Spiritual Enquiry

In classical Tantra and Yogic tradition self-enquiry plays a fundamental role. It has always been a part of the tantra yoga path and refers to the practices around examining the true nature of the self, usually starting with the question Who Am I? This is an essential part of the cleansing process where we let go of our limiting beliefs and illusions of dualistic appearances, when we come to realise there is no solid, inherent self, where we let go of ego-grasping and come to recognise our fully awakened wisdom.

Sri Ramana Maharshi and Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj are seen as the great modern proponents of self-enquiry. Rupert Spira and David Godman and many others continue the tradition.

When taken into a coaching or group setting this can be seen as a form of spiritual enquiry through a spiritual (transpersonal) model. Here the aspirant / Tantrika / coaching client travels through various stages of enquiry from the story, the feelings, making sense of it (in the mind), to an embodied felt-sense, and an integration of deeper wisdom, where we bring awareness to that which is beyond words.

The Path offered through Pink Tantra Towards Awakening is in line with the three stages of The Shiva Sutras and The Yoga Sutras, including self-enquiry in relation to personality and behavioural coaching, mindful spiritual enquiry, and deepening self-enquiry.

Below are three key stages. (1) Through the coaching process we come to better know ourself (raise self-awareness), utilising DISC personality / behavioural based enquiry. (2) Through mindful spiritual enquiry we start to decondition ourselves (the Yamas), and recondition ourselves (the Niyamas). (3) Through deepening self-enquiry, we come to a questioning of belief patterns through dharana and dhyana to reach samadhi.

Stage one (working with the mind to raise self-awareness):

Coaching is about supporting you, the client / spiritual aspirant, to develop and grow. This might be related to a specific theme or set of beliefs that are no longer serving you in your life or journey. Clients / spiritual aspirants might be dealing with themes such as:

·       Confidence building.

·       Feeling stuck in your life or journey.

·       Identity issues.

·       Asking for what you want.

·       Saying no and knowing your boundaries.

Coaching is therefore based on the 'here and now', where the coach helps facilitate your learning. Coaching can transform your relationships to yourself and to others. Through the sessions we are likely to clarify your value base, key priorities and likely barriers, to take right action to address the identified issues and barriers.

“Pink makes you question what you thought you knew and drives you to think new thoughts to take new approaches.”  Keiran.

DISC (personality profiling / psychometrics) is a great tool as a starting point to open up self-enquiry to shift beyond the monkey mind, boost self-perception and change behaviour. The emphasis is on asking how we want to live our life, what does right action mean for us, and how do we go about living them to find a balance between all the various aspects that at times seem to crowd our thinking, releasing us from our default habitual modes of behaviour. Symbolically we move from the monkey mind to the higher mind as portrayed by Hanuman, the divine monkey who shows courage, loyalty, strength and selfless action.

DISCover the Power of You published through John Hunt Publishing Ltd, ISBN: 978-1-78535-591-2, offers a good place to start if you are keen to learn more about yourself, your personality and how your personality might be impacting on your life, your journey, and the stories you might be telling yourself.

Stage two (working through mindful spiritual enquiry to come into harmony with the universe):

Mindfulness is about how we relate to our self, others, our past and how we bring that past into the here and now, for better mastery of the self for a better present and future. It might be that the coach can call on breathing, relaxation or introductory meditative techniques to help clients manage stress, reduce anxiety or build confidence in the moment. These techniques we know can contribute to a reshaped or reframed perspective, which can then have a knock on effect and benefit in aiding attention, decision making and improved wellbeing over time. One of the key points here is that mindfulness is about staying connected with the present (in the moment).

"I have been to many, many retreats and after 3 days or so I get to the point you have taken me to in 30 minutes. Absolutely amazing." Sco.t

The Yamas are the principles of self-regulation to de-programme our mental patterns. They consist of (Ahimsa) where we neutralise our impulses towards aggression, (Satya) where we bring clarity to eliminating untruths and lies we tell to others and ourselves, (Asteya) where we let go of wanting what others have and trusting that the universe will give us what we need, (Brahmacharya) where we align our creative force with the greater intention of Brahman, our individual expression of universal intelligence, and (Aparigraha) where our desires and attachments no longer own us.

The Niyamas are the principles of self-training to help us reprogramme our mind to attune to universal intelligence. They consist of (Saucha) the cleansing of the mind and body, so we have a pure and easeful relationship with our lived and surroundings, (Santosha) where we accept what is, accepting challenges as our Karma and live in alignment with our Dharma. Our Karma is the experiences in our lives and how we respond to them, and Dharma is the structures of our life (family, culture, natural skill set, etc). (Tapas) is where we bring discipline and surrender to a focussed mind for practice and spiritual evolution, (Svadyaya) is self-awareness and deep investigation, and (Ishvara pranidhana) is devotion and surrender to the divine, universal intelligence.

"Your facilitator-ship is wonderful because it is so well paced and mindful." Steve

Stage three (self-enquiry, dharana and dhyana to step beyond the mind):

Self-enquiry is scrutiny of oneself. It is perceived as a form of devotion to the divine within you. It is also a form of Jnana (knowledge of oneself). It is the route to self-realisation through gaining self-awareness and eliminating self-ignorance. This is where we question ‘I’ and ‘I AM’ and all limiting self-identifications to eliminate our ‘I-thoughts’.

Dharana is concentration, one-pointedness, where there is no awareness of anything other than the object of perception. Practices such as Trataka and Shambavi Mudra are good for developing one-pointed concentration.

Dhyana is when dharana becomes uninterrupted, continuous. At the same time you are also aware you are practicing dhyana. Both aspects must be present for this to be dhyana.

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