Who's On First?

Who's On First?
by Shawn Tedrow

I don't know who was "first" to ask about this "who", Sri Ramana Maharshi (who am I) or Abbott and Costello (Who's on First)..... (No pun intended or maybe there is pun intended). From what I understand Sri Ramana Maharshi wasn't his real name and who knows, maybe Abbott and Costello could have been stage names. What if all of these men's true names were who? Who was the first that asked about this who. Right? Or is that not an answer but a question? The dog is chasing its tail barking who am I and who's on first.

Now I know what to say when someone more spiritual than I standing so tall asks me, who is the one asking or observing? I will tell him or her, Who is.

Even though I like the general direction where the question "who am I" postures our mind, I never could embrace this spiritual exercise offered by Ramana. It is not that I think it is religious heresy; it just doesn't do it for me. I like the general idea of asking who am I because in doing so we go find out who we are not. I am not my name, Shawn. I am not a plumber. I am not my body (thank God!).

I think in theory the "who am I" exercise puts you through a process of elimination of what I am not until we peel it all off and get to the core of, "I am that". I think that is what this Ramana spiritual exercise is about. I am not really sure though. Like I said, It just doesn't do it for me, and I haven't been there-done that to speak with any kind of authority.

I think Abbott and Costello's hilarious skit about who is on first can be viewed as a type of koan exercise as well. Besides having Who on first, there are names given to other baseball player positions. Each name has a Taoist feeling to it with a Zen bolt-lightning effect causing the mind to freeze up. The following are the names of some of the players:

First Baseman = Who
Second Baseman = What
Third Baseman = I Don't Know
Left Fielder = Why
Center Fielder = Because
Pitcher = Tomorrow
Catcher = Today
Shortstop = I Don't Care

The shortstop's name of I Don't Care is not given until the end of the routine and the right fielder is never identified, except on a board game created about Who's on First. The right fielder was then named "Nobody".

I am not sure, but I think you could probably use both methods, Sri Ramana Maharshi’s and Abbott and Costello’s and get the same results. If you reach the goal, eventually you will end up with a dog's tail in your mouth.

You can check out Shawn's other musings here.