What am I?
If I am not my name, my body, my mind, the relationship that I enjoy with my near and dear ones, my profession, my occupation, or my education, then what am I? We all think we are “me”. But who is that “me”? And then suddenly, we are lost. We experience ourselves, but we are not able to define who we are. When we go to the dictionary to and out what is “I”, it is surprising, but the dictionary defines it as the 9th alphabet of the English language. Is that all we are? Of course not! We know we are “me”, but what is that “me”? The best way to and out is to end out what we are not. As we keep eliminating what we are not, we will be rewarded with the realization of who we are. Am I “you”? Of course not, I know that I am not “you”. You are you, and I am I. How can Ibe you? I am not you. Am I this book, or that table or that television? Ridiculous! How can I be this or that? I am “I”. I am not this, I am not that. We all have at least that much common sense to understand that we are not this and that.
So then, what am I? Am I this body? Yes. I think I am this body. Everybody thinks I am this body. The body has a head, hands, legs, eyes and I am all of this. But the question arises–“What am I? Am I the eyes or am I all the senses and all the organs?” I am confused that I thought I was the body, but now I am thinking, I have a body, but I am not the body. Just like I have a car, and I have a house, this is another place where I exist. How can Ibe the body, when I say I have a body? Therefore, I am different from the body and it means that I am not the body. We shall soon do an anatomy of the body to and out. Then whatam I? Aha! I must be the mind. My mind thinks, feels and remembers. After all, isn't that me? I must be the mind. But then, I can feel my mind worrying, I watch it wandering. Therefore, I now realize I have a mind, but am I the mind? How can I be the mind, I am different from it. I am not the mind!
Now this puzzles me. I am so clear that I am not my shoes, my jeans, my sweatshirt, nor am I my favourite things that I wear.
I wear all these, but I am different from what I wear. I am the one who wears them, like I wear the body. I am not the body that I wear. I am not even the mind that thinks and worries. I am quite clear that I am something else. Am I something, or am I nothing? Of course I am something. I know I am something. But now, I don't know who I am or what I am. I am not hitesh– that's my name.
but my intellect and mind are also instruments that belong to me, and not me. Who am I? Suddenly, I start realizing that like I have a bank account, and a wardrobe of beautiful clothes, I also have a body. I have hands, and feet, and hair that I can touch and feel. I have a nose and ears that can smell and hear. I have a mind that is thinking and analysing .yes,these are many things that I have ,but none of these are who i am .
The answer to the question ‘Who am I?’ is much more complex and cannot really be expressed in a sentence or two. There were many scriptures written just trying to find the answer to this question. On the other hand, the shortest, spiritual answer that you can get is ‘You are not only the body’. There are however so many ideas to what this other part is, what is your soul or this ‘rest’ which is not the body?
It includes your past with your development from your birth until now, the impressions that others have left on you and your experiences, your present with your mind, your thoughts and your feelings today and of course also your future, the dreams, plans and wishes that you have.
There is however a bit more to ‘you’ which is even more difficult to express in words. If you understand this ‘I’, this little word really deeply, you know what I mean. Feeling that you know who you are gives you peace of mind and heart. This understanding is why spiritual leaders, religions and many people have always recommended people to find the answer to this question.
The reality is however that there is nobody who can give you the answer for you. You may have heard a guru or master tell you that they would help you but the reality is that you have to find the answer yourself. Nobody else can tell you who you are because we are all unique.
In my opinion this is also not a journey that you go on and you reach to an end when you have found yourself. It is an ongoing process because you yourself are in development. You are not done once you have felt you know yourself. This is you today but who will you be tomorrow? Meditation can help you feel changes of your personality and to rediscover yourself when you feel you have lost the connection to that inner truth.
How do you get to that point when you know yourself? Listen to your heart. It is an experience that requires getting to know your feelings, thoughts, your reactions and your actions. Know why you do what you are doing. Come into more awareness and consciousness. Know the love that you have inside yourself. When you are able to connect with this love, you will know yourself.
By not knowing the answer to the question, 'Who am I?', you keep on creating new identities of yourself, consequently going farther away from your true Self. All the suffering in life is because of not knowing your true identity. Until you realize your true Self, you believe yourself to be the name that has been given to you.
So who are you? In reality, you are an eternal Soul. For infinite past lives the Soul has been hidden beneath a veil of ignorance. Due to this, we have been unable to experience the true Self.
Comments