Self-inquiry, November 1, 2023

Self-inquiry with Jackie McInley

Wednesday, November 1, 2023

Esquimalt Gorge Park

Victoria, BC

 

We were again fortunate enough to have Jackie with us to guide us through the sometimes complicated and challenging process of self-inquiry or “dialogue” intended to shed light on the fundamental spiritual question “Who am I?” Jackie started the session by asking the thirteen participants (all included) if any of them were carrying a question which they would very much like to explore in the group context. Her question stimulated further questions and comments that seemed (to the writer) fairly complex and not at all easy to comprehend. The writer perhaps failed to make enough intelligible notes to form a basis for a meaningful report of what went on in the meeting. He did his best.

Towards the end of the meeting the author remarked that it seemed very important in such a dialogue for participants to be “vulnerable” and open in their expression of what their experience was when they looked at the thoughts and feelings that were arising within themselves. Would we be willing to expose our concepts and ideas in a way that could clear assumptions and beliefs from the mind and dissolve them, leaving a non-conceptual state of “being” rather than intellectual and conceptual “truths” which were asserting some kind of knowledge?

There was some discussion of what it means to “touch the unknown”, sometimes mentioned by Krishnamurti. One person asserted that what is required is complete silence of the mind. Jackie regularly reminded us that the most subtle concepts are still concepts and are providing more content to consciousness rather than moving into a space beyond content which might be called “emptiness”. We all agreed that these things can be very challenging to talk about and to explore in a way that produces freedom rather than a more subtle expression of thought, which is always limited. (Even this very attempt to describe the process of the inquiry seems limited).

An attempt was made to suggest that the essence of self-inquiry is to be aware moment to moment of whatever arises in the thoughts, feelings, and sensations, including all evaluations of what arises and all assertions or rejections of what is being experienced. The “seeing” is the insight that is itself the transformation which is bringing about the necessary change in us that Krishnamurti is passionately wishing for.

DB