Inquiry and related practices

While inquiry and related practices can be some of the most potent doorways into realizing and directly experiencing non-duality and our true nature, these practices can also be difficult and confusing when not properly understood. This guide will attempt to present and clarify some of the finer points of working with these practices in service of awakening and liberating realization.

What are these practices?

Inquiry, gōng’àn (or kōan), huatou (or wato), adhiṭṭhāna and waiting-and-interrupting are a group of dharma doors that all share a common thread. Each leads to experience shifting, and understanding arising, due to a specific way of approaching spiritual practice: calling out for a response beyond the conscious mind that seems to be “me” and then observing what happens.

Though these practices can take many forms, a simple example would be to try interacting with the mind and body experience as if they are just “room-mates”.

Ask internally for a room-mate to respond in some way, then wait and see what the response is.
- For instance, when looking for a missing set of keys we can ask into the mind: “Where ARE those keys?” while genuinely hoping for any help that might be provided. Then see if any memories, impulses or ideas come up about where or how to look for them.

While it may seem silly, many of us find that we do things like this intuitively at times. We may not have realized the significance of what is taking place in a scenario like this. Notice how this natural way of interacting with the mind can go mostly unrecognized even though it can take place quite instinctually and effortlessly and may already regularly show up in life from time to time.

Notice how even this simple example still contains the same quality, or approach, as mentioned above for inquiry based practices, interacting with something that is treated as beyond “me” and a type of “listening” or observing for response.

Inquiry

Let’s begin this guide to these methods by looking at inquiry practice. When practicing with inquiry, it is helpful to first set supportive conditions if possible. Once more skill and familiarity with inquiry work are gained, it can be easily employed in less ideal circumstances as well. (This holds true for most of the other methods in this guide as well.)

Set up a favorable space for meditation if possible.
- A clean area where we will not be disturbed or interrupted during practice is often a good choice if available.
Place the body in a sustainable, stable and alert posture.
- It is beneficial to choose a posture that lets us forget about the body as much as possible during the practice period while still remaining alert. A comfortable posture with an upright spinal alignment can be very helpful. (Please refer to the ‘7 Point Posture’ section of the Meditation Starters Guide.)
Establish a state of friendliness and tranquility.
- Fill and suffuse the mind with feelings of friendliness and relax. Do this with a generous intention to benefit all beings. Take your time and rest in this feeling for 5-10 minutes or more.

Now that more favorable conditions are in place, we turn to the practice itself. Inquiry is best employed by asking with genuine interest and a wish for response. So once we are ready we might begin by asking into our current experience, “What seems to feel like me right now?”. (Ask this question with that same feeling you might ask aloud “Where ARE those keys?” during the search for lost keys example mentioned above.)

Then without further thought simply sit and observe the stream of experience. Notice with a wide angle lens whatever comes up in response to the question. (Examples might be: a feeling in my head, impulses, sensations in the chest, thoughts of ____, the feeling of observing, etc.) Inquiry practice of this sort is not generally used to get a single answer, but instead to sort of experience what type of answers arise, again and again.

As soon as we have detected distraction or mind wandering simply repeat the inquiry process again. Ask “What seems to feel like me right now?”, then, with great curiosity, rest back, noticing anything and everything that feels like it may be part of an answer to that question. Don’t be afraid to be wrong, just keep going and keep learning more. Over time wisdom arises from this process.

The rhythm of practice is:

Genuinely ask the question internally (and aloud if desired), then patiently notice and experience anything that seems like it answers the question.
Once mind starts to wander, get bored, sleepy, distracted, frustrated, etc., just start the cycle over again.
Repeat this for the duration of the practice period. Ideally we spend the majority of practice time in the phase of noticing and experiencing the potential answers to the inquiry.

Here are a few effective inquiry questions that can be used:

What feels like me right now?
What is it that experiences?
Who am I?
Where is the knower?
Who is reciting the Buddha’s name? (Reciting the Buddha’s name can be replaced by the current activity)

The wording is very specific, so to begin with please try using one of the examples above. As practice deepens the understanding of the question will evolve naturally, as will the answers. As this process becomes more tangible and intuitive, continue regular inquiry practice not only during dedicated meditation periods, but all throughout life. There is a skill that strengthens over time in asking into, and then patiently observing mind and experience.

