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In sacred inquiry we are looking to evoke experiential insight and wisdom, not merely to collect more information or form yet more beliefs with which to delude ourselves. Sacred inquiry is not simply about finding simplistic answers to life’s big questions; it is about transforming our consciousness so that we are living the answers,
not simply knowing them as pieces of information. The state of our consciousness determines our entire experience of being, as well as what we are capable of knowing and perceiving. Sacred inquiry aims at the transformation of consciousness, for consciousness is perhaps the biggest mystery of all. And yet we take consciousness for granted, rarely stopping to notice or acknowledge, much less appreciate, that consciousness is the one indispensable ingredient in our entire experience of being. Contrary to our most basic human assumption, we are not human beings who possess consciousness—we are consciousness having a very human experience, with all the ups and downs, triumphs and tragedies that this entails.
Your big life questions belong simultaneously to you and to the totality of existence functioning through and as you. The essence of your consciousness turns out to be the essence of all consciousness.
It is using inquiry as a tool to reveal and ultimately transcend our preconceived ideas and opinions so that our consciousness more accurately reflects truth and reality—every question we have arises from within a context of preconceived assumptions, beliefs, and opinions. This is to say that our questions reveal as much about ourselves and our point of view as they do about the subject of our inquiry. Sacred inquiry is not simply about looking for answers to life’s big questions; it is questioning the very assumptions and beliefs that comprise the foundation from which our questions and challenging life issues arise.
We must be willing to suspend the compulsive drive of the ego for quick and convenient answers to our deepest questions and be willing to live in the creative tension between the known and the unknown. This creative tension, when deeply relaxed into, reveals itself to be the source energy of insight and revelation. As counterintuitive as it sounds, we come to greater insight by a willingness to not know—the greatest light is always found in the darkest region of our silent confusion. To sink all the way down into the unknown within you is the way to awaken the greatest leaps of insight and clarity.
Ever since the modern technological revolution has unfolded over the last fifty years, we are all awash, even drowning, in a world of information. But while more information has allowed us to change the world for better and for worse, it has not transformed our consciousness at anything remotely like the speed with which it has transformed human culture and the visible world. This is because information helps one create better models and descriptions of things, allowing us to manipulate material reality, but it does not free consciousness from its own psychological prisons. Sacred inquiry is using the power of focused attention and curiosity in order to spark greater insight and experiential understanding. It is a way of using the mind in order to go beyond the mind.
My aim is not primarily to answer the question as much as it is an attempt to spark insight from within the questioner. For insight is not only the arising of useful information from a formerly unknown dimension of the psyche; it is also a visceral shift of perspective. It is this shift of perspective, or consciousness, that is the true well-source of insightful understanding.
What this means for me as a teacher is that whenever I am responding to a student’s question, I am both responding to where the student is, in their current level of understanding, as well as opening an avenue for them to take the next step to a new and deeper level of insight.
That is why, with the dawning of enlightenment, there is nothing to attain or grab hold of—there is only the truth as it appears and functions at each and every moment, both in and out of the game, serenely unattached yet fully and intimately engaged in the dynamic now. It is to see through the eyes of eternity while also being deeply and intimately present as the totality of life at each moment. In this sense, enlightenment is the ultimate paradox. It includes, transcends, and contains the dynamic opposites that comprise all of life.
This requires that you not simply be a passive spectator to the contents of this book, but rather be an active participant in the dynamic relationship of sacred inquiry itself. For inquiry is a relationship between your deepest and most heartfelt questions and the silent expanse of the unknown within you.
AI Summary
Sacred Inquiry by Adyashanti presents key insights from the contemplative tradition. The 10 passages above capture the essential teachings.
Core Themes:
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Key Passages: Highlights 1, 3, and 10 are particularly representative.
This entry was generated from Readwise highlights. Expand with additional context as appropriate.