The Cause of Suffering
The true cause of our suffering is the ignorance of who we truly are. Our mind’s construction of a separate entity, namely the ego is not who we are in the depth of our being. This false identity is an illusion, albeit a convincing one. This illusion is known as Maya. Most people believe they are a separate individual and when the thought of ‘I’ arises then the thought of ‘you’ arises as well and then everything is either ‘I’, ‘me’ or ‘mine’ and this causes suffering because the separate individual has so many hopes, wishes, dreams, desires, attachments, anxieties and fears etc. in relation to the ‘I’, ‘me’ (body, mind and intellect) and to all that it considers as ‘mine’.
Whilst there is nothing wrong with that, we will one day come to see that everything in the world is not wholly satisfactisfying. The dissatisfaction we feel leaves us wanting more and whilst we want more, we are not at peace or content in our own self. This is why we constantly yearn for happiness. There is only one solution to this problem and that is to realise our true nature.
The Practice of Self-Inquiry
The spiritual practice of self-inquiry is the doorway to your true nature and as such has been practiced for thousands of years. This process enables you to wake up to the reality of who you truly are. Self-inquiry is a direct investigation of your personal experience. It is a means of looking deeply within, at whatever is arising, in an honest way, to find the truth. It involves reflecting deeply on the sensations arising in your body, your thoughts, feelings, personality structure, your beliefs, conditioning, limitations and all that you are identified with, in order to come to see that in reality, you are none of these.
Inquiry also involves reflecting on your darkness: your suffering and inquire as to who it is that is actually suffering. In addition it also involves reflecting on the light within you: the unlimited power that flows through your body, mind and intellect, which is pure awareness. Inquiry is a deep and thorough investigation of all aspects of your being. By looking at what causes you to suffer, you come to the light, whereby nothing is hidden and you have clarity about who you are and subsequently live from this state of awareness.
Self-Inquiry with spiritual teacher Katarina Tilley
The First Stage of the Inquiry Process
The first step in the inquiry process is to see what you are not. This process is called ‘neti neti’ and in Sanskrit and means “not this, not this”. This initial step is the path of exclusion, whereby the subject (the real you) differentiates him or herself from the body, mind and intellect and realises that his real nature is consciousness. Through this process of inquiry you realise that you are the witnessing background of all experience, like the movie screen on which the movie is projected.
The Second Stage of the Inquiry Process
The second step in the process of inquiry is to see what you actually are. Here you explore your experience of yourself as consciousness i.e. conscious Presence. You will come to see that consciousness (your true nature) is always present, timeless and limitless. However, it is not enough to have an understanding of this, you must realise this for you self, in all of your being. Once you realise the unlimited nature of consciousness, you return to the world of objects (people and things) and realise that everything is made out of the ‘fabric’ of consciousness and that there is nothing outside of consciousness. This is the path of inclusion. You realise that you are the body, thought, feelings etc. and yet you are also so much more than that. You are in fact the entire world.
So the process of inquiry enables you realise that you are pure consciousness, which arises in every moment, everywhere, in everyone and in everything. You realise that there is nothing outside of pure consciousness. Consciousness is always aware and conscious. It is one indivisible whole. Consciousness is the limitless, formless, impersonal and timeless being that some people call Self or Spirit. Consciousness is that pure potentiality, which arises from the invisible and comes into manifestation for a time and then withdraws into invisibility again. Its nature i.e. your true nature is that of pure love.
A Summary of the aim of Self-Inquiry
So, to summarise, the aim of self-inquiry is to free yourself from all that baggage that you have acquired and identify with, which causes you to suffer. In addition its aim is to discover the deeper timeless dimension within you. Once this has been found, you are then free to live authentically from your deepest unified impulse i.e. oneness and allow that oneness to inform all of your actions. This Presence is a light unto Itself and unto the world.
Come out of the Darkness and into the Light
If you are willing to come out of the darkness and into the light then I can assist you in the investigation, into the truth of who you are. Whether you are new to inquiry or have been doing this kind of inner work for some time, you can receive my support, through my one-to-one services. It is however essential, that you either practice meditation already or learn to meditate, in order to be able to go deeper within yourself.
As every case is different, I would need to talk with you, to find out where you are at, so that I can ascertain how to best assist you. Contact me today, to start the process of spiritual inquiry.
Katarina Tilley at Living in the Light, meditation centre in Little Clacton, Essex or Online.
www.katarinatilley.co.uk