You Have Arrived...

How should we begin and proceed with the inquiry?

In the beginning, it will take some time to stabilise and merge the attention with the sense of conscious presence - the goal of inquiry. Be willing, at each attempt, to devote twenty or thirty minutes for this work. Start by holding on only to the sense of being or 'I am-self,' to the exclusion of other thoughts.

Thoughts and feelings will swim up and the attention will tend to drift off with them. Don't identify or fight with these tendencies, don't judge them. Adopt an impersonal attitude, by simply observing their play or movement without involvement, whilst holding onto or remaining as the intuition 'I am.' Watch the tendency to lapse into thinking. Hold onto being, only.

However many times the attention wanders off, keep bringing it back to presence. Don't begin the inquiry as yet. I call this stabilising or taming the wild-horse mind. Gradually, the mind, when denied the food of attention, belief and interest, will begin settling down by itself. There will then arise a feeling of increased space, clarity and peace as the attention stabilise, and the sense of presence becomes more pronounced. This is a state of natural stillness and joy; healthy being.