Who Is In?: Beyond Self-image

What people are saying about

Who is in?

This book, centered around the questions, Who’s in? Who am I?, and Who’s aware of the experience?, came to me at a time when I found myself in a void, with little else to do but to surrender to whatever processing is needed, making these questions more relevant than ever. I thought I could just read the book but found myself in tears reading only the first half of the prologue. Taking in one page, even one line at times, the words keep hitting all the spots where I can no longer find anything to hide behind. I read, experience, follow the words with a defenseless heart, with every word falling into place. Sometimes I find myself crying, sometimes laughing, never indifferent, sleepless at times, and always, always drifting into silence, in awe of expanding beyond.

As an Osho sannyasin I’m no stranger to the questions and processes that are being presented, so well laid out, in this book. The clear, razorblade-sharp writing only deepens the experience. And the soul, once addressed and having tasted glimpses of its true nature, only calls louder: I Am, here, now, until I am dissolves. It’s astonishing how universal, unique, this experience is.

I’m reading: "This life, this planet, this universe feeds not on hope but on PRESENCE.

And Presence is rebellion."

I think of all my compromising, my betrayals of Truth. Will I have the courage to rebel? To live totally? What do I sense when I ask myself these questions?

This book leaves me with a clear set of tools, and the warm and comforting realization that I don’t need to do anything. Who is in? Beyond Self-image certainly reminds me I already embody it. Caroline Beumer-Peeters, psychotherapist, trainer, author of Solution Focused Coaching for Adolescents

Praise for The Author’s Other Work

Without a Mask will take you on an exciting journey. It will give you tools to use to discover who it really is behind the mask we all wear… the mask we hide our real selves behind in order to belong and fit in with our families and the society in which we live.

The process the author takes you through is logical and experiential. It is not a process that you will do once but several times. For me it has given me timely reminders of what I already know and prompted me to keep using these techniques in my life. For the beginner, you will learn interesting facts on child development and up-to-date research that underpin the information the mystics have always known. The tools the author gives us are easy to implement. I have no hesitation in recommending Without a Mask as an aid on your inner journeying. Quoting Costantino, … an incomparable adventure, a journey of awakening…

Definitely a keeper for me.

Shaz Goodwin, Goodreads.com

Freedom to Be Yourself is a very deep and thorough look into how our own personal judgment can impact on our lives, and perhaps more importantly, who we are.

The book is divided into four parts: Recognizing the Presence of the Inner Judge, Freedom from the Judge, Being Yourself, and Experiences. In these sections we are taken through a variety of subjects including what is the inner judge?, gossip, guilt, sexuality and spirituality. The book is illustrated throughout with case studies, depicting the lessons mentioned in the chapters, and how the issues were dealt with/overcome.

At the end of each chapter, exercises are provided to help you understand and explore the lessons covered. These exercises challenge you to face the truth about who you are, and why you are like the way you are; they make you face what is real in your life. By working through these little exercises, you will come to know yourself better and on a much deeper level.

This book gives us much to think about, especially in terms of who we are, who we appear to be, and how we measure personal worth. I would recommend this to those who wish to gain a deeper understanding of themselves and to those who find themselves asking, Who am I?

Sammi Cox, author of One Turn of the Wheel

I found Avikal Costantino’s book on Freedom to Be Yourself: Mastering the Inner Judge inspiring, easy to read and extremely practical. He obviously understands the subject well, and presents it in a way that can lead people to do their own work on overcoming the tyranny of their inner judge. As a seminar leader who deals with this theme, I find this book a great contribution to the work and will not hesitate to recommend it to our participants.

Dr. Krishnananda Trobe, author of Face to Face with Fear and When Sex Becomes Intimate

Who is in?

Beyond Self-image

Who is in?

Beyond Self-image

Avikal E. Costantino

Winchester, UK

Washington, USA

First published by O-Books, 2022

O-Books is an imprint of John Hunt Publishing Ltd., 3 East St., Alresford,

Hampshire SO24 9EE, UK

[email protected]

www.johnhuntpublishing.com

www.o-books.com

For distributor details and how to order please visit the ‘Ordering’ section on our website.

Text copyright: Avikal E. Costantino 2021

ISBN: 978 1 78535 947 7

978 1 78535 948 4 (ebook)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021952107

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical articles or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publishers.

The rights of Avikal E. Costantino as author have been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Design: Matthew Greenfield

UK: Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY Printed in North America by CPI GPS partners

We operate a distinctive and ethical publishing philosophy in all areas of our business, from our global network of authors to production and worldwide distribution.

Contents

Cover

Half Title

Title

Copyright

Contents

Dedication

Introduction

Prologue

One

Oh, my God! ... The direct experience!

Two seconds of nothingness

Rebellion and revolution

That magical place…

On acceptance and realization

Five minutes (1)

Inquiry (1)

Two

The myth of identity

Reflections on emptiness

The Cup of Buddha

Centering, what are we talking about?

