Articles
11th June 2010
Christine Goyer-Swift
JOURNEY TO THE SELF
The Practice of Self-Inquiry
Is there is a stirring within you? A question that asks, “Is this all there is?” or “Where is the meaning in the world?” Do you feel the stillness when all is quiet within? Is there something inside that is ready to be seen and awakened?
Humanity is experiencing global ego consciousness – unprecedented levels of dysfunction, stress, illness, addiction, war and suffering. People are finally becoming aware that we cannot continue searching for fulfillment, happiness or acknowledgment of who we are from things outside of ourselves – my car, my money, my story, what I do, what I’ve done, my job, and on and on. We must as individuals, communities and the world, become more conscious of our thoughts and choices to live in greater alignment with ourselves, each other and the planet, living with integrity and personal responsibility as acknowledged by all spiritual teachers from Jesus to Mahatma Gandhi, Buddha to Eckhart Tolle. The time of transformation on our planet is now – if not now, when?
What has happened to quietude and days of rest? To contemplation and being with oneself in a more natural way – using the inner guidance that is inherent in everyone since birth and which becomes clouded by external influences of society and its dysfunctions usually by late childhood? It is the natural order to be in stillness, in meditation – which simply means to be aware and present in each moment as it presents itself; completely present with no expectation and no thought about the past or future. This is being free of ego – which can be defined as identification with thought and form (things). Many terms exist for this shift from ego consciousness: Enlightenment (Hindu), Salvation (Christian), End of Suffering (Buddhism), Self-Actualization (psychologist Abraham Maslow).
Many people understand that we are not our thoughts; that thoughts are what we think and that there is a thinker behind the thoughts, prior to the thought – a watcher of all things, a quiet space within that is very, very still. This is the essence that is always present as the seer or observer in each of our lives. When there is space for quietude, when we create that space for ourselves, we sense that quiet inner presence that waits for our attentions, always waiting, always present, never judging, wanting us to return Home.
Eckhart Tolle says that, “Thinking without awareness is the main dilemma of human existence”. Our busy minds run rampant in every instance of every day, week to week, year to year, until ultimately we realize how exhausted we are from incessant thinking. It’s time to take a breath, a refreshing breath of a deeper, more meaningful way to be than seeking, competing and warring – bringing calm to the mind. We’re so fortunate to have many and diverse paths to assist in this journey including yoga, prayer and meditation. Self-Inquiry is especially popular in the western world, not only to spiritually and religiously-minded people, but also to non-religious intellectuals and agnostics – its popularity evident from the numerous books on this subject.
Ramana Maharshi, Indian sage and guru (1879-1950) is regarded as the foremost teacher of Self-Inquiry in modern times. This practice, generally seen as a form of meditation, does not require an object or mantra on which to meditate; rather the “I” who is meditating becomes the object of its own question, Who Am I? Self-Inquiry means simply to rest in the awareness “I Am” which is the presence behind all thought – the pure, natural existence, the absolute Self.
Each week dedicated members from the Association in Consciousness from all over Vancouver Island, and ultimately all over the world, meet in meditation. These are participants of one or more programs offered by AHAM (Association of Happiness for All Mankind), a non-profit spiritual education organization that helps participants to really get Self-Inquiry, based on the teachings of Ramana Maharshi. When AIC meets in meditation, all is quiet – all is still. The group experiences being in stillness, feeling the inner peace and serenity that comes with acceptance of whatever is happening in our most busy lives. This particular path is meditation, and the way to stillness is Self-Inquiry – a continual looking within. AIC meets regularly to deepen the practice of meditation, learning to let things be as they are in life which allows life to unfold naturally – going within to find the answers usually sought in the world of people, places and things. With the knowledge that we are indeed whole and complete as we are, Self-Inquiry is for those who seek peace, inner knowing and joy – all natural states that have been habitually forgotten. People here are ready to experience the unifying truths of spirituality without the divisiveness that has plagued religions and spiritual cultures over millennia.
