Q. How do i work w/"I am not this body"? you say how important it is, and i "get it" intellectually, but i can't make it totally "real" for me. i can see that when i look at my hand, it is not "me". The "i" that is here looking at it, is not the hand, but it's still not "flipping over". What can i do?
G. This discussion arose this week; a common question. It is one of the most difficult understandings to "get" as it is so heavily embedded in our environment, conditioning, culture, media and even our evolutionary adaptation. Arguably, the I/ego arose 75,000 years ago or so (see "How old is the 'I'? How/why did it come into existence?...new science") as an approach to protect the body through this device of a dualistic framework.
As discussed in the blogpost "non-dual awakening - evolutionary step backwards? or next step forward?", it appears that the "I" construct may now be maladaptive, actually impeding our evolutionary development. This I/ego is now responsible for most of our self-referential thoughts, fears and desires and the stress, depression, anxiety, etc. that arise from them. Our problems are now mostly imagined, constructed from our I-based memories and mental projections, not from tigers and bears.
The Direct Path of Ramana Maharshi (see "What is the 'Direct Path' to nondual awakening? What is self-inquiry?") recognizes this issue and addresses it in the beginning of Ramana's "Who Am I?" (written in the sand when Ramana was 21 years old and not speaking):
Questioner: Who am I?
The five sense organs… and the five types of perception known through the senses… are not 'I'.
The five vital airs such as prana, which perform the five vital functions such as respiration (and beating of the heart, elimination of waste products, metabolism, and muscle and sensory functioning) are not 'I'.
G. This discussion arose this week; a common question. It is one of the most difficult understandings to "get" as it is so heavily embedded in our environment, conditioning, culture, media and even our evolutionary adaptation. Arguably, the I/ego arose 75,000 years ago or so (see "How old is the 'I'? How/why did it come into existence?...new science") as an approach to protect the body through this device of a dualistic framework.
 |
| Ramana Maharshi About the time he wrote "Who am I? in the sand. |
As discussed in the blogpost "non-dual awakening - evolutionary step backwards? or next step forward?", it appears that the "I" construct may now be maladaptive, actually impeding our evolutionary development. This I/ego is now responsible for most of our self-referential thoughts, fears and desires and the stress, depression, anxiety, etc. that arise from them. Our problems are now mostly imagined, constructed from our I-based memories and mental projections, not from tigers and bears.
The Direct Path of Ramana Maharshi (see "What is the 'Direct Path' to nondual awakening? What is self-inquiry?") recognizes this issue and addresses it in the beginning of Ramana's "Who Am I?" (written in the sand when Ramana was 21 years old and not speaking):
Questioner: Who am I?
Ramana: 'Who am I?'
The physical body, composed of the seven dhatus (chyle/plasma, blood, flesh, fat, marrow, bone and semen (yes, i know this is sexist)) is not 'I'.
 |
| Sense organs |
The five parts of the body which act (the mouth,
the legs, the hands, the anus, and the genitals) and their functions (speaking,
walking, giving/grasping, excreting and enjoying/procreating) are not
'I'.
 |
| Prana Vayus |
Even the mind that thinks is not 'I'. (As pointed out elsewhere, the "mind" is just a concept to describe a bunch of unrelated thoughts. If you look for your "mind" you won't find one.)
In the state of deep sleep vishaya vasanas (latent mental tendencies that generate perceptions derived from the five senses, including mental activity derived from past habits or desires) remain. Devoid of sensory knowledge and activity, even this is not 'I'.
After negating all of the above as 'not I, not I', the knowledge that alone remains is itself 'I'. The nature of knowledge is sat-chit-ananda (being-consciousness-bliss).
 |
| Shankara 8th Century CE |
This negation process, a basic tenet of Advaita Vedanta, is detailed and expanded in Shankara's Nirvana Shatakam, and is discussed in detail in Happiness Beyond Thought: A Practical Guide to Awakening (HBT). As legend has it, when Shankara was 8 years old, wandering the Himalayas looking for his "guru" (not the rapper), a sage asked him "Who are you?". Shankara responded with what is now known as Nirvana Shatakam.
Shankara went into great detail in listing what he wasn't. He included mental states, relationships, good and bad deeds and karma, pleasure and suffering, spiritual practices, pilgrimages, rituals, stages of life, parts of the brain, constituents, characteristics, etc. Shankara did also say what he was, which was "bliss consciousness".
