Where is inside?

Look inside and meditate is a common suggestion you hear from teachers, guides, elders and even psychologists. But where is this inside?

Surely you are not asked to visualize your internal organs like your heart, guts, spleen and liver? Although something like that may be an interesting mindfulness practice. Even visualising your internal organs is actually outside. In fact anything that you sense with your body and mind has to be outside. Isn't it?

Even when you close your eyes, you are seeing something outside of your eyes. When you feel a touch, a smell or a sound, they are all outside.

You can take it a step deeper. When you see an object, what you call seeing is reporting a sensation created by a complex process of light reflecting off an object, then passing through your eyes onto a retina which sends the signals to your brain. The brain, based on its retained memory composes a picture and then labels it as the object. Ditto for all other senses.

You could say thinking is looking inside. But here too thoughts are mainly based on events and objects outside of your senses.

Could it be that there is no inside?

Could it be that something got lost in translation yet again?

Could it be that looking inside means simply don't look outside or withdraw your senses.

So, don't try to look inside next time you meditate. It will add another confusion to the already very confused mind. Just deny anything outside.