1. Which statement is most accurate?
a. Reality is non-dual
b. Reality is dualistic and/or pluralistic
c. Reality is neither non-dual or dual
d. All of the above
e. None of the above
f. Reality is how one sees things.
Answer: A. Reality is non-dual…although experientially it seems to be dualistic or pluralistic. ‘C’ is also true if you understand ‘non-dual’ and ‘dual’ to be intellectual categories and reality to be the Awareness that reveals them.
2. The statement ‘I am not the body’ means
a. I am a disembodied spirit
b. I am my feelings
c. I am what I think I am
d. I am the knower of the body/mind.
Answer: D
Reason: Reality is composed of two apparent categories; Awareness and Matter. One’s body, feelings and thoughts are subtle matter in motion. They are not conscious. Only the Self is conscious and because I am conscious I know the body mind.
3. The statement ‘I am enlightened’ means
a. I am very intelligent and know more than most people
b. I am always experiencing Awareness.
c. I am spiritually ‘awake’
d. I operate from experience and reason
e. I am always ‘in the light’ of Awareness
f. I am limitless non-dual Awareness
Answer: F. ‘A’ is not true because intelligence is determined by the nature of the Subtle Body, reflected Awareness. The Subtle Body is conditioned by many factors. ‘I’ is independent of the mind, and illumines all degrees of intelligence.
‘B’ is not true because everyone everywhere is always experiencing Awareness…because Awareness is all there is…appearances to the contrary notwithstanding. Enlightenment is the knowledge that I am Awareness, a fact unknown by most people.
‘C’ is untrue because what can awaken can also fall asleep. Awareness neither sleeps nor wakes; it illumines both conditions of mind. The one that experiences an awakening is the ego/mind.
‘D’ is not true because the Self is not a doer. To get into Awareness you would have to move from unawareness. It is not possible to ‘become’ aware because awareness is one’s nature and it is limitless. Any movement requires an agent and all agents are limited because they are in the dream of duality.
‘E’ is not true because it posits two ‘I’s: a limited entity…me…and Awareness.
4. The ‘truth’ is
a. What happens
b. How I see myself and the world
c. What never changes
d. What is
Answer: C and D
Truth is Awareness. Awareness never changes. It is being, what is. How you see yourself is conditioned by many factors and subject to change. If at all it is truth it is relative truth, what is called ‘my truth’ these days.
5. What statement is not true?
a. The world is an object of Awareness.
b. The world is me
c. The world is an apparent reality
d. The world is not real
Answer: D. The world enjoys a peculiar ontological status: it is neither real nor is it unreal. It is not real because it has a beginning and an end. It is not unreal because it is experienced. If you did not choose ‘D’ because you understand that the world is impermanent or you understand that the world is actually the Self in form give yourself credit for a right answer. ‘C’ is the most truthful statement about the nature of the world. It seems to be, but in reality is doesn’t exist, like a snake perceived in a coiled rope at twilight.
6. The meaning of the statement ‘the world is me’ is
a. The world is what is created by my thoughts.
b. Because reality is non-dual Awareness, the world is not separate from It and because I am Awareness the world is me.
c. I experience the world in Awareness and there is no separation between what I experience and myself
d. None of the above
Answer: B or C. A is true but it is a psychological statement. As such it does not indicate the identity of the mind and the Self, the knowledge of which is enlightenment.
7. Ego loss is
a. The goal of spiritual life
b. A precondition for enlightenment
c. Impossible, because there is no ego in reality
d. Possible through surrender
e. Enlightenment
Answer: ‘C’. In non-dual reality there are not two principles, a Self and an ego. There is only one Self with apparent knowledge and apparent ignorance. ‘A’ is not true because Self realization is the goal of spiritual life and it is the ego that needs to realize that it is the Self. The Self illumines both the presence and absence of the ego. ‘B’ is untrue for the same reason that ‘A’ is untrue; enlightenment is for the ego. ‘D’ is untrue because the ego will not do anything to threaten its existence. ‘E’ is a myth because the Self, Awareness, is not in opposition to the presence or absence of anything; enlightenment is Self knowledge, knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt “I am limitless Awareness.”
8. Enlightenment is
a. Being in the now
b. A mind with no thoughts
c. The fourth state of Consciousnesss
d. The nature of the Self
e. The knowledge “I am limitless Awareness and not this body/mind.”
