Sincerity
Sincerity is one of the essentials for inquiry.
But it can also go awry. In my own case, I have noticed a sincerity in wanting to find no "I" coming up stronger over the last few weeks. So strong in fact that it eclipses the sincerity of the inquiry itself. It becomes a goal "out there", and merely going through the motions of inquiry as a key to "get there".
Last fall, prior to the "popping" of no "I", there was a sincere inquiry (using the Douglas Harding experiments) and also a sincerity in sitting practice, aimed at what is right here and not any particular goal beyond that. There was a sincerity in the inquiry and a genuine interest and curiosity about what is right here now.
And even this, remembering back to what was - the previous key that opened the magic gate, is another way this all goes awry. There is an image of what was, and then trying to recreate that here now, all with the purpose of reaching a goal somewhere "out there", in another state and somewhere in the future.
All I can do is to explore what is, right here and now, with sincerity, curiosity, honesty and a sense of openness, of sincerely not knowing what will be found. Not because this will get me somewhere, but because it is really I that I've got. It is all there is.
There is only what is here right now. And there is only not knowing.