Let it be a natural process of inquiry into the deepest source of your Being. There is no need to fabricate the inquiry too much by scripting it with thoughts like "every minute, ask myself, who am I again..." just let it be a spontaneous and earnest inquiry to find out what exactly you are from the deepest depth of your being. A deep yearning to discover who you really are.. this deep yearning will carry your inquiry not only in formal meditation but into your daily life whenever you can or can remember, and for some people even into sleep (although I didn't inquire in sleep back then).

“Something I always say when you are doing self enquiry or any other contemplations and meditations, this is crucial:

"We think it's all about like, again, because of our modern mind, we almost think everything can be solved through some sort of technology. Right, oh, I just need to do it different, there must be some secret trick to inquiry, that's our technological mind-set. Sometimes that's a mindset that is very useful to us. But, we don't want to let that dominate our spirituality. Because as I witnessed, the intensity of the living inquiry that's more important than all the techniques.

When somebody Just Has To Know. Even if that's kind of driving them half crazy for a while. And, that attitude is as important or more important than all the ways we work with that attitude, you know, the spiritual practices, the meditations and various inquiries and various different things, sort of practices. If we engage in the practices because they are practices, you know like, ok I just do these because this is what I'm told to do, and hopefully it will have some good effect. That's different than being engaged, when you're actually being deeply interested in what you're inquiring about, and what you're actually meditating upon. It's that quality of real, actual interest, something even more than interest. It is a kind of compulsion, I know I was saying earlier don't get taken in by compulsion, but there is/can be a kind of compulsion. And that's as valuable as anything else going on in you, actually."

- Adyashanti

This is related to Zen's great doubt, great faith and great perseverance. Especially the aspect of Great Doubt.” – Soh, 2020

The point is to explore, investigate in your being, what you truly are before thoughts. Look, find out, discover.

Yes indeed. My experience of zazen at the australian open way zen temple was like 45 minutes sitting meditation then 15 walking meditation then 30 sitting meditation i think.

Not the end of the world and yes, the body is just an illusion and all that. BUT it's also more difficult to practice if you are in chronic physical pain. Ayurveda was originally developed so that people could be more free from physical distress and survival fears and be able to attend to spiritual practice more easily.

And though for some, Awakening comes pretty quickly, there are many, like me, who must "work at it" for most of a lifetime to find even noticeable progress. Anyone can tolerate some pain for a week or a month. Can you continue for 50 years?

Begin by investigating this sense of existence, this sense of being. What is it? Who am I? This is not meant to be verbally or mentally recited (as Self-Inquiry teacher Zen/Ch'an Master Hsu Yun says, if you want to chant, chanting the name of Amitabha Buddha wholeheartedly will be more meritorious than chanting Who am I? or Who is chanting Buddha?), nor should it be an intellectual inquiry by engaging the mind in concepts to figure things out. No. Rather it is a non-conceptual and non-verbal exploration, investigation, examination of this sense of Presence, what is this Self, what is true, beyond all thoughts and conceptualizations and images we have about who I am. Your conceptualizing mind needs to calm down for true insight to arise (but calmness alone does not result in insight - inquiry does). The inquiry 'Who am I' is a tool to turn the attention inward, to turn the light around and investigate our essential being so that direct realization of this 'I', Beingness, AMness can occur.

Keep inquiring in that manner until unshakeable conviction arises through a sudden illumination: the undoubtable sense that I AM, which is beyond all thoughts and concepts - this undeniable, undoubtable sense of presence and existence that is at the same time aware and knows itself and aware of everything. It is both present, and aware. As I wrote: You Are That Knowing which is certain that You Are! The distinction between knower, knowing, and known dissolve into That. You Are That!

After this realization, your understanding of spirituality will not remain intellectual/conceptual.

But after awhile I realise it is the consistency and the willingness to play the long game that makes a huge difference as it takes a lot of time to transform our body and mind.

It is great to put urself through a “retreat” level intensity once in awhile.. but do think about how to play this game for years and years.

To be able to sit 2 hours a day for the next 5-10/20 years would be the kind of game we play in dhamma haha

Hard striving from my xp can cause a lot of side effects so do take care when things get abit much.

Enjoy ur journey!!