Philosophical self-inquiry meeting

This Meeting Location: Main Library - Foundation Room.

Topic: Thought—No-Thought? Do Something—Nothing To Be Done? You Exist—You Don't Exist?

Objective: Solve the existential riddle (and big problem) of life and death.
Direction: Inquire into the core of being.

"There is nothing to do, nothing to change. There is no place to get to, no salvation in the future, no final relief or sense of completion in what we call enlightenment. We all are already there. We already have everything we could ever want. The cosmic joke is that who we think we are, our belief in the self, is the only thing that prevents us from experiencing complete fulfillment right now!" ~ Norio Kushi

"Presupposing the existence of a non-existent thing and then wanting to get salvation for that imaginary 'I', you have to start and try to do so through the above-said four paths of yoga. [1. 'Act without attachment to the fruit thereof', says karma yoga. 2. 'Do not love any other thing; love God alone', says bhakti yoga. 3. 'By separating yourself from God, you have degraded yourself into a petty individual soul (jiva); go and unite with Him again', says raja yoga. 4. 'Know God', says jnana yoga.] When your sadhanas themselves become a means of giving life to the non-existent ego, how can they destroy it? To do any sadhana except Self-enquiry (atmavichara), the existence of the mind (jiva) is indispensable. For, how to perform those sadhanas without the mind? To try to destroy the ego by sadhanas other than Self-enquiry is to be just like a thief turning himself into a policeman to catch the thief who is none but himself. Only Self-enquiry can reveal the truth that the ego (mind or jiva) has no existence whatsoever!
"So do not accept this ego, the truth of which you have not yet found out by scrutiny; deny it by giving no importance to its existence, root it out and burn it to extinction by attending to how or from what (whence) it rises!…. Sri Bhagavan used to say that nishkamya karma (desireless action) cannot be done so long as there is a sense of doership while performing the action." ~ Ramana Maharshi

"It seems to me that Joe Bray is an imaginary person, that this show is just happening, that I have no real influence over what turns up next, and that my true nature is just this ‘on-ness', which seems to be there all the time. Whether I am asleep, drunk, happy, sad, seeking or absorbed in some task, ‘on-ness' is just there making it so.
"It is faithfully registering everything that arises, constantly changing in this ceaseless eternal moment. So I am already dead…." ~ Joseph Bray (https://josephbray.wordpress.com/2012/11/11/wasting-my-time/)

The discussions are focused on self-inquiry and structured around a topic or whatever is on your mind.

We meet on alternate Saturdays (occasionally with an extra week between), and since 2013 all meetings were at the Main Alachua County Library ... until 2025. The library system allows us to reserve one meeting room each month in advance, then not until the day of any other meetings. So far this year we haven't been able to reserve rooms in advance at the main library.

We will include locations reserved in advance on these meeting blurbs. For other meetings, we will message members who accept messages as soon on the meeting day as we've been able to reserve a location.

At meetings at the main library, check with the information desk on the 2nd floor for the exact meeting room location.

> Philosophical Self-Inquiry is an unconventional adventure.
> Philosophy is the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence.
> Self-Inquiry is going within to find answers.
> The general self-inquiry question for each meeting: What are you at the core of your being?