Inquiry Into I

Byron Katie form inquiries.

Statement > 1. Is it true? > 2. Can you absolutely know it is true? > 3. What happens when you believe that thought? > 4. Who or what would you be without the thought? > Turnarounds (to its opposite etc).


There is an I

1. Yes, certainly seems true (most of the time).

2. No, cannot absolutely know that it is true. Only an impression.

3. There is something to defend, and I am watching for things to defend from. There is something to uphold, and I am watching for ways to uphold it. Exhaustion, from defending and upholding it. Fear, from needing to protect the I in various ways. Exclusive identity, with its sense of alienation and separation.

4. There is nothing to defend. Just space and whatever happens in the present. Freedom. Liberation. Freedom to engage in whatever comes up or not, depending on the situation. Fluidity. Nothing to hold onto.

5a. There is not an I. (Yes, I know that from own experience, both through inquiry and directly. There is a larger whole beyond seer and seen, and it is right here now - even if it is not 100% clear to itself.)


I need to have an I

1. Yes, seems so (that's what I am used to).

2. No, cannot absolutely know that it is true.

3. Fear of loosing the I. Resistance to loose the I. Holding back whenever it seems to move in that direction. Become a little manic if it seems to slip away, trying to recreate a sense of it.

4. Freedom to let it go. No need to hold onto it.

5a. I don't need to have an I. (Yes, what happened over several weeks last fall shows that quite clearly. And others who apparently live without an I do quite well.)

5b. I need to not have an I. (Yes, that is what is needed. What is needs to awaken to itself as that which is beyond seer and seen, and any other polarity. It needs to find its own ground, from and within which anything and everything happens.)


Living without an I is impersonal and cold

1. Yes (a part of me have seen it that way for a while).

2. No, cannot know that for sure. Actually, it is probably not accurate.

3. Resisting the nondual, the final "complete" awakening as that beyond seer and seen, and any other polarity. Stay just below it, at F9 (in KW's terminology), in the safety of an "I" as the Witness, as formless awareness.

4. Freedom to allow the clarity to emerge, allowing what is to experience itself as beyond seer and seen, and any other polarity.

>> 5a. Living with an I is impersonal and cold. (Yes, it is. It creates a separation, and I and other. It brings resistance and a sense of alienation.)

> 5b. Living without an I is not impersonal and cold. (Yes, I sense that is true, and have seen the warmth of some who is living from no I.)

>>> 5c. Living without an I is personal and warm. (Yes, it can be deeply personal and warm. In fact, this is where we can allow ourselves to go completely into the personal and warm, because there is nothing to resist).