Self-inquiry offers new path to understanding consciousness
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Researchers are exploring self-inquiry, a method from Advaita Vedanta, as a way to study consciousness from a first-person perspective.
Scientists have renewed interest in understanding consciousness through personal experience after inconclusive results from traditional, third-person research methods. They believe self-inquiry, a systematic examination of one’s own self, can be used as a scientific tool by separating it from the philosophical beliefs of Advaita Vedanta, an Indian tradition.
The method focuses on the idea that our thoughts and experiences create a “narrative self,” or our sense of personal identity. By tracing these thoughts back to the basic sense of “I,” researchers propose it’s possible to lessen this narrative and reveal a “minimal self,” a more basic awareness of simply being. This process could lead to a state of “nondual awareness” where the sense of separation between oneself and the world disappears.
This approach builds on previous research into consciousness from Buddhist practices, but self-inquiry may be more easily studied due to its clear steps and potential for use in therapy. Researchers suggest self-inquiry could be a reproducible practice with a measurable focus on attention, allowing for empirical testing of its effects.
