these are images you make, and then remind yourself, “I am as God created me.
