What is the practical use of enquiring, ”To whom is this experience happening? To whom this pain, this joy, this distress, or this good fortune?” First, it makes him remember the quest upon which he is embarked by reminding him that it is the ego which is feeling these changes and that he is not to identify himself with it and thus limit his possibilities if he really seeks the higher self behind it. Second, it suggests that he look for the root of his ego and with it his hidden ”I” instead of merely being swept away by what is happening within the ego itself.
Source: The Notebooks of Paul Brunton | • Listen | | |