Answer: D or E. ‘A’ is not true because you can’t be ‘in’ the now. The ‘now’ is in you, Awareness. How can you be ‘in’ yourself? You are yourself. ‘B’ is not true because the Self is always free of the mind and enlightenment is Self knowledge. Additionally, everyone has experienced the absence of thoughts in deep sleep but remains unenlightened when awake. ‘C’ is not true because there are only three states of consciousness: waking dream and deep sleep. The Self is not a ‘state.’ It is the Awareness because of which the states are known.
9. “Nothing ever happened”
a. is a clever spiritual cliche
b. means I wasn’t paying attention so I missed what happened
c. means the world doesn’t exist
d. means reality is uncreated
e. is the statement of a person in nirvikalpa Samadhi
Answer: D. It is not possible for time and creation to exist in a non-dual reality except as a projection, like a dream. Things seem to be born and die because the Self is not known for what it is. ‘C’ is not true because the world enjoys a temporary existence. ‘E’ is untrue because nirvikalpa Samadhi is a state in which there is no person to know or experience nothingness.
10. The Self is
a. made of many parts
b. the forth state of consciousness
c. a void, a nothingness
d. a partless whole
e. the person indicated on my driver’s license
f. my body, feelings and emotions
g. my soul
Answer: D. ‘A’ is not true. Only the body and mind are made of parts. ‘B’ is not true because there are only three states of consciousness: waking, dream, and deep sleep. The Self, is not a state. It is the invariable Awareness because of which the three states are known. ‘C’ is not true because to say that something does not exist requires a self i.e. Consciousness. ‘F’ is not true because the body and subjective events are not conscious; the Self is Consciousness or Awareness. ‘G’ is not true because the soul is a limited entity, one that transmigrates. The Self is limitless and does not transmigrate. How can it move if it is everything?
11. “The body is me but I am not the body” means
a. I am beyond the body
b. The ‘I’ is sentient; the body isn’t
c. I am my personality
d. I’m schizophrenic
Answer: B. The Self, Awareness, appears as the insentient body without becoming unaware. ‘A’ is not true because if reality is non-dual and there is such a thing as the body it cannot be away from the Self and therefore cannot be transcended. ‘A’ is acceptable if the word ‘beyond’ is understood to mean ‘apparently other than.’
12. “I am not the doer” means
a. I have no arms and legs
b. I am lazy
c. There is nothing you can do to get enlightened
d. I am actionless Awareness
e. I am an enjoyer
Answer: D
13. What happens
a. is created by my thoughts
b. is a statement about who I am
c. is caused by the world in which I live
d. is the result of my past actions
e. has nothing to do with me at all
Answer: E. The Self is always free of karma. ‘A’ is not true because what happens depends on many factors. Also many things happen that I have never thought of and many things that I think don’t happen. ‘B’ is not true because the Self does not require anything to validate it. It is self evident, self revealing and self validating. Things that happen have no effect on the Self and do not define it in any way. ‘C’ is not true because it takes an agent and a field of experience to cause things to happen, not just a field. ‘D’ is true if you take yourself to be a doer. If you are enlightened the doer has been negated by the knowledge “I am actionless Awareness” and therefore there are no actions and their results for you.
14. Surrender of my ego to the Self will not help me get enlightened because
a. I am already the Self i.e. enlightened
b. If I surrender my ego who will be left to get enlightened?
c. Everything is the Self alone so there is nothing that belongs to me that I can surrender
e. Surrender is an activity and no activity will produce limitlessness
f. Enlightenment is only possible through knowledge
g. All of the above
h. None of the above
i. B and C
Answer: G
15. Enlightenment is experience of the Self. True or False?
Answer: False
Enlightenment is not experience of the Self because reality is non-dual Awareness i.e. the Self and therefore all experience is the Self. If all experience is the Self each and every experience is the Self. Therefore there is no unique Self experience.
16. Enlightenment is a state of desirelessness. True or False?
Answer: False
Enlightenment is not a state. It is the nature of the Self. The Self is free of desire.
17. The Self is hidden behind the mind. The mind must be removed so the Self can be revealed. True or False?
Answer: False.
18. Why is the above statement false?
a. Because the Self is self revealing
b. Because there is no mind
c. Because the mind cannot be removed
d. Only knowledge, not action, can reveal what is already present.
Answer: A and D.
A is untrue because Consciousness is never covered. The fact that there is mind and a Self is only known because of Consciousness. Any covering would only be known because of Consciousness. Finally, there is nothing other than Consciousness to cover it. It is the focus on the events in Consciousness, one’s experience, that obscures one’s appreciation of the Self. ‘C’ is not correct because the mind is the consequence of impersonal Awareness illumining the vasanas which cause the mind. No individual can remove it. ‘D’ is self explanatory.
