Inquiry Practice

Photo by Austin Chan on Unsplash

Inquiry is the practice of inwardly exploring, wondering, investigating, and searching.  In the bible Jesus said, “Seek and you will find.  Knock and the door will be opened.”  Inquiry is an inner seeking and a gentle knocking at the door of our truest self.   

Inquiry is rooted in listening. Deep listening.  Imagine Sherlock Holmes “listening for” the clues, the facts.  In the same way, we can be the private detective of our Self, our Soul.  

Two methods of inquiry that we use in Transformational Listening is (1) the four questions that comes from the process that Byron Katie calls The Work and (2) Alan Seale’s Four Levels of Awareness and Engagement.  

The Four Questions

The Four Questions are best used when we have a strong recurrent thought such as, “I shouldn’t be….” or “I should be…or ”they are.…” or “I am…”  usually followed by a judgment. 

When we see that we are stuck in a thought–it keeps recurring–we can use these four steps to inquire into our experience to shift out of the stuck place and free up space to be who we actually want to be.

I will practice with my current recurrent thought.  I have been having tech issues for the past 24 hours and I have had to reset a lot of things AND some of the things that are working now no longer work.  I have been troubleshooting.  I had wanted to spend this day writing and reading.  I feel very disappointed that I used my time in something that seems very unfulfilling to me. 

This morning was a giant waste of my time.

The four questions are: 

Is it true? 

Can you be sure that it is true?  

What happens when you engage that thought?  

How/Who are you without that thought? 

Okay.  Here I go.

Is it true? 

Well…it feels true.  (I think this is probably the most common answer to this first question.)

Can you be sure that it is true?

No. For all I know this was the best possible use of my time.  

What happens in my body/mind when I have that thought?  

When answering this question ist is very important that you check in with your mind AND body here.  If you just stay in your head it will likely spin you out into all kinds of “answers”.  

When I engage the thought that I’m not doing enough, I feel tightness and constriction in my muscles.  I feel like I have less room to breathe.  I feel defeated and ineffectual.  I feel like I want to go back to bed. I feel angry.  I feel resentful that it went this way.  I feel frantic to get everything else done that needs to get done. 

Who/How am I without that thought?  

Being in my body allows me to more quickly let go of the thought that is in my mind so that I can truly experience how I am being without the thought.  Without the thought,  I am present.  I feel compassionate toward myself.  I can sense my deep value of attention and stillness coming through. I feel my muscles and belly relax.  I look around and see the sun shining and the snow on the mountains and I feel that one of the most important things that I can do is to simply BE with the beauty around me.  I feel God’s presence coming back in.  

What I love about this process is the juxtaposition and contrast of questions 3 and 4. We get to experience what it feels like with the thought and then to experience what it is like without the thought.  And then, we get to decide.  Which one do we want in our life? Which one will we practice?  Which one will we go toward?  

Very frequently the question we will be working with in this process will come from the ego.  It will almost always involve something that we view as wrong, not quite right, or something that needs fixed.  When we let go of the question in question 4, we also let go of the perspective of the ego. This is the point at which the true self can be heard. It’s as if we have told the ego to wait outside in the hall while we get some input from our true self.  

We can actually use this practice in very small ways as a way to deepen our self understanding.  For instance, a recurrent thought is occurring to me right now.  It is saying:  I am not giving my dog enough attention.  

Is it true?  Can I be sure it’s true?  What happens in my being when I engage that thought? Who/how am I without that thought?  

As I quickly work through this I am less distracted and more present to the work that I am doing here.  I trust that there will be time for everything that needs to be done.  

The Four Levels of Awareness and Engagement

I will very quickly illustrate the 4 levels with the questions we are asking ourselves in each level.  For a deeper dive click here.  

Drama: 

 Whose fault is this?  Who is to blame?  Can you believe this happened?  (External to self.)

Situation:  How can we fix it and how quickly.  (Figure out the problem and then fix it ASAP.)

Choice:  Who do I choose to be here?  What do I choose as my relationship to this situation?  

Opportunity: What wants to happen here?  What is emerging? 

Level One:  Drama

Don’t get too hung up on that word drama.  We aren’t talking about “drama queens” or necessarily highly charged emotional settings although some of us live in that world.  What we do mean is anything in your inner life that keeps you in a tussle, going back and forth.  

My current tussle is the feeling that I don’t have enough time. 

At level one, drama, I am in near constant struggle with internal thoughts and feelings about time and not having enough of it. 

Level Two: Situation

At level 2, I feel this lack of time as an urgent something to fix.  Which I do.  So, my usual way of managing that, and the way that our culture teaches us to manage it, is to come up with a plan.  What am I going to do to make enough time in my life? I can do less. I can find more time. I can get more efficient, etc.  

I think that I have probably spent 80% of my life in level 2.  I am a planner and a problem solver and while it is definitely a cultural “go to” for many or most of us, I feel that I jump to it more readily than most. I feel that it is what I am good at so I spend a lot of time there.

Our inquiry practice invites us to leave aside the fixing and planning for now.  It invites us to level three.

Level Three: Choice

Who/How do I want to be here?  

Turning my gaze inward to my heart-mind and body, I wait for my answer to arise.  As I listen the answer arises spontaneously and with great clarity:  

I want to be in flow. 

When we have clarity about who or how we want to be, our doing can then arise out of our chosen way of being.  When we know how we want to be, we much more quickly arrive at what to do or how to do it.  

Level Four: Opportunity

And now, the fourth question asks us to listen even more deeply and with more subtlety.  It invites us to listen for and be present to what wants to arise.  What our leading edge and growth might be.  Here again, for me, the answer comes simply and quickly.

What wants to arise is a new paradigm for how to be. 

The new paradigm is being in flow rather than checking things off the to do list.  The BE rather than being productive.  And most importantly, the new paradigm has new values.  It values stillness and contemplation.  It values time for listening, waiting and visioning.  It values depth of attention over efficiency.

In this fourth stage, we can surrender to what wants to come.  

In this inquiry process, we have a much greater chance of relaxing ego in levels 3 and 4.  However, as I practice them, I am aware of how easily ego can also sneak in and name “who” I want to be. Actually, more likely who I think I “should” be.   And without quite a relaxed ego we will not truly be able to listen in a way that we can hear what wants to arise out of level 4.  It’s very important to let go and relax into this inquiry.  Let go of our expectations and criticisms of ourselves so that we can hear what is actually true.  

Watch your mind.  Where do you see tussle or drama?  Where do you see a recurrent demanding or strong thought?  When you notice them, inquire with them.  And let your Circle know what you are experiencing so that we can continue to grow together.