Self-Inquiry

by Shankarananda

Realise who you are. Uncover what you want. Discover where you are going.Meditation master Swami Shankarananda adapts the ancient path of Self-inquiry to contemporary life. The Shiva Process method of Self-inquiry engages your awareness to effectively remove blocks in the areas of career, relationship, health and spirituality. A free audio download guides you step by step through a series of inquiries to help you connect with your inner wisdom.

364 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 18, 2012

Reviews

[Todd Settimo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shankarananda is one of the few remaining people still teaching the basic tenants of Kashmir Shaivism though he has dressed it up in his own - mainly psychological - techniques which differentiate his teachings from others. I enjoyed this book for what he has to say about Kashmir Shaivism and his guru, Baba Muktananda. I'm not so enamored with the rest. But others may be and I wouldn't want to dissuade someone else from reading it based on my likes and dislikes alone. If you have an interest in Kashmir Shaivism I would recommend this on that basis alone. There are all too few people who can discuss the philosophy from both a theoretical as well as an experiential standpoint as this author can. In that regard, this is one of the few living links to a vital yet dying teaching. Get it while you can!

[Dean Paradiso · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad book, although the title is a bit of a misnomer. It should really be called "The Shiva Process" or "Self-inquiry as a psychological tool", rather than just "Self-inquiry". People familiar with the term would normally equate it with the practice of Atma Vichara or that used in Advaita Vedanta, Nonduality etc.
In this book, the practice is used in a specific manner, along with psychological techniques and group work, more as a 'self-help' tool or a psychological tool in analysing states of mind, and moving from unhelpful thoughts to more helpful thoughts and states of mind.
The book contains some concepts from Kashmiri Shaivism, although in a very simplified manner. Likewise some concepts are borrowed from Gurdjieff's work (again simplified), which the author seems to have had some experience with.
The actual processes detailed are interesting, such as classing thoughts/beliefs into A,B, and G statements- which relate to the content of beliefs. Some practices are given around sensing energy in the body, chakras etc., and also on group work guidelines such as giving feedback.
It might work for some, or be of interest to those interested in these sorts of therapeutic/psychological processes, however, as for "self-inquiry" proper (in a nondual or ultimate sense), only about one page actually is relevant out of several hundred. There are a few ideas IMO that probably need to be straightened out as well- 1) the idea of no-thought isn't central or even stressed in self-inquiry, 2) watching thoughts and practicing a 'witness' consciousness isn't self-inquiry (since there's still someone attempting to be a witness, 3) self-inquiry is completely compatible with being 'in the world', and doesn't need some additional practices added in order to bring it into 'the world' or our language system, or 'back into the body'.
There's more that could be said, however, ultimately the book IS about the author's own process/system, and this needs to be borne in mind while reading and digesting what is said about practices in other traditions and 'self-inquiry'.