19. Which is true?
a. Enlightenment is the experience of the Self
b. Enlightenment is knowledge of the Self
c. Enlightenment is the knowledge “I am the Self.”
Answer: C.
B is not true because it implies that the Self is an object, something to be known as one knows any object.
20. Why is Enlightenment for the mind alone?
a. Because the mind is ignorant of its nature
b. Because the Self is already enlightened
c. Both of the above
d. None of the above
Answer: C
21. One’s activities are caused by one’s past karmas in the form of one’s likes and dislikes. True or False?
Answer: Apparently true, but actually false. One’s activities are motivated by one’s identification with the likes and dislikes arising in the mind.
22. Why can you not be killed?
a. You are meant to die peacefully in your bed in old age.
b. Because you are immortal
c. Only objects can be destroyed
d. You are protected by attack dogs, body guards, an electronic security system and body armor
Answer: B. The Self is non-dual. It was never born and therefore it cannot suffer death. If you answered ‘C’ you it is correct if you also chose ‘B’ and you understand than the Self cannot be objectified. If you chose ‘D’ you should probably consider visiting another website.
23. Enlightenment can be transmitted from an enlightened person to an unenlightened person. True or false?
Answer: False. Enlightenment cannot be transmitted because every being is already enlightened. Enlightenment is simply the destruction of one’s ignorance concerning the nature of the Self. The Self is already enlightened and there is only one Self.
24. A guru can give enlightenment by destroying your ignorance.
True or false?
Answer: False. A guru can only give the knowledge that reveals
the Self. It is up to the person seeking enlightenment to grasp
the knowledge and remove his or his or her ignorance by applying it.
25. Enlightenment is the destruction of all concepts. True or False?
Answer: False. Concepts are not opposed to ignorance. Nor is the Self opposed to concepts. Concepts are the Self but the Self is free of concepts. Enlightenment is the destruction of one’s identification with the concept that the Self is limited and incomplete.
26. If enlightenment is the destruction of all concepts an enlightened person could not function in this world. True or False?
Answer: True. Action cannot take place without a thought preceding it.
27. An enlightened person is free of suffering because
a. He or she is protected by God
b. He or she knows the difference between what is apparent and what is real.
c. He or she has special healing powers
d. He or she is a vegetarian and takes lots of vitamins
Answer: B. Suffering is caused by confusing what is real with what isn’t. When you don’t know the difference you often take what is unreal to be real.
28. There are no enlightened beings because
a. Mankind is too materialistic these days
b. The few there were, like Buddha and Jesus, are all dead.
c. They leave the earth because it is too low for their vibrations
d. The Self, Being, is a partless whole and cannot be split into individual units
e. God is waiting for the right time to send them to earth so they can save us
Answer: D. Enlightenment is the discovery that there is only one Self and I am it. A person who realizes this loses his or her limited identity. ‘Enlightened being’ is just a concept.
29. The experience of enlightenment can be made permanent
a. with enough practice
b. is impossible because enlightenment is not an experience and if it was it could not be made permanent because no experience is permanent.
c. by the grace of the guru
Answer: B. The Self is beyond time and experience. It cannot be ‘made’ permanent because it is permanent.
30. Self inquiry
a. is a technique that produces experience of the Self
b. is a method of analysis that reveals that the doer is nothing but consciousness, the Self.
c. is asking ‘who am I?’
Answer. B. ‘A’ is not true because the self is self existent and cannot be produced by any action. ‘C’ is superficially true but is ineffective as a practice because the one who asks the question has no way to objective way evaluate the answer should it arise in Consciousness. Additionally, there is no need to ask the question because the answer is already known; scripture and the testimony of the enlightened makes it clear that the Self is Awareness. Self inquiry is actually moment to moment application of the knowledge “I am limitless Awareness” to the ‘I’ thought as it appears in Awareness.
31. When you see yourself as a doer you cannot escape the results of your actions because the results of actions accrue to the karmic account of the doer. True or False?
Answer: True
32. Why is this statement true? “I am neither enlightened nor unenlightened“
a. Because you can only be one or the other.
b. Because enlightenment and ignorance are only concepts and the
Self is free of both knowledge and ignorance
c. Because only Buddha and other great beings were enlightened.
Answer: B
33. Why is the Self beyond both the individual and the Creator?
a. Because reality is non-dual. In a non-dual reality there is no creator, creation or individuals.
b. It is the consciousness because of which both the individual and the creator exist.
Answer: A and B.
34. When you see yourself as the Self your karmas are nullified because your karmic account is closed with the renunciation of the doer through Self knowledge. True or False?
Answer: True. The karma appears but it is like burnt rope. It no longer binds.