The practice of Self Inquiry does not adhere to any particular guru/teacher, religion or spiritual practice and, rather, includes recognition of the common truths all spiritual teachers and/or religions have to offer the world. The AIC group shares their experience as “Being in the Heart”, where the teachings of spiritual masters like Buddha, Ramana Maharshi and Jesus are felt and experienced in their purest forms. Participants appreciate the essence of group meditation and the support and community that’s available to continue and deepen the awakening process – which is simply being present in every moment, therefore accepting everything and resisting nothing. We begin to see that the primary cause of unhappiness is not the events that happen, but our thoughts and emotions around the events. Awareness in the now creates space, clarity and calm that surrounds every potential future action.
People have been introduced to this particular Self-Inquiry training in ways that seem to appear out of nowhere. For example some have been to India and found their way to the AHAM Ashram at the bottom of the holy mountain of Arunachala. They saw, they sat, they stayed. AHAM’s process of Self-Inquiry was first brought to Vancouver Island in 2004 – a kind of miracle really, since the training had always only taken place at the AHAM Center in North Carolina or AHAM Ashram in southern India. Of course, we who live here know that Vancouver Island attracts, geographically and energetically, Cultural Creatives – that generational body of people who seek conscious living, in harmony with nature and others.
Those who practice Self Inquiry meditation feel blessed to have this teaching and feel drawn to meet others at a deeper level. Where prior practices left a yearning, like something was missing, many “knew something was up” with this teaching and paid attention, saying that, “This was an easier way.” Some of the group who had been to India (at least once), felt drawn to the stillness, to Arunachala and to the simple teachings of holy man Ramana Maharshi. The spiral of self -knowledge continues with Self-Inquiry in their daily lives. The support and commitment to participants has helped individuals with self-commitment to meditation and to their own spiritual growth.
Experiencing rather than just believing in God/Self, is a unification that must occur if we wish to continue to BE on this beautiful planet we call home. Becoming familiar with the silence within is a way to answer the questions “Where is the meaning in the world” and, “Is this all there is?” Once asked, the answer eventually becomes clear. You are all there is – always have been, always will be, forever and ever. NAMASTE!
By Christine Goyer-Swift
The Practice of Self-Inquiry
Is there is a stirring within you? A question that asks, “Is this all there is?” or “Where is the meaning in the world?” Do you feel the stillness when all is quiet within? Is there something inside that is ready to be seen and awakened?
Humanity is experiencing global ego consciousness – unprecedented levels of dysfunction, stress, illness, addiction, war and suffering. People are finally becoming aware that we cannot continue searching for fulfillment, happiness or acknowledgment of who we are from things outside of ourselves – my car, my money, my story, what I do, what I’ve done, my job, and on and on. We must as individuals, communities and the world, become more conscious of our thoughts and choices to live in greater alignment with ourselves, each other and the planet, living with integrity and personal responsibility as acknowledged by all spiritual teachers from Jesus to Mahatma Gandhi, Buddha to Eckhart Tolle. The time of transformation on our planet is now – if not now, when?
What has happened to quietude and days of rest? To contemplation and being with oneself in a more natural way – using the inner guidance that is inherent in everyone since birth and which becomes clouded by external influences of society and its dysfunctions usually by late childhood? It is the natural order to be in stillness, in meditation – which simply means to be aware and present in each moment as it presents itself; completely present with no expectation and no thought about the past or future. This is being free of ego – which can be defined as identification with thought and form (things). Many terms exist for this shift from ego consciousness: Enlightenment (Hindu), Salvation (Christian), End of Suffering (Buddhism), Self-Actualization (psychologist Abraham Maslow).
Many people understand that we are not our thoughts; that thoughts are what we think and that there is a thinker behind the thoughts, prior to the thought – a watcher of all things, a quiet space within that is very, very still. This is the essence that is always present as the seer or observer in each of our lives. When there is space for quietude, when we create that space for ourselves, we sense that quiet inner presence that waits for our attentions, always waiting, always present, never judging, wanting us to return Home.
