SELF-INQUIRY
Who am I?
Self-Inquiry (atma-vichara) uses the question “Who am I?” to isolate the “I am” from the thoughts and limitations that are usually added to it and attain the subjective feeling of pure existence, or “I am.”
KEY FACTS
Essence Turning your attention from the seen to the seer
Sensory channel Mind
Skill Concentration, awareness
Tradition Vedic, specifically the Advaita Vedanta tradition
Similar practices Neti Neti
WHY CHOOSE THIS PRACTICE?
“I am” is usually connected to our thoughts and identifications, such as “I am feeling anxious” or “I am a teacher,” all of which show the limited ego or personality. The essential part is the “I am”—this is the constant element, the real you. The “I am” knows no suffering. It is simply an expansive sense of being.
Most practices ask you to concentrate or observe, so the subject (the “I” or “I am”) focuses on an object, such as the breath. Self-Inquiry, however, is a non-dual meditation: the subject focuses on itself; in other words, it is being itself without an object.
01 Sit in a comfortable posture and close your eyes. Take three deep breaths through your nose. Allow your body to become still and relaxed with every exhale.
02 Notice the sounds you hear. Ask yourself: “Who am I that hears these sounds?” Notice the sensations you feel. Ask yourself: “Who am I that feels these sensations?” Notice the thoughts you perceive. Ask yourself: “Who am I that perceives these thoughts?” Notice your experience as a whole. Ask yourself: “Who is the one experiencing this?”
03 Every time you ask these questions, the thought might come, “It is me!” Then ask, “Who am I?” or “What is this I?”
04 Reject any answers that come, as they are also thoughts, which are perceived by you. The answer to this question is not a thought.
05 Move your attention away from what you perceive, back to the perceiver. The perceiver is a space of pure awareness, pure being.
06 Once you find the feeling of pure “I am,” stabilize your attention in that space. Focus on the “I am.” Relax inside “I am,” and let go of all else. Hold on to that wordless sense or presence, and don’t try to define it.
07 Whenever your attention gets engaged in thoughts or anything else that you perceive, use the question “Who am I that perceives this?” to bring your attention back to the pure “I am.”
08 To conclude, bring your attention back to your whole body. Observe your breathing for a few moments, then slowly open your eyes and move out of the meditation posture.
“I am this, I am that is where suffering lives: it is the fake self, limited by these additions.”
