Self Inquiry in Zen — A Simple but Intense Way to Realize Your True Self

Have you ever really asked yourself, who am I? Like, not just as a thought, but something you want to know deep down?

In this article, I’ll share the story of Ramana Maharshi and how he found awakening just by asking that question. I’ll also explain how this connects with Zen practice, and I’ll discuss a Zen tradition that uses a similar method that most people aren’t aware of.

If you want to dive deep into the practice of self-inquiry and see how it connects with Zen in a way most people don’t know, this might interest you.

Almost everybody who is serious about spirituality has heard the story of the Indian sage Ramana Maharshi. When he was just 16 years old, an intense fear of death suddenly came up within him, and instead of suppressing it, he simply laid down on the ground, fully accepted it, and asked himself, “Who is dying?” At that moment, he realized his true Self—he became enlightened.

After his realization, he left home, traveled to the sacred mountain Arunachala, and lived there in silence for the rest of his life. He’s an embodiment of enlightenment—his realization inspired many spiritual seekers and continues to inspire many to this day. When people gathered around him asking for teachings, his main teaching was silence. But when they pressed him further, he shared the simple practice of self-inquiry. He encouraged people to turn inward and ask themselves “Who am I?” He said that whenever a thought, an emotion, or a sense of “I” arises, you should trace it back to its source by asking:

Who is having this thought?

Who is feeling this emotion?

Who is aware of this experience?

The point is not to answer with more thoughts, but to keep turning the attention inward toward the sense of “I,” which will eventually dissolve, leaving only pure awareness—the Self. He also said that the Self is already fully present, but one can remove the false identification with mind and body through self-inquiry.

While self-inquiry is mostly associated with Ramana Maharshi, its roots trace back to the ancient Indian scriptures such as the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita. In Advaita Vedanta, the idea is to realize the true Self by discriminating between the real, unchanging Brahman and the unreal, changing phenomena.

Since this spiritual practice is mostly known as part of Indian spirituality like Advaita Vedanta, many Zen practitioners wonder if and how the method of self-inquiry might fit into their own spiritual practice.

Most people, and even most Zen practitioners, came to know Zen through a Japanese perspective. Many Japanese Zen masters are known for spreading Zen Buddhism from Japan, through Asia, to the West. Everyone has probably heard of Shunryu Suzuki, Uchiyama Roshi, Deshimaru, or many others who put in the effort to teach Zen to Westerners.

In Zen Buddhism, there are two main schools of teaching: Soto Zen and Rinzai Zen. While Soto Zen focuses on “just sitting,” seeing this as the expression of enlightenment itself—accepting the moment as it is with nothing to strive for—Rinzai Zen uses a more intense, direct approach. In Rinzai Zen, there are koans—paradoxical questions or stories—to provoke sudden awakening. Students meditate intensely on a koan to exhaust ordinary thinking and trigger a breakthrough.

The most famous koan used to illustrate this method is the question, “What is the sound of one hand clapping?”

However, the koan that’s actually practiced most often is probably the famous “Mu” koan. This koan comes from a story where a monk asked a Zen master if a dog has Buddha-nature, and the master answered “Mu,” which means “no.” According to the Buddha, everything has Buddha-nature, including dogs, so when the Zen master answered “Mu,” or “no,” it contradicts the expected answer and shocks the mind out of ordinary thinking.

Rinzai Zen students are asked to meditate intensely on the meaning of this koan, and when they do that, the mechanics are quite similar to that of self-inquiry. Since we can’t think our way to enlightenment, and every intellectual answer we come up with can’t get us there, we have to go beyond ordinary rational thinking.

There are many ways to do this, but one of the most direct is self-inquiry or the use of koans. So, are koans and self-inquiry the same, or different?

The short answer is: self-inquiry is self-inquiry, and koans are koans.

We don’t have to turn one into the other, and whether we practice in an Advaita or Zen setting, we simply follow the given instructions. However, there is also a third option and only very few people know about it.

There is a Zen tradition that’s even older than the traditional Japanese Zen schools, and this tradition utilizes self-inquiry very heavily in its teaching. Many legendary Zen masters came out of this tradition, and it seems as if their teaching more closely resembles the original Zen teachings that originated in China.