Inquiry practice can not only be used to explore experience, it can also be used to evoke a previously experienced realization or release of mind. These two facets of inquiry can support each other. At times we may ask the question to explore the current experience, at other times we may see the mind getting hung up or taking a habitual answer or view as reality, and so we remind the mind of what has been seen through by evoking the experience through skillful use of a question.

The following are a few things to avoid while practicing inquiry:

Accepting any one answer and stopping the inquiry process
Thinking about what is being experienced
Trying to arrive at the answer through logic or deduction
Thinking or recalling past experiences instead of simply experiencing what is occurring right now

The behaviors listed above may have a place after practice, when we can look back and notice what was experienced or how answers tie in with past experiences. During inquiry practice however, simply ask and experience in the present moment. The less words and intentional thinking present in this process, the better things will work, and the clearer the results will be over time.

If inquiry seems like it is not gaining much traction, or if we feel too sleepy, dull, wound-up or restless to stay with inquiry effectively in the present moment, switch to one of these practices and return to inquiry when conditions seem more favorable.

Buddha name recitation
Mantra
Releasing body and mind into nature

Once skill with inquiry has grown sufficiently, practice begins to span out of more formal practice into the rest of daily life. While riding a bus, standing in line, or walking somewhere we may inquire “What feels like me right now?” and experience what comes up in the midst of these activities. Eventually the skill and process grow so simple and smooth that we may even employ this method while working, talking, sleeping and dreaming.

Gōng’àn and huatou

Gōng’àn and huatou are methods perhaps most deeply developed by, and primarily found within Chán, Zen and related traditions (though some other spiritual traditions contain similar methods as well).

A gōng’àn often takes the form of a story, dialogue or riddle that can grind the discriminating mind to a halt and which can cause a certain feeling of doubt, wondering, or not being sure to arise.

A huatou (sometimes translated as “before words”) is often a short part of a gōng’àn that can be employed to affect mind in much the same way, creating a building feeling of wondering or uncertain curiosity. This in turn brings the mind to a state as it is before words and concepts are added to the experience.

When employing these methods gains momentum, the practitioner becomes fascinated or consumed with the practice, and the discriminating mind, views, perceptions and language spin down and fall away. When enough has fallen away it becomes increasingly clear what is empty or transient, and what remains (mind ground or true nature) is experienced and understood with increasing clarity.

While not always in question form, these methods can be seen as related to inquiry practices because mind is interacted with by asking or dropping the practice method into the mind in a very similar way, then noticing how it responds. The feeling of wondering, being puzzled or waiting to know has a similar dynamic to how the mind responds to being asked a difficult question.

Some examples of this type of practice would be:

A man traveling across a field encountered a tiger. He fled, the tiger after him. Coming to a precipice, he caught hold of the root of a wild vine and swung himself down over the edge. The tiger sniffed at him from above. Trembling, the man looked down to where, far below, another tiger was waiting to eat him. Only the vine sustained him. Two mice, one white and one black, little by little started to gnaw away the vine. The man saw a luscious strawberry near him. Grasping the vine with one hand, he plucked the strawberry with the other. How sweet it tasted!
If you speak, I will hit you 30 times. If you remain silent, I will hit you 30 times. What do you do?
The many return to the one. What does the one return to?

Take one of these riddles and deeply wonder about it repeatedly, not with thoughts or words, but with every fiber of body and mind. Begin to search your own moment to moment experience deeply and repeatedly for what it might mean. If the mind wanders, simply return to searching experience for the possible meaning of the riddle. In intensive practice, become completely consumed by it, accepting no thoughts or mental contents other than attempting to contemplate the riddle directly. The greater the feeling of wondering or uncertainty grows, the greater the potential breakthrough.