Infinite diversity in infinite combinations

Five minutes (2)

Inquiry (2)

Three

If you open your mouth, you're already dead

Living without preferences

The jackal

Adoration

Meditating the universe

Five minutes (3)

Inquiry (3)

Four

The practice of surrendering in meditation

Curiosity, curiosity, curiosity!

Understanding fear so we can return home – 1

Understanding fear so we can return home – 2

Presence is the natural state of every human being

Five minutes (4)

Inquiry (4)

Five

1 = 0 = ∞, One equals zero equals infinity

To live in uncertainty is to live in abundance

Reflections on Support and Devotional Love

The fine line between Narcissism and wanting attention

Narcissism and Compassion

Five minutes (5)

Inquiry (5)

Six

Intention, Will and Karma

Causality and the law of attraction

Awakening, awareness conscious of itself

Completeness

Beyond separation: coming to the point

Five minutes (6)

Inquiry (6)

Seven

Beyond the search

Waking up is not enough!

Intention and grace

Hope is a trap

Inertia

Five minutes (7)

Inquiry (7)

Eight

The Miracle of Us

Let’s get out of the cave – 1

Let’s get out of the cave – 2

Language traps

Masters, Mastery and Self-inquiry

Five minutes (8)

Inquiry (8)

Nine

Resistance

How much do you want to be free?

What about the freedom to do nothing?

Self-pity

Celebrating death

Freedom, oh freedom!

Attachment to Direct Experience

… and finally…

The sense of identification

Sensuality

Beyond Direct Experience

Loving the Koan: Experiences of finders on the path

Sudasi Helen Anderson

Prem Sharabo

Sattva Margarit Davtian

Pramod Drazen Sivak

About the Author

Other Titles by this Author

Cover

Half Title

Title

Copyright

Contents

Dedication

Introduction

Prologue

One

Oh, my God! ... The direct experience!

Two seconds of nothingness

Rebellion and revolution

That magical place…

On acceptance and realization

Five minutes (1)

Inquiry (1)

Two

The myth of identity

Reflections on emptiness

The Cup of Buddha

Centering, what are we talking about?

Infinite diversity in infinite combinations

Five minutes (2)

Inquiry (2)

Three

If you open your mouth, you're already dead

Living without preferences

The jackal

Adoration

Meditating the universe

Five minutes (3)

Inquiry (3)

Four

The practice of surrendering in meditation

Curiosity, curiosity, curiosity!

Understanding fear so we can return home – 1

Understanding fear so we can return home – 2

Presence is the natural state of every human being

Five minutes (4)

Inquiry (4)

Five

1 = 0 = ∞, One equals zero equals infinity

To live in uncertainty is to live in abundance

Reflections on Support and Devotional Love

The fine line between Narcissism and wanting attention

Narcissism and Compassion

Five minutes (5)

Inquiry (5)

Six

Intention, Will and Karma

Causality and the law of attraction

Awakening, awareness conscious of itself

Completeness

Beyond separation: coming to the point

Five minutes (6)

Inquiry (6)

Seven

Beyond the search

Waking up is not enough!

Intention and grace

Hope is a trap

Inertia

Five minutes (7)

Inquiry (7)

Eight

The Miracle of Us

Let’s get out of the cave – 1

Let’s get out of the cave – 2

Language traps

Masters, Mastery and Self-inquiry

Five minutes (8)

Inquiry (8)

Nine

Resistance

How much do you want to be free?

What about the freedom to do nothing?

Self-pity

Celebrating death

Freedom, oh freedom!

Attachment to Direct Experience

… and finally…

The sense of identification

Sensuality

Beyond Direct Experience

Loving the Koan: Experiences of finders on the path

Sudasi Helen Anderson

Prem Sharabo

Sattva Margarit Davtian

Pramod Drazen Sivak

About the Author

Other Titles by this Author

i

ii

iii

iv

v

vi

vii

viii

ix

x

xi

xii

xiii

xiv

xv

xvi

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

41

42

43

44

45

46

47

48

49

50

51

52

53

54

55

56

57

58

59

60

61

62

63

64

65

66

67

68

69

70

71

72

73

74

75

76

77

78

79

80

81

82

83

84

85

86

87

88

89

90

91

92

93

94

95

96

97

98

99

100

101

102

103

104

105

106

107

108

109

110

111

112

113

114

115

116

117

118

119

120

121

122

123

124

125

126

127

128

129

130

131

132

133

134

135

136

137

138

139

140

141

142

143

144

145

146

147

148

149

150

151

152

153

154

155

156

157

158

159

160

161

162

163

164

165

166

167

168

169

170

171

172

173

174

175

176

177

178

179

180

181

182

183

184

Guide

Cover

Half Title

Title

Copyright

Contents

Dedication

Start of Content

About the Author

Other Titles by this Author

Also by this author

Without a Mask: Discovering Your Authentic Self

978-1-84694-533-5

Freedom to Be Yourself: Mastering the Inner Judge

978-1-78099-191-7

When the Ocean Dissolves into the Drop: Osho, Love, Truth and me

978-8868953874

Lust, Love and Prayer – Lussuria, Amore e Preghiera

978-8892347410

Who is in? is a Koan.

