Masterful Contemplation: Inquire to See that Ego has No Existence - 7 April 2016

I read something really beautiful today, which I posted on Facebook also, where Bhagavan said, ‘There is no ego.' It seems like the most obvious thing. It’s what we speak about every day. So, if there is no ego, then…? Is there something to get rid of, something to overcome, something to even transcend? So, there is no ego. And also he said that, ‘And every time we inquire and look for it, we find that it doesn’t exist.' Am I the only one who feels like it’s enormous? Because if there is no ego, then what are we doing? So, in actuality there is no ego, in reality there is no person. That’s why, in the same breath, he says, ‘When we inquire…’ What is the need to inquire then? If there is no person, and in reality, in actuality, there is no ego, then why would you also say, ‘Let’s inquire and see?'

Because although there is no person, there is no ego in reality, in actuality, yet we have this way of believing it to be there, of believing in one that doesn’t exist. Now, the greatest discovery, in no uncertain terms, is that there is no ego. Are we still going to believe the voice that says, ‘But maybe…, but what about this?…, and what about my feelings?…, and what about my entire spiritual journey?’ In a way, yes, but also it’s been a joyous play actually. So are you going to go with Bhagavan’s words and check into and inquire into the reality of what he’s saying? Or are you still going to buy something which the mind is telling you? That is the only seeming choice right now. The only seeming choice, if there is one, is this one.

Are we going to inquire and look? Understand actually what is the meaning of ‘Who am I?’ Is it a question, Who am I? Is it just a question? No. It is an imploration just to look, to inquire. So it is the looking ‘Who am I?’ not the questioning ‘Who am I?’ that is important. You know the meaning, when I say like this? I mean that when it’s just a question, then it’s responded to with an answer. But when it’s a looking for ‘Who am I?’ then it is not just settling for a mental answer. It is actually looking: Who am I… right now? Bhagavan said, 'When we look into this, because we find there are not two of us here, we find that there never has been an ego. Only the Self is here.' Beautiful, isn’t it?

So, if only the Self is here, then where do we need to go looking for it? Nowhere. Just here. And when we look, what do we find? If we have no expectation about what we are supposed to find; let’s keep all expectation aside about what is supposed to be the Self, and let’s look at what is actually here. And that which is here…, is You. That which is aware of the mind and aware of no-mind, aware of thoughts and the space between thoughts. Do You go away? A thought comes, a thought goes. The next thought comes, the next thought goes. In between these two, are you still there, or no? Or do you also go with the thought? Then if you’re still there…, actually look. Is there any change in this One, with the coming and going; whether thought is there or thought is not there? Which part of You also went away with the thought? Is there any part?

Are you not effortlessly here as the Witnessing of these? And in all of this, we see that in the seeming outer world, there are these voices, words, which are heard, there are visuals which are coming and going… Do You go away? When a visual goes away…, or a sound goes away…, or a sensation goes away? Or a taste goes away... Are You not still here in the coming and going of these appearances? Then let’s go further in. Thoughts can come and thoughts can go. With the coming and going of these thoughts, do You also come and go? Or You are just Here? Who is Here in the space between your thoughts? That which witnesses the coming of thought and the going of thought, That is still here even after the thought is gone. You are not resisting any thoughts. You are unaffected, untouched.