This critical step of realizing what you aren't, this disidentification, loosens your closest held attachments, which deconstructs what held onto these attachments,
the "I". With that deconstruction, the house of cards falls down. It works now, today, and has for millennia. This disidentification is a popular contemporary approach based upon the work of the humanistic and transpersonal psychologist, Roberto Assagioli.
Investigate with a parallel question, like “Who hears?”. See if there is someone doing the hearing. Watch sounds being processed, see an identification being formed, an image being created and perhaps a story forming. Are you the one hearing? Who is creating the story? Is it necessary for you to be there for hearing to happen?
Focus first on sounds that are neutral and unlikely to
engage the emotions, like the ticking of a clock or the hum of a computer drive
or fan. Then try more emotionally-charged sounds like a favorite song, words
from a close friend or loved one, or your least favorite politician(s). Who is
hearing this? Who is making these judgments? Where do these
thoughts come from?
Understanding the illusion that we are this body is critically important. If this is not understood, you will not move beyond most "self-referential thoughts". In my own case, the page turned, and self-referential thoughts stopped, as i was working on the statement "I am not this body" while doing a vinyasa/yoga posture flow.
i was amazed at how much this illusion was the reason for and structure of self-referential thoughts. Once it fell away, the entire structure came down like a house of cards. As i have said many times before, at the same time that self-referential thoughts fell away, so too, unexpectedly, did self-referential fears and desires. It was logical that it would happen, but only retrospectively.
On this "Direct Path", it is all about persistence. Just persist, and persist and persist.
Shankara went into great detail in listing what he wasn't. He included mental states, relationships, good and bad deeds and karma, pleasure and suffering, spiritual practices, pilgrimages, rituals, stages of life, parts of the brain, constituents, characteristics, etc. Shankara did also say what he was, which was "bliss consciousness".
 |
| Roberto Assagioli Transpersonal psychologist |
Systematically look at every belief, relationship, emotion, sensation, body part,
functioning, thought, attachment, etc. in Nirvana Shatakam and see if you are that, or if you are different from it. Recognize that there is a subject that sees it and an object that is
seen. If you see something, you can’t
be that.
Feel the corollary question emerge along with the negation statement, “Is that true? Am I not that?” Is this your "deepest" truth? The negation then morphs into an inquiry.
As a seemingly incredible statement is made regarding a closely held belief, relationship or object, your mind will resist the prospect. This opens the way for deepening the inquiry, and loosening and ultimately letting go of this attachment, which is not the same as pushing the object away. The focus is on attachment, not on renunciation. One can become attached to renunciation.
Feel the corollary question emerge along with the negation statement, “Is that true? Am I not that?” Is this your "deepest" truth? The negation then morphs into an inquiry.
As a seemingly incredible statement is made regarding a closely held belief, relationship or object, your mind will resist the prospect. This opens the way for deepening the inquiry, and loosening and ultimately letting go of this attachment, which is not the same as pushing the object away. The focus is on attachment, not on renunciation. One can become attached to renunciation.
Too often, this “not this, not this” approach
is done almost like a mantra that one hopes
will eventually lead to the truth. Feel the inquiry and the attachments buried within the assertion. End your negations with “Am I
really not this body?” to make the inquiry explicit and more penetrating. Investigate the attachments with the Byron Katie and Sedona approaches described in "Surrendering the 'I', letting go of suffering".
As an example, look at “I am not
these ears or hearing”; see if that is true. As you hear something, are you
what you hear or are you a subject that hears something? If you are the subject
that hears, you are not those ears or hearing. While this is intellectually simple, is it your reality?
As the Nobel Laureate Richard Feynman said, "The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool." Carry “I am not these ears or hearing” a step further by assuming that if that were true for you, how would that feel? Really explore, deeply, that feeling. What would it mean if it was true?
As the Nobel Laureate Richard Feynman said, "The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool." Carry “I am not these ears or hearing” a step further by assuming that if that were true for you, how would that feel? Really explore, deeply, that feeling. What would it mean if it was true?
Investigate with a parallel question, like “Who hears?”. See if there is someone doing the hearing. Watch sounds being processed, see an identification being formed, an image being created and perhaps a story forming. Are you the one hearing? Who is creating the story? Is it necessary for you to be there for hearing to happen?
 |
| Inquiry into "who hears?" with old iPod |
Understanding the illusion that we are this body is critically important. If this is not understood, you will not move beyond most "self-referential thoughts". In my own case, the page turned, and self-referential thoughts stopped, as i was working on the statement "I am not this body" while doing a vinyasa/yoga posture flow.
 |
| Where is this? Where are you? |
On this "Direct Path", it is all about persistence. Just persist, and persist and persist.
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