The Tao of Dark Sages - Chapter 3, Part 5

The Tao of Dark Sages
by Scott Bradley

Sue-tzu, some teachers recommend asking yourself, ‘Who am I?” as a means to awakening. Do you think this can be helpful?

What do you understand the object of this exercise to be, Scott-tzu?

When one asks the question, he discovers that he is the asker. And because the asker is pure subjectivity he knows himself in not knowing himself. Something like that.

(Laughter)

“True words seem paradoxical.”i Let’s not scoff because we don’t understand. And above all let’s not engage ourselves in endless debate comparing one teaching against another, one approach to awakening against another. We can only debate ideas. We can never debate reality.

The goal of this exercise is to realize the truth ‘Thou art That.’ To experience your awareness as The Awareness, what could be more wonderful than this? Since Awareness is, as you say, pure subjectivity, it cannot be known and can only be experienced as pure subjectivity. The split-mind, as some call it, can only understand by means of a subject-object duality. Realization of I Am as pure subjectivity can only come when the self is transcended.

If you're interested in reading more from this series by Scott Bradley, go here.