The Profound Activity of Questioning

Asking a question is being the most active you can be. It means being humble. Humility is the most active attitude. The person asking admits that she doesn’t know, hence she’s available. She no longer affirms, she no longer pretends to know. When you know, you don’t ask. When you ask a question, you listen; you listen to the question which arises. In that listening, an answer springs forth. Question and answer share the exact same origin, they are vehicles for the same quality: the listening in which they both emerge. Asking a question is the most profound act, provided you are not looking for an answer; otherwise, you are still in a project.

I ask a question from a place of freedom, from my inner resonance. I sense a conflict in my life and I express it, without the arrogance to want to solve it. I clearly see that there is a conflict, and that’s enough. The solution will come from that surrender to what is.

All actions, all initiatives will come from that “I don’t know.” They will come from the underlying listening. They won’t be about “changing” something. I feel a restriction in my life, and I express it; I listen to that restriction in myself. That is listening to the solution. The answer is a vibration at the same level as the question, a vibration which refers to what lies beyond both question and answer. There is no answer to follow, or even to listen to. There is a resonance, which is the humility in which the question is asked. There lies the answer. The answer comes before the question. It is the intuition of the answer that gives rise to the question, because there is that humility, which is the supreme activity… But you need a certain level of maturity to understand that.

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Eric Baret was a student of Jean Klein. On his website he claims no studies or culture, and no particular competence, though his words are informed by a deep knowledge of Eastern traditions of spirituality, especially Kashmir Shaivism. He has published several books in his native France and travels widely in Europe. The English translation of his book "Let the Moon Be Free" is available here.

Join Eric Baret for a 3-part live webinar series, Exploring Life Through Kashmiri Tantric Shaivism: A Live Q&A, May 4–19, 2019.