The Only Journey Is One Within
“It takes courage...to endure the sharp pains of self-discovery rather than choose to take the dull pain of unconsciousness that would last the rest of our lives.”
Nowadays, we have so many tools at our fingertips that allow us to understand who we are at a deeper level. There's the Enneagram, Myers-Briggs, The 5 Love Languages, Landmark Forum, Evolutionary Astrology, and the list goes on...
Personal inquiry is the process of questioning and understanding your habits, behaviors, and patterns in order to cultivate inner-wisdom, humility, and more compassion for yourself and others. It also means thoroughly examining your past and how past experiences have shaped your current level of consciousness.
This practice is all about noticing what you're experiencing in the moment and reflecting on your reactions to life. There's an element of self-policing with regard to maintaining your personal integrity, your boundaries and being a good human.
This is gentle ego-death.
When used with intention, the practice will help to remove the pedestals on which we perch, separate from one another. Conscious awareness as a daily practice helps you identify areas in your personal life and relationships that still need attention, kind communication, and healing. It can also bring about a beautiful sense of divinity and oneness, the deeper you go.
The art of self-questioning occurs naturally when we reach a level of spiritual maturity. In other words, when you're ready, the internal teacher appears!
There is one key area that I have found most helpful in showing me where honest self-inquiry permanently shifts ingrained, and possibly destructive patterns.
It comes in the form of RESISTANCE.
When resistance shows up, it's time to take a deeper look.
Do you have those things in life that are painful for you to look at or hard to take responsibility for? Is there something you know you should do to grow but you just won't do it?
The more we deny those things their equal opportunity to heal and shift, the more we can expect them to surface, time and time again.
Distraction is resistance.
Procrastination is resistance.
Blame is resistance.
Avoidance is resistance.
Inaction is resistance.
We can even resist our very own truth.
But when used as a tool for transformation, resistance gives us the opportunity to tune in and ask ourselves some good questions.
In a self-inquiry process we might ask:
"Why did this resistance arise?"
"What am I avoiding in this situation?"
"Could I be more humble in my approach?"
“Am I ready to change?”
Ask the questions.
Write them in a journal and wait for an answer.
Inquiry breeds clarity and clarity establishes truth.
Check out this short interview with the spiritual leader, Mooji, and his own self-inquiry journey.
And if you want to dive deeper into this transcendent practice, click here for 70 more questions of inquiry.
Once you know who you really are, you can never really forget it. 🙏🏻
In Gratitude,
Dr. Marissa Castello
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