Koan, Japanese (in Chinese gōngàn) – Merriam-Webster: a paradox to be meditated upon that is used to train Zen Buddhist monks to abandon ultimate dependence on reason and to force them into gaining sudden intuitive enlightenment.

This book is dedicated to four magnificent women whose names begin with Prem, the Sanskrit for Love: Prem Kendra, Prem Anando, Prem Ganga and Prem Amira.

Introduction

The search for the fundamental identity of the subject of our existence has been part of the history of humanity for millennia. It has taken various forms and has been embodied in various questions: Who am I? Where am I? What is the nature of I? and, more recently, Who is in? introduced by Osho, the Indian mystic; my master, guide and friend.

The Awareness Intensive Retreat is a classic retreat of meditation and self-inquiry in which you contemplate and communicate the experience of total immersion in this question, three or seven days, and sometimes fourteen and twenty-one.

Each retreat is an adventure to the borders of the inner world, beyond the known, beyond conventions, beliefs, the illusions of certainty with which we hold our fragile descriptions of the Real together. When we go inside and really look, inevitably everything we think we know about ourselves and the world we live in begins to dissolve and show itself for what it is: ideas, concepts, stories and self-hypnosis to enable survival.

The question tears through the shadows, lifts veils, dissolves our defence structures, and the Real shines, illuminates, envelops and fills us. The ancient mystical description of The Whole that is revealed is clear, evident and intimate: Truth, Goodness and Beauty.

When we get to the point of asking ourselves questions like Who is in?, Who am I? then there is no return. The inner journey, the spiritual journey, the journey into the mystery of Being takes a turn whose consequences are impossible to imagine. As the mystical Advaita says: your head is inside the tiger’s mouth.

Rarely is this question openly asked. We rarely stop and give ourselves permission and support to look inside directly, with curiosity and affection. It is rare for us to open ourselves to the depths of radical intimacy, without boundaries. We don’t venture into this unknown and unpredictable being that is each of us. Yet these questions – Who is in? Who am I? Who is living this life? Who wants to know and understand? – and so many equally fundamental questions underlie every moment of our lives, whether they are pronounced, or appear as flying birds or ghosts in the misty awareness of sleep. It is our soul and our humanity that inevitably remember them, pray them, meditate them, tell them and throw them into the unknown space of the present moment, and in the interval we are suspended; every moment between life and death. That moment is blessed when we notice them and hear their sound; that moment when we hear the words formulated, when we risk opening up this immense unknown space: Who is in?

But why ask ourselves these questions? What are the benefits of openly asking who I am or who is in or other similar questions?

The answer is quite simple: these questions and the resulting exploration open us up to the possibility of experiencing non-ordinary states of consciousness; non-ordinary in the sense that either they happen to us and we pass through them unknowingly, or that we do not even know or think that they are possible.

These states of consciousness are, however, part of humanity and are described in different ways and forms by mystics, poets, artists, spiritual masters, lovers, shamans, saints, musicians, dancers, great athletes, philosophers and scientists, and many others. Each state is characterized by a wider and deeper presence, by a clearer and more immediate meaning, by a natural and effortless dynamism, by an increasingly complete and precise perception, by an increasingly intimate sense of self and world, up to absolute identity. Everything becomes more real. These questions offer us access to the direct experience of truth. Not only the relative experience of which we experience every moment, but also the ultimate truth of Being incarnate, beyond personality and the individual. This is called Absolute Subjectivity, Supreme Identity, Authentic Self, or the Point of Light.

In this understanding and direct experience of our True Nature the treasures of the Universe, of the Awakened Consciousness, of the divine that manifests itself in the uniqueness of each of us, open up.

In the following chapters you will find more detailed, perhaps familiar, descriptions of the different states of consciousness, which are mentioned here: State of wakefulness, Dream, Deep Sleep, Observer, and finally, the one until now universally recognized as the highest and all-encompassing called Nondual Unity or Unity Consciousness.

Experiencing these states of consciousness through direct, immediate, authentic and original experience is generally called Awakening, Illumination, Metanoia, Supreme Realization, and is the natural flourishing of the potential of every human being.

In the following chapters you will find the testimony of my direct experience of these states, and how these experiences were the result of years of personal search and continuous practice and dedication to the existential questions, Who is in? and Who am I?

You’ll find examples and understandings, techniques, and invitations to experiment with self-inquiry with more familiar questions. You will find descriptions of particular qualities that manifest themselves and develop through self-exploration and the experience of non-ordinary states of consciousness. You will find reflections on discipline and surrender. You will find dimensions of the human as they are embodied in me and learn that they are at the same time universal gateways to cosmic consciousness, to Being. You will find pieces