Look For Yourself

1. The Power of Self-Inquiry: Discovering Your True Nature

Look for yourself. Don't take my word for it. At this moment, are you incarcerated in an airless prison, solid all the way through, wall to wall? Or are you at large and free ranging, so wide open and lightsome that all the winds of God blow through you?

Self-inquiry is transformative. It involves turning your attention inward to discover your true nature. This practice is not about accumulating knowledge but about directly experiencing your essence. It's a simple yet profound act of looking at who you really are, beyond all concepts and beliefs.

The process is accessible to everyone. Unlike complex spiritual practices, self-inquiry requires no special skills or preparation. It's as simple as asking, "Who am I?" and honestly investigating your experience. This investigation often reveals that your true nature is vastly different from what you've been conditioned to believe.

Key aspects of self-inquiry:

• Directing attention inward
• Questioning assumptions about identity
• Observing without judgment
• Distinguishing between thoughts and direct experience

2. Seeing Beyond Appearances: The Illusion of Separation

To be more accurate, even she isn't suited to the hard climate of the skies. The smallest complete creature fit for this universe is no sunless planet but a star - a fully developed sun, a solar system whose "living" planet is a mere organ.

Separation is an illusion. Our perception of the world as made up of separate, independent entities is a mental construct that doesn't reflect reality. When we look deeply, we find that everything is interconnected and interdependent.

Recognizing unity transforms our worldview. Seeing beyond the appearance of separation opens us to a more holistic understanding of reality. This shift in perception can lead to profound changes in how we relate to ourselves, others, and the world around us.

Implications of seeing beyond separation:

• Greater empathy and compassion
• Reduced conflict and competition
• Enhanced sense of belonging and connection
• More harmonious relationships with nature and others

3. The Paradox of Headlessness: Embracing Your Infinite Self

Please check this for yourself right now. Go blind (that's to say, close your eyes), handle your left hand with your right, then your left arm and shoulder, your neck, and finally your head - back, sides, and front, all over... Isn't the present evidence for your head just as convincing as for your hand?

The concept of headlessness is counterintuitive yet profound. It suggests that from your own first-person perspective, you don't have a head in the way you typically think. Instead, you are a boundless awareness that contains all of your experience.

This realization can be liberating. Recognizing your headlessness can free you from the limitations of identifying solely with your body and mind. It opens you to a more expansive sense of self that includes all of your experience.

Experiments to explore headlessness:

• Looking for your own head
• Pointing to where you're looking from
• Comparing your first-person experience with third-person descriptions
• Noticing the space of awareness that contains all experience

4. Liberation Through Awareness: Letting Go of False Identities

There is no consciousness apart from the 1st Person who is always Central and Singular and enjoys the God's-Eye view of His universe, His image. Which is also my image.

Awareness is key to liberation. By becoming aware of our true nature as boundless consciousness, we can free ourselves from the limitations of false identities. This awareness is not something to be achieved but rather recognized as our ever-present reality.

Letting go of false identities is transformative. As we release our attachment to limited self-concepts, we open to a more expansive and authentic way of being. This process can lead to greater peace, clarity, and freedom in our lives.

Steps towards liberation through awareness:

• Recognizing the witness consciousness
• Distinguishing between awareness and its contents
• Letting go of identifications with thoughts and emotions
• Resting in the spaciousness of pure awareness

5. The Universe Within: Recognizing Your Cosmic Connection

To be yourself you must be much more than yourself. Your physics and chemistry, your anatomy and physiology, your behaviour and mind - these make no sense on their own. They only begin to make sense when the rest of you - your family and household, your suburb, your city, your country, the living Earth, the Solar System, our Galaxy, the Universe itself - is taken into account.

We are microcosms of the universe. Our individual existence is inseparable from the cosmic whole. Recognizing this deep interconnection can profoundly shift our sense of identity and purpose.

This realization has practical implications. Understanding our cosmic nature can lead to a greater sense of responsibility for the world around us and a more harmonious way of living. It can inspire us to act with greater care and consideration for all beings.

Ways to explore your cosmic connection:

• Contemplating your place in the universe
• Meditating on the vastness of space
• Studying cosmology and physics
• Practicing ecological awareness

6. Practical Applications of Self-Realization in Daily Life

All the same, there is room for considerable improvement. Indeed I observe that it has begun already. Even that horrid smell has almost gone.

Self-realization is not separate from daily life. The insights gained through self-inquiry and awareness practices can be applied to all aspects of our everyday experience. This integration leads to a more authentic and fulfilling way of living.

Practical benefits arise naturally. As we align with our true nature, positive changes often occur spontaneously in our relationships, work, and overall well-being. These changes are not forced but emerge as natural expressions of our deepening understanding.

Areas where self-realization can be applied:

• Relationships: Greater empathy and understanding
• Work: Increased creativity and effectiveness
• Health: Improved well-being and stress reduction
• Decision-making: Clearer intuition and wisdom

7. Transcending Dilemmas: Resolving Conflicts Through Awareness

Here, then, is the perfect reconciliation between the detachment that witnesses all and the attachment that is involved in all. It was the false notion that you are really a human being that gave rise to the dilemma, the contradiction between the Sermon on the Mount and the Parable of the Talents.

Awareness resolves apparent contradictions. Many of life's dilemmas arise from a limited perspective. By expanding our awareness, we can see beyond apparent conflicts to a more inclusive understanding.

Transcending dilemmas leads to greater harmony. As we resolve inner conflicts through awareness, we naturally act with greater wisdom and compassion in the world. This can lead to more harmonious relationships and effective problem-solving.

Steps to transcend dilemmas:

• Recognizing the limited perspective creating the conflict
• Expanding awareness to include multiple viewpoints
• Resting in the spaciousness that contains all perspectives
• Acting from a place of integrated understanding

8. The Art of Surrender: Aligning with the Divine Will

First see What and Who you really, really, really are, establish your true identity, and then see whether you have anything whatever to complain of.

Surrender is not passive resignation. True surrender involves aligning with our deepest nature and the flow of life. It's an active process of letting go of our limited ego-centric will and opening to a greater intelligence.

Aligning with the divine will brings peace. As we surrender our personal agendas and open to the natural flow of life, we often experience greater ease, clarity, and effectiveness in our actions. This alignment can lead to a profound sense of peace and fulfillment.

Practices for cultivating surrender:

• Letting go of attachment to outcomes
• Trusting in the inherent wisdom of life
• Accepting what is in each moment
• Acting from a place of inner stillness and clarity

9. Cultivating Tenderness: Opening to Universal Love

Here at last you see the world in all its splendour, because fundamentally you are uninvolved.

Tenderness arises naturally from self-realization. As we recognize our true nature as boundless awareness, we naturally become more open and compassionate towards all beings. This tenderness is not forced but emerges spontaneously from our deepest understanding.

Universal love is our true nature. The love that arises from self-realization is not limited to specific individuals or conditions. It's an all-encompassing love that embraces all of existence, including ourselves.

Ways to cultivate tenderness:

• Practicing self-compassion
• Recognizing the shared essence in all beings
• Letting go of judgments and prejudices
• Opening to the vulnerability of others and ourselves

Last updated: August 17, 2024