STAGE 1 · INQUIRY
When you have a question, where do you look for an answer?
If you want to understand how the stars move, you observe the sky. If you want to understand how the human body functions, you study its structure and processes. If you want to understand the world around you, you explore, experiment, investigate and learn.
Human curiosity has led us to explore the depths of the oceans, the smallest particles of matter and the farthest reaches of the universe. By observing the world outside ourselves, we have discovered much about the nature of existence.
But what happens when the question concerns your own experience?
Why does a particular remark hurt you? Why do you seek approval? Why does fear influence your decisions? Why can the same situation make one person anxious and another feel at ease?
Can you find complete answers to these questions by looking only at the world outside?
You may study psychology, read philosophical texts, listen to experts and learn from the experiences of others. These can offer valuable explanations. Yet, to understand how fear, desire, anger or attachment operates in your own life, you must also examine your own experience.
This brings us to two directions of exploration, outward and inward.
The outer exploration
The world outside offers an extraordinary field of investigation. We observe nature, examine physical processes, study human behaviour and test our understanding against evidence.
This exploration helps us understand the conditions in which we live and the processes that shape the world around us.
The inner exploration
The inner field of exploration is your own experience, your sensations, thoughts, emotions, memories, desires, reactions and perceptions.
Here, observation takes a different form. You begin to notice how you interpret events, how expectations influence your reactions and how thoughts and emotions shape the way you experience a situation.
You may discover that what you experience is influenced not only by what happens but also by how you perceive and interpret what happens.
Neither direction requires us to reject the other. Understanding the world and understanding ourselves can complement each other. External investigation helps us examine what exists beyond our individual perspective. Inner investigation helps us examine the processes through which we experience and interpret that world.
This is where the exploration of Yoga becomes relevant.
Yoga invites us to turn our attention towards the body, breath, senses and mind. Through practice and observation, we begin to investigate our own experience rather than relying entirely on explanations received from others.
The intention is not to assume that every answer lies within but to recognise that some questions cannot be fully examined without looking within.
After all, you may acquire extensive knowledge about the mind and still remain unaware of how your own mind operates in everyday life.
Perhaps the question is not whether to look outside or inside but to understand where each question invites you to look.
The next time a question arises, pause and ask yourself. Is the answer to be discovered in the world around me, in the experience within me or through an exploration of both?