The tradition I’m presenting here is the Korean school of Zen.

Now, it’s not just one uniform school of Zen, but different schools sharing the same historical background. The most famous are the Chogye Order and the Kwan Um School of Zen. These schools heavily promote the use of a “hwadu.” A hwadu is a short question, such as “What is this?” or “Who am I?”, used to provoke sudden insight into one’s true nature.

Similar to self-inquiry or using koans, the hwadu is given full attention during meditation—not to find a logical answer, but to go beyond rational thinking and break through to enlightenment.

Whereas koan practice has already developed into its own system, the hwadu method can be seen as self-inquiry wrapped in Zen fabric.

Every tradition has its own way of teaching its methods, and that’s why it can be dangerous to start comparing spiritual practices. One may get lost in comparisons, starting to distrust their spiritual practice because they read about another practice that suggests doing it in a completely different way.

That’s why I’d suggest that whether you practice self-inquiry in the Advaita way, or koans in the traditional Japanese Rinzai way, you just follow the instructions given by your teacher. However, if you feel drawn to the practice of self-inquiry but have a Zen background, this can be a real game changer for you.

Very early on my spiritual path, even before I first stepped into a Zen school, I had a breakthrough realization while listening to music, wondering and questioning who was actually listening to the music.

Suddenly: BOOM! I knew.

That’s also why I went to a Zen school. Although everything was clear from that realization, I just wanted to talk to someone I thought might have realized the same. Just to be clear: I’m not fully enlightened, whatever that means. Although this realization doesn’t leave any room for speculation, there is still some lingering doubt present.

Oftentimes, when you read stories of ancient Zen Masters, it seems as if they needed more than one realization to fully understand. I see it like that, and that’s also why I continue to practice the Hwadu method, and why I consider myself a friend of the way, not a teacher.

The most important takeaway from what I just said is that there is still some lingering doubt present. This is not talked about much when people discuss self-inquiry, but I think it’s the least understood and most important aspect of it.

In Zen, there is the idea of “great doubt.” It can be compared to the intense, burning question or inner tension that arises when one engages with the hwadu.

Just ask yourself now: “Who am I?” or “What is this?”

And watch what happens.

When you engage with a question like this, and don’t try to answer it rationally but really want to find out, it creates a kind of pressure or urgency.

You ask this question, but you really don’t know the answer. You know you can’t answer it with your intellectual mind, so you have to immediately throw away any answer that comes from it.

But now you are stuck.

It’s as if you can’t go back, nor forward.

You are confronted with this existential question, but you can’t answer it. You really don’t know.

If your motivation is genuine, and you don’t just treat this question like a mantra—something you keep repeating without truly inquiring into it, then, this question will grow bigger and bigger inside of you until you finally break through and realize your true self.

There is a saying that goes like this: no doubt, no awakening; small doubt, small awakening; great doubt, great awakening. In my opinion, the most important thing is to provoke this great doubt in one’s inquiry. Many people practice self-inquiry on autopilot. They ask themselves the same question repeatedly, but don’t get anything from it because they lack the intense, genuine questioning that’s truly required. This great questioning, this great doubt, is what should be evoked when practicing this method.

Even though it feels uncomfortable, some describe it as having a hot iron ball in their gut; others talk about their throat becoming tight. This is what great doubt feels like. It’s said that the Hwadu, if practiced properly, becomes like a stone wall miles high—something you must break through to attain realization. It’s as if you are dying of thirst, and all you want is water. You have to bring your practice with the Hwadu to that same intensity and urgency. And you don’t have to limit yourself to doing this only when you sit on your meditation cushion. You can practice it anytime during the day.

Whenever you do something, just ask yourself, “Who is doing that?” or “What is this?” And you stay with the great doubt provoked by asking these questions. It’s a very intense spiritual practice, but I truly believe that anyone can break through in a reasonable amount of time if they do it the right way and put their whole life into it.

That’s two very big “ifs,” though.

Alright. I think this mostly covers the essential principle on how to practice with a Hwadu. I think if you practice like that, you're good to go.

I wish you all the best.

Your friend of the Way,

Bye.

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