Self-Inquiry Into Awareness

We have so much knowledge of the external world, but how much do we know of our own internal universe? What is this thing that we call I, me, or myself? In this practice, Saqib will guide you through a journey of self-inquiry to find yourself and finally, reaching a place of pure awareness. The background music is just right for the kind of ambience needed for this meditation. If you like this practice, then check out Saqib's course here on Insight Timer: "Non-Duality."

Transcript

I welcome you to this meditation.

I am your guide Saqib and today I will guide you in experiencing and understanding your consciousness and awareness.

What is consciousness?

What is awareness?

What is this thing which we call I,

Me,

Myself?

When you say I,

Me or myself,

Where do you feel it?

Is this feeling in the body?

Or is it outside the body?

Let's find it.

I request you to sit in a comfortable position with your back straight.

Make sure your back is neither too stiff nor too bent.

A relaxed body with a straight back is ideal for this meditation.

Now gradually close your eyes.

Be aware of your surroundings.

The air around you.

The air touching your skin.

The smell in the air.

The weight of your body on the chair or mattress.

And listen to the sounds around you.

Let's first bring our attention to our breathing.

Inhale through your nose.

Be aware and watch your breath as it touches your nostrils,

Travels through your mouth,

Through your windpipe and into your lungs.

And as you exhale,

Watch it and be aware of it travelling up from your lungs,

Through your windpipe and finally out of your mouth.

Remember to watch your breath.

Be aware of it.

Who is it that is watching the breath?

The thing that you call I,

Me or myself,

What is it?

Where is it?

Let's start finding it in our body first,

Starting with the legs.

Check if this feeling of I,

Me or myself is in the legs or not.

Is this feeling in your stomach or chest?

Is this feeling of I,

Me or myself in your arms or hands?

Is it in your neck?

Is it in your face or head?

Is this feeling of I,

Me or myself behind your eyes?

Is this feeling in your brain?

Or is this whole body of yours just a thought?

Is this whole existence which you call life just a collection of thoughts?

Is this I,

Me or myself the thought itself?

Or is it something even beyond the thoughts?

Let's see if you can separate your awareness from your thoughts.

Just notice if there are any thoughts in your mind right now about anything.

Imagine these thoughts as bubbles floating in front of you with each thought representing one bubble.

Who is it that is watching these thoughts?

Pop these bubbles of thoughts one by one with a slight touch of your finger just in your imagination.

Now that your mind is clear,

Sit in this pure awareness for some time and just observe your body as if you are external to your body and can observe it externally.

Observe if there are any feelings in your body right now.

Now bring your attention back to your surroundings.

The air around you.

The smell in the air.

The air on your skin.

The weight of your body on the chair or floor.

And listen to the sound around you.

And now wiggle your toes and move your hands.

And gradually open your eyes.

You are now more aware of yourself.

What did you find about this thing called I,

Me or myself?

I would love to know your thoughts.

Take care and have a wonderful week!

Reviews

Grounding and centering. A beautiful practice. Thank you for this gift 🙏

I loved the guidance through each body Chakra to discover where my soul connects to "I am"
It worked for me! 🙏

AMAZING! I was able to go to places I hadn’t been before. Thank you!

Saqib.. immediately in the question, I .... in my heart, me ... in my belly, my arms, my fingers. Myself.. in my brain
I surprisingly observe internal from outside, but feel with those parts and random connections depending upon the landing emotion
I'll spend much time contemplating this today. Thank you for this

When finding me, it made me relize my long memory, back to a younger me.

So peaceful but I think I need to learn more about clearing my chakras

I found that the I, I experience, is awareness. After I got to awareness and observation of thoughts, I saw images of water, flowing over rocks. Are images different than thoughts? Thanks for this calming practice.

Wonderful. Pure awareness even for a moment... to moment ... to moment ❤

When you first asked where I, me, myself is located, I felt it immediately. In the center of my chest. My heart. Lovely. Thank you

Wow! You are truly a master of self awareness and and your ability to reach down to this place inside of me and pull it out is astounding! I wish I could hug you! Thank you so very much for your teaching. You have made such a positive and powerful impact in my mind, body and spirit. If we had the opportunity to be in each other’s lives I know that you would be like a son to me! I love you dear friend and I wish for you all that you desire. 💜

When I went through the exercise it was easy to separate my body from me. It is just a vessel but an important one. I need it to function in this world but my mind and heart the “me” is something very different. Thank you for this guidance and meditation.

Very insightful inquiry. The awareness grit as if it is on the outside looking inor through the body, at least for me😊🙏☮️🕉

Beautiful 🙏🏻 My thoughts were expecting to locate the ‘I’ somewhere in my body. However, that wasn’t the case. It was everywhere and yet nowhere. I will need to come back to this again. 🙏🏻

Thank you Saqib! Blessings

Very well thought out, sometimes I get confused when he says to watch the thoughts, and then say who is watching, isn’t that back to a subject and object? But truly appreciate this, thank you

I enjoy listening to you Saqib. I didn’t think this was long enough to be able to do what you asked? I just can’t seem to grasp the I?

Wonderful experience thank you

I found it in my brain, not my body. loved the self inquiry questions. Will come back several times to continue to explore my answers. Namaste 🙏

You have a beautiful voice, Saqib. Your words and tone are wonderfully calming. 🙏 Namaste ❤️

Powerful practice...
Best part was the time of bursting thoughts like flying bubbles.