It is important to point out that there is no answer that can be looked up, read or told to us that will solve this riddle (in fact doing so may result in having to find a different riddle to use). The practice is not done to solve the riddle. It is the act or process of continually searching experience for the possible meaning that does what it needs to do. Spend time working with it and over time you may find that understanding has grown.

Adhiṭṭhāna

The Pali word adhiṭṭhāna has a variety of meanings. For the purposes of this guide we will orient around the following translations:

Wish
Resolute determination
Calling upon, or prayer

When using adhiṭṭhāna the practitioner calls upon (or out to) something greater than themselves and then works with or awaits the response. Again in this method we realize different aspects of the experience are being clearly seen, treated as, and confirmed as not being me/mine.

Examples of this might include the following:

A practitioner making a powerful wish for a busy mind to calm down, then waiting to see if it does or does not.
Setting a determination at the beginning of a practice period to remain continuously aware of body sensations, and to return to awareness of them should the mind realize it has wandered. The practitioner then rests back and lets the practice period play out.
Calling upon Amitābha Buddha or Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva to unify minds with us, or to aid in teaching or working with an experience and then getting out of the way so that they may do so.

In each of these scenarios, what is called upon is experienced as being not “me” or beyond “me”. For this reason, when a response of some type occurs, it is clear that the response did not come from what seems to be me. Practicing in this way, the different aspects of experience are not seen as personal or under our control. Any thought or feeling of personally or solely producing an outcome through one’s own will or effort is replaced by hoping to request, influence, or set favorable conditions for what has been called out for.

Adhiṭṭhāna tends to be effective as a practice in proportion to the amount of clarity, collected mind and the strength of the determination present when the the adhiṭṭhāna is made. For this reason it may not be an accessible practice for some initially. If this is the case, during periods of more intensive practice it may be undertaken as a practice with more potent results.

Waiting-and-interrupting

Waiting-and-interrupting is a type of practice where the uninvited, habitual way that the mind operates is purposefully interrupted in some way. Once interrupted, the habitual behavior falls to pieces and the mind waits, resting closer to its true nature before another habitual way of operating surfaces uninvited. Repeating this cycle leads to directly experiencing true nature.

This type of practice can be found in Pure Land Buddhist practices, Vajrayāna Buddhism and in the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras.

To practice waiting-and-interrupting:

Begin by maintaining continuous awareness of mind or mental activity.
Patiently wait and observe the behavior of the mind until mind begins to place attention on some aspect of experience (or has already done so).
- This placing of attention will occur without doing so intentionally.
Once certain that the mind has placed attention on some aspect of experience, purposefully interrupt this process. A few ways to do so:
- Say Amitābha or another Buddha’s name aloud or internally.
  - This can be done while visualizing them, or visualizing beautiful bright light during the moment of recitation.
- Suddenly exclaim “Phat!” (pronounced Phet!), “A!” (pronounced Ah!), or “Hut!”.
  - Do so with a sudden energy that startles the mind.
- Use the word “No” or “Not” as a response to the uninvited placing of attention.
  - The syllable “A” can also represent the idea of “not” as in “not that, no not that either”.
Once interrupted, simply relax and do not expend the effort to place attention on anything specific. Rest and let experiencing happen naturally.
- The uninvited attending behavior that was interrupted will spin itself out and fade away.
If/when mind again places attention on some aspect of experience, purposefully interrupt the process again.
Continue to repeat this cycle for the duration of the practice period.

When practicing waiting-and-interrupting, we resolve to simply rest and notice what is occurring. It becomes increasingly clear when the mind decides to act on its own without invitation or without consciously intending for it to do so. When interrupted, this mental behavior fades and falls apart. When interrupted, mind finds its way back towards its true nature. Short visits many times eventually lead to longer visits and greater clarity and understanding.

It is my hope that this guide may help in introducing others to these practices and be of aid in the development of liberating wisdom and realizing the skill of release. It can also be quite helpful to discuss these practices with a spiritual friend or mentor that can effectively guide and point things out that might be important. Please feel free to contact me for guidance, with questions, or to share practice experience.