Just yesterday, I was flipping through the "Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle, and I was pleasantly surprised to find a meditation technique prescribed by him that resonates the methodology of the self-enquiry technique, recommended by Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi.
Eckhart Tolle in chapter 7 of his book "The Power of Now" recommends a meditation technique wherein we meditate on being aware of the entire inner energy field of our body, without any visual image, and simply focus on the inner feeling. By merging with the energy field of the inner body, there would be no longer be a duality of the observer and the observed, and in theprocess, we would merge with Being or the Self. To me, this technique is akin to the self-enquiry technique.
The self-enquiry technique explained in the book No Mind- I am the Self, by David Godman reads as follows:
"According to both Sri Ramana and Sri Lakshmana the "I" thought, rises from the Heart, identifies itself with the body and creates the illusion of an individuaal Self, by identifying itself with all the body's thoughts and perceptions. If one can focus all one's attention on the "I" thought that is, on the inner feeling of "I" or "I am", ignoring all other mental activities, then the 'I " thought will stop identifying with thoughts and perceptions and start to subside into its source, the Heart. When it has completely subsided into the Heart, the illusion of the individual self vanishes.
A careful reading of the above techniques suggests that both Eckhart Tolle and Bhagavan are suggesting holding on to the inner feeling of "I" or the "Inner Body". The difference seems only in the terminology and semantics.
Eckhart Tolle in chapter 7 of his book "The Power of Now" recommends a meditation technique wherein we meditate on being aware of the entire inner energy field of our body, without any visual image, and simply focus on the inner feeling. By merging with the energy field of the inner body, there would be no longer be a duality of the observer and the observed, and in theprocess, we would merge with Being or the Self. To me, this technique is akin to the self-enquiry technique.
The self-enquiry technique explained in the book No Mind- I am the Self, by David Godman reads as follows:
"According to both Sri Ramana and Sri Lakshmana the "I" thought, rises from the Heart, identifies itself with the body and creates the illusion of an individuaal Self, by identifying itself with all the body's thoughts and perceptions. If one can focus all one's attention on the "I" thought that is, on the inner feeling of "I" or "I am", ignoring all other mental activities, then the 'I " thought will stop identifying with thoughts and perceptions and start to subside into its source, the Heart. When it has completely subsided into the Heart, the illusion of the individual self vanishes.
A careful reading of the above techniques suggests that both Eckhart Tolle and Bhagavan are suggesting holding on to the inner feeling of "I" or the "Inner Body". The difference seems only in the terminology and semantics.
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