Eckhart Tolle says that, “Thinking without awareness is the main dilemma of human existence”. Our busy minds run rampant in every instance of every day, week to week, year to year, until ultimately we realize how exhausted we are from incessant thinking. It’s time to take a breath, a refreshing breath of a deeper, more meaningful way to be than seeking, competing and warring – bringing calm to the mind. We’re so fortunate to have many and diverse paths to assist in this journey including yoga, prayer and meditation. Self-Inquiry is especially popular in the western world, not only to spiritually and religiously-minded people, but also to non-religious intellectuals and agnostics – its popularity evident from the numerous books on this subject.
Ramana Maharshi, Indian sage and guru (1879-1950) is regarded as the foremost teacher of Self-Inquiry in modern times. This practice, generally seen as a form of meditation, does not require an object or mantra on which to meditate; rather the “I” who is meditating becomes the object of its own question, Who Am I? Self-Inquiry means simply to rest in the awareness “I Am” which is the presence behind all thought – the pure, natural existence, the absolute Self.
Each week dedicated members from the Association in Consciousness from all over Vancouver Island, and ultimately all over the world, meet in meditation. These are participants of one or more programs offered by AHAM (Association of Happiness for All Mankind), a non-profit spiritual education organization that helps participants to really get Self-Inquiry, based on the teachings of Ramana Maharshi. When AIC meets in meditation, all is quiet – all is still. The group experiences being in stillness, feeling the inner peace and serenity that comes with acceptance of whatever is happening in our most busy lives. This particular path is meditation, and the way to stillness is Self-Inquiry – a continual looking within. AIC meets regularly to deepen the practice of meditation, learning to let things be as they are in life which allows life to unfold naturally – going within to find the answers usually sought in the world of people, places and things. With the knowledge that we are indeed whole and complete as we are, Self-Inquiry is for those who seek peace, inner knowing and joy – all natural states that have been habitually forgotten. People here are ready to experience the unifying truths of spirituality without the divisiveness that has plagued religions and spiritual cultures over millennia.
The practice of Self Inquiry does not adhere to any particular guru/teacher, religion or spiritual practice and, rather, includes recognition of the common truths all spiritual teachers and/or religions have to offer the world. The AIC group shares their experience as “Being in the Heart”, where the teachings of spiritual masters like Buddha, Ramana Maharshi and Jesus are felt and experienced in their purest forms. Participants appreciate the essence of group meditation and the support and community that’s available to continue and deepen the awakening process – which is simply being present in every moment, therefore accepting everything and resisting nothing. We begin to see that the primary cause of unhappiness is not the events that happen, but our thoughts and emotions around the events. Awareness in the now creates space, clarity and calm that surrounds every potential future action.
People have been introduced to this particular Self-Inquiry training in ways that seem to appear out of nowhere. For example some have been to India and found their way to the AHAM Ashram at the bottom of the holy mountain of Arunachala. They saw, they sat, they stayed. AHAM’s process of Self-Inquiry was first brought to Vancouver Island in 2004 – a kind of miracle really, since the training had always only taken place at the AHAM Center in North Carolina or AHAM Ashram in southern India. Of course, we who live here know that Vancouver Island attracts, geographically and energetically, Cultural Creatives – that generational body of people who seek conscious living, in harmony with nature and others.
Those who practice Self Inquiry meditation feel blessed to have this teaching and feel drawn to meet others at a deeper level. Where prior practices left a yearning, like something was missing, many “knew something was up” with this teaching and paid attention, saying that, “This was an easier way.” Some of the group who had been to India (at least once), felt drawn to the stillness, to Arunachala and to the simple teachings of holy man Ramana Maharshi. The spiral of self -knowledge continues with Self-Inquiry in their daily lives. The support and commitment to participants has helped individuals with self-commitment to meditation and to their own spiritual growth.
Experiencing rather than just believing in God/Self, is a unification that must occur if we wish to continue to BE on this beautiful planet we call home. Becoming familiar with the silence within is a way to answer the questions “Where is the meaning in the world” and, “Is this all there is?” Once asked, the answer eventually becomes clear. You are all there is – always have been, always will be, forever and ever. NAMASTE!
By Christine Goyer-Swift