Self-Enquiry in Short
Soh

 xabir = Soh

https://www.reddit.com/r/Meditation/comments/wrieqa/comment/iksfudx/?context=3

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Posted by
u/VEGETTOROHAN
44 minutes ago

Self Enquiry: Am I doing it correctly?

Question ❓

Whenever I get bothered by my restless thoughts I ask myself,"Am I these thoughts or the eternal Self that witnesses these thoughts" and try to be more aware. Is there anything wrong in this technique?

3 Comments
level 1
xabir
·30 min. ago

IMO: It's better you ask "What is this Self that witnesses these thoughts", because this inquiry will turn your attention towards the Source, find out what exactly is this Self. Then you will sieve out the self from the not-self.

Whereas "Am I these thoughts or am I Self" may just lead to a mental or conceptual conclusion "I am Self" but not the pure direct realization and experience of what exactly and precisely Self is.

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level 2
VEGETTOROHAN
OP·22 min. ago

IMO: It's better you ask "What is this Self that witnesses these thoughts", because this inquiry will turn your attention towards the Source, find out what exactly is this Self. Then you will sieve out the self from the not-self.

And who will give me the answer? Will my 'SELF' give any answer? I don't exactly get it. How will answer come on its own?

Whereas "Am I these thoughts or am I Self" may just lead to a mental or conceptual conclusion "I am Self" but not the pure direct realization and experience of what exactly and precisely Self is.

I thought it would help me to make me seperate from the thoughts so that I don't get bothered by my thoughts. Self Enquiry is hard to understand. Can you sinplify?

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level 3
xabir
·6 min. ago

“That which is sure of its existence – the innermost certainty of I Am – is what you essentially are. In other words: I Am this knowing that knows that I Am.” - Leo Hartong

"Doubts
By turning the attention to the mind, immediately there are doubts. More thoughts rush in to question the questions, confirm or contradict other thoughts. A maddening cycle...
Notice when thoughts are paused there are no doubts; the certainty of (doubtless) Being is obviously present; the unquestionable FACT of EXISTENCE. Notice that the Being is ALWAYS presently shining, effortlessly and spontaneously. Stay with that undeniable non-conceptual confidence. Your Being has always been present for every single experience. That natural cognition in which all experiences arise is not a person.
Be as you ARE and not what you imagine yourself to be.
~ Jason Swason, May 8, 2010"

Self enquiry is quite simple. Just find out, Who am I? What am I? Before birth, who am I? Without thoughts, what am I? You can pick or choose the exact phrasing but the point of the self enquiry is not in reciting words. It's in directing attention to find out the Source of your Being at a non-verbal level.

If you need more pointers check these out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCrWn_NueUg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=783Gb4KbzGY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymvj01q44o0

https://youtu.be/BA8tDzK_kPI
http://www.awakeningtoreality.com/2020/11/what-is-your-very-mind-right-now.html
http://awakeningtoreality.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-direct-path-to-your-real-self.html
https://app.box.com/s/v8r7i8ng17cxr1aoiz9ca1jychct6v84

Read books like "Be As You Are" by Ramana Maharshi, also books by John Wheeler (the advaita author). These may also be helpful.

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Sound, scent, flavor, feeling, are constant absorption [samadhi]
Soh

 

Soh Wei Yu

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Zen koan. Case 34 from 撃節録 Jijie lu
I hope to find the Chinese version of this text. It has nice phrases I like, such as 六尘不恶，还同正觉, and a phrase similar to "「见闻觉知无障碍，声香味触常三昧，如鸟空中只么飞，无取、无舍、无憎爱，若会应处本无心，始得名为观自在。」"
34. The ancestral teacher’s six sense data
An ancestral teacher said, “The six sense data are not bad—rather, they are the same as true awakening.” (Eyes see, ears hear—what’s wrong with that?)
Xuedou said, “The staff is a sense object—what’s wrong with that? (This old fellow wants a second ladle of foul water.) Since there’s nothing wrong, the host should be distinguished. (Tertiary—hiding his body, he reveals his shadow.) Therefore it is said that the sixteen-foot golden body is manifest in a pile of trash. Putting this aside for the moment, (An adept teacher of the school after all doesn’t hide his body while revealing his shadow.) Standing like a mile-high wall in the mass of naked flesh, still the first move is forgone. (What end is there to people who play with the spirit?) Even if all-sided, a repeated beating is in order.”
Yuanwu said,
The Poem on Faith in Mind says, “The six sense data are not bad—rather, they are the same as true awakening.” Seeing, hearing, perception and cognition have no obstruction; sound, scent, flavor, feeling, are constant absorption. Yunmen said, “The states of totality are not absorption: the entities having sound, scent, flavor and feeling are on one side; sound, scent, flavor, and feeling are on one side—understanding is biased.” He also said, “This very seeing and hearing itself is not seeing and hearing. There is no sound and form besides to present to you.”
Dongshan said, “One who is not stained in the midst of sense data is a great person.” Yunmen said, “A staff is just called a staff, everything is just called everything.” The companions of mundane toils are seeds of realization of thusness.
The six sense data only get the ignorant—people like those of the two vehicles are like sprouts of burnt seeds, which won’t regrow. Also, Benren said, “Form is not form, sound is not sound; the six sense data are all thus.” Ultimately how is it? “They are the same as true awakening.” Knowledge and noumenon merge, objects and spirit converge. Mind is thus, and objects are also thus—there is no substantiality and no vanity either.
Since there is no fault, it is necessary to distinguish host and guest at the staff. It will not do to be naïve.
“Manifesting the sixteen foot golden body in a heap of trash” is found in Wuben’s sayings. “Standing like a mile high wall in the mass of naked flesh” is a saying of Linji. These two men still had no sovereignty.
____________________________________________
Notes
The sixteen foot golden body refers to an idealized image of Buddha.
The two vehicles refer to Buddhists who remain content with the peace of nirvana.

  • Soh Wei Yu
    "Since there is no fault, it is necessary to distinguish host and guest at the staff."
    Not sure what the original text was. But the realisation of the whole case should be, there is not the slightest hairsbreadth of distinction nor substantial existence of a host and a guest.
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Naropa: 12 SIMILES DESCRIBING THE PHENOMENAL WORLD
Soh

 

NAROPA
12 SIMILES DESCRIBING THE PHENOMENAL WORLD
A magic spell, a dream, a gleam before eyes,
A reflection, lightening, an echo, a rainbow,
Moonlight upon water, cloud-land,
dimness before the eyes, fog, and apparitions;
These are the twelve similes of the phenomenal.
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