Self-inquiry is a mainstay of many Eastern philosophical and spiritual traditions that places an emphasis on the student’s persistent investigation into who, exactly, he or she is. In a sense, it is the ultimate self-inventory.

As with meditation, the practice of self-inquiry is considered an important and effective approach to quieting the mind and allowing one’s inner essence to shine forth. While this can sound highly spiritual in nature, it is not and nor does it have to be.

(Far too often, preconceived ideas about labels like spirituality and God create instant barriers to important opportunities that lie beyond those mental walls. Our goal here, always, is to remain open to all possible experiences until individuals are able to eliminate – or embrace – them for themselves. All preconceived notions must be left at the door!)

Self-Inquiry Defined

Much like the science of self-awareness, self-inquiry can be thought of as a progression from external or extrinsic self-inquiry toward internal or intrinsic self-inquiry. This is more or less how it works.

Extrinsic Self-Inquiry

Psychological suffering is occurring. Depending on the nature of the suffering, the sufferer may look into why they have body issues, why they think or behave a certain way, why they just can’t seem to get on track with a relationship or school or a job. The sources of suffering are endless but the questions all poke into the one experiencing these issues in terms of body and mind.

“Society mainly uses the concept of self to chain man’s thoughts and behaviour to a pole called ‘I’.” – Mokokoma Mokhonoana

Seen from the outside, the sufferer is taking him/herself very seriously and looking into how they see themselves in the world and, just as important, how others see them. Whether it is recognized or not, undergirding all of this is a dualistic reality. Meaning, there is the sufferer (subject) in a universe of objects (which includes sources of suffering).

By its nature, duality implies separation. I was born into the universe and eventually will die, doomed to being separate and apart from everything around me.

Intrinsic Self-Inquiry

The earnest student of self-inquiry eventually will grow weary of attempting to identify and fix those external sources of pain and suffering, recognizing it as a never-ending game of whack-a-mole – no sooner is one problem solved than another (or many others) pop up.

Her focus will push past those sources of pain and turn to the one suffering from them. Who or what is she? Where did she come from? Where will she be off to next? What is the point of this existence? Is there a path to a lasting peace?

WHO am I (with its presumption of humanhood) is replaced by WHAT am I? The body is investigated. Am I the body? If I am, then I should be able to eliminate all physical sources of misery, disease, pain. I should be able to rewrite my DNA, control my organs, and so on. Obviously, the body is not the I.

“Imagine an expedition where no maps or clues are provided to you initially but you are on your own discovering and/or creating them to chart and make sense of the whole journey. That is life in a sentence.” – Raj Reddy

Similarly, all inherited knowledge – the basis to thoughts – is abandoned. Thoughts are noticed for what they are: haphazard appearances in awareness or consciousness. Like fireflies in a summer meadow, thoughts flare up, fade away, flare up, fade away. But unlike those fireflies, the thoughts aren’t tangible. Thoughts are only made ‘real’ by giving voice or action to them.

Pushing beyond body and mind, the inquirer recognizes something is still there even after all thought and sensation is discarded. Can duality exist in such a state? Is the sufferer who started this journey really separate and apart from anything else? Or as Eckhart Tolle asked himself that famous night from which The Power of Now was born, how can I be unable to live with myself? Am I one or two?

Getting Started

As with meditation and mindfulness, self-inquiry requires us to be as consciously present as possible. But unlike those two disciplines, self-inquiry necessarily begins with some heavy cognitive lifting. The inquirer must be curious – perhaps insatiably curious – about who or what they are. They must look into everything, leaving no stone unturned.

“The only journey is the journey within.” – Rainer Maria Rilke

Over time, those mental pursuits will necessarily exhaust themselves. After all, thoughts – though seemingly different – eventually are seen as ephemeral nothingness. Likewise the body and its sensations will be seen as independent of their owner. (Translation: the inquirer sees that he HAS a body but is not the body.)

Eventually, the inquirer will be reduced to asking ‘what am I?’ without allowing the mind to answer (if it does, those thoughts will be allowed to come and go like all others).

From there? Each of us must pursue for ourselves.