Part 1: Neti Neti

You know the following beyond a shadow of a doubt: “I am present right now.” You cannot possibly deny it.

You also can accept the following principle: “Whatever I am must be present right now.”

Put these two together:

1. I am present right now.
2. Whatever it is that I am must be present right now.

You’re now in a position to test any candidate for what you are by asking: “Is X present right now?” If X is present, then hold onto it. Otherwise, discard it.

For instance:

“Are you present right now?” Yes, really feel this presence. Now consider: “Is rage present right now?” No–then discard it. You cannot be rage.

Select other types of examples: other emotions, thoughts, desires, bodily sensations, and perceptions.

You might say, in some cases, that X is present right now. Then hold onto your presence and test again shortly.

A discovery: you are whatever is continuously present and whatever is merely arising cannot be you.

Part 2: Self-inquiry

The second discovery: if you wish to know what you are, you’ll need to hold onto yourself alone. In other words, you can’t rely upon anything other than this immediate presence. Any object will, as we found in Part 1, need to be discarded since all objects turn out to be inessential to your very being.

This “holding onto yourself alone” is technically termed the I-thought or the sense of I (aham vritti).

Holding intently and intensely onto yourself alone, that is, onto the sense of I, what do you find?