Practice with the Who Am I question

"Know thyself and thou wilt know the Universe and the Gods"

PYTHAGORAS Inscription of the Temple of Delphi.

If you undertake serious inner work, your perception of who you are will change.

It's a very subtle process however and difficult to describe. 

You do not lose your ego or become disassociated from who you were.  If you feel that way you can always take a break.

You simply become free from any form of labeling.  From others, but especially from yourself.  Also you don't experience any barriers between self and other. When you speak with someone, you will feel almost no distance.  This process is called Self-Knowledge.  It engenders tremendous compassion for other beings. 

This is the objective Self Knowledge of Pythagoras.

One of the keys to Self Knowledge is to meditate on the phrase "Who am I?"

This question is at the heart of Advaita Vedanta, or non-dual Vedanta (a form of raja yoga) that I have practiced.

To think "who am I'" is to both affirm your connection to the "Big Self" (God, if you will) and also negate the small self or ego, personal individuality.

The big self could be everything in the present moment I perceive as 'other'. The small self is the 'me', my thoughts, feelings.

To negate the small self we say "Not This, Not This".

To affirm the larger self we say "I am That".

This is paradoxical and makes no sense to the rational mind. I wish I could explain it in that context but anyway this is nothing if not to defeat the tyranny of the rational or subjective mind.

Greater objectivity is our ultimate goal.

To experience an enlightenment, is to see oneself from outside for a second, to get an objective glimpse. Such rare moments are considered "grace" in the Christian and other traditions.

In that moment the "I" is transferred into external reality. One perceives for a short time, that one is "all that". Really!

Using the question "Who am I?" is probably the single most powerful technique you can use.

It may sound silly to ask "Who am I?" ...

Some may say "of course I know who I am", or feel that admit that would be to show weakness or mental imbalance or that we are not omniscient.

The attitude of "not-knowing", or wanting to discover new horizons is exactly what we need, if we are interested on enlightenment. Admitting our ignorance and lack of knowledge is a healthy first giant step toward awareness.

If are at all desirous of self-knowledge the question "Who Am I?" beckons to us like a Mt. Everest. It is unattainable and dangerous. Not meant for the faint hearted. As, it will strip away all of our masks and leave us naked. (but not-defenseless!)

We'll if we are interested in Spiritual Discovery, then we need to enter the cloud of unknowing. In other words, in this moment in time... I feel ... " I do not know my Self (as in the wider Self connected to all) I wish to know, I ask "Who am I?"

If I am empty and open container, perhaps this "Big Self" will fill my consciousness. If I forget, to practice, perhaps the question "Who am I?" will also remind me.

Hint, stay very connected to your body, while practicing.

When we say "I" we do not mean the small self, the ego, our persona, or what we commonly identify with as "me" in everyday life..  What is meant here is while the average man in the street ... would say "I'm a lawyer, "I'm a janitor" or something, we are in fact questioning that, all of our identifications, all of our labeling.

The average person will never openly admit "I don't know who I am". The question is very threatening. It undermines our very existence (of our ego and limited self. But that is what I am saying we have to do, if we want to know ourselves in the Socratic sense of "Know Thyself!"

Actually there is no danger in this practice.  Because if done properly then several things will happen:

• Negative Impulses are flushed out in the open

• There is a process watching and finally letting go

• Then healing occurs!

• More energy becomes available to the practitioner

• Understanding deepens
  
  We have to start by asking "Who Am I?" and being honest about not knowing and asking again and again ... We conjure up the Cloud of Unknowing. (Thomas a' Kempis). After we enter the state of not knowing or "Don't Know Mind" (to quote a famous Zen master) we start opening up. We become conscious of lots of activity going on inside and outside of ourselves for perhaps the first time. We feel really alive.
  
  If we push ourselves to the limit of non-identification then eventually the real Self dawns ... the secret is IT MUST!! I can't really describe what that is like but in that Real Moment our Being becomes identified with an aspect of the Eternal and Infinite Now .... Because it is the Self, our true, real identity.  Once that occurs then one enters the stream and many many doors will open up.

Be careful how you present yourself in the outside world.  Always do what is appropriate and of the highest standard.