Into the Mystery

It's not necessary to sit in a formal way to engage in meditative self-inquiry. You can ask the question 'What am I?' anywhere, at any time. You can ask, 'What is it that is driving the car? What is it that is drinking this tea? What is it that is reading these words?' It is a very simple question: 'What am I? What am I outside of a thought or a memory? What am I behind all that?' When the mind asks the question, the mind looks within. And what does the mind find? It doesn't find anything. It doesn't find a new somebody because a new somebody would just be another thought or another image. So the mind looks within and says honestly, 'I don't know.' And this is a very mysterious moment for the mind. At this moment, you are actually in a state of unknowing. You are connected with the mystery of you, rather than the idea of you. Meditative self-inquiry can be an extraordinarily rapid, almost instantaneous introduction to the mystery of you. It returns you to the unknown very quickly and very efficiently. Once you get there, you can stay there and stay there-you can sense the unknown, kinesthetically feel the unknown, stay with the presence of what is unknown. In this way, meditative self-inquiry brings you very quickly to openness, to a big awake space. And, of course, spiritual realization is the realization that you are that space.