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April 8, 2011

The Most Fascinating and Problematic Question In The World.

“The inquiry ‘who am I’ turns the mind introvert and makes it calm… When we turn the mind inwards, God manifests as the inner consciousness.”~ Ramana Maharshi

“We do our best not to give birth to enlightened mind, which is very terrifying and painful. We would have to pass something from us, really give something, and we don’t really want to surrender to that degree… We don’t want to let the product of our work become something outside of us; we don’t want to cut the umbilical cord. The fear is that in giving birth and cutting the umbilical cord, you will become an insignificant person… We don’t want to go through that, in fact, we become resentful about it.

Why? Why on earth? That’s like a mantra. It’s like Ramana Maharshi’s teaching of ‘Who am I?’ If you regard that as a question, then you miss the point. ‘Who am I’ in your practice of meditation should be regarded as a statement. If we regard ‘Who am I’ as a statement, then we begin to open something. Why, why, why. Then you are not starved, but have already become rich.

There are two kinds of approaches. ‘Why’ as a question  is an expression of starvation. ‘Why’ as a statement expresses the mentality of richness.” ~from Orderly Chaos by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche

“Who am I,” with Alan Watts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8PLp_RX7Ow

Equally as impressive as Mr. Watts, is Jiddu Krishnamurti’s take on the question. This is a must see video!

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