Self Inquiry is the process of reflection into our true nature beyond the cultural model we have been given. We stop and question our essential nature. We ask, “Who am I?” This is the traditional, central question on the spiritual path. Or more directly, “Am I aware?” This question begins a process of looking–not looking outward at the world, but inward at our nature.
The world needs this type of self reflection because without it you get the kind of world we have—a misalignment with our true nature, with others and the world. We identify ourselves with our thoughts and become series of points of view.
We see and experience the world as we have come to understand ourselves, as a point of view. When we take on the current cultural model without questioning it, we become what most everyone has become—identified with our thoughts. We identify as a body/mind, listening closely to our thoughts and treating them as real.
Self Inquiry provides a pathway to free ourselves from this limited understanding of ourselves. As we free ourselves from ‘mind identity’, we expand our experience and understanding of ourselves that brings us in contact with our inherent nature–inner peace, happiness and fulfillment.
So, begin with the question, “Am I aware?” and let your attention withdraw from thoughts and the world and move inside. Can you begin to tune into that which is aware of thoughts? This is the beginning of self liberation and freedom from a world shaped by thinking (and identification with our thoughts). If we could all begin to let go of who we think we are and relax into the aware presence in which everything is arising, the whole world is renewed.