The Big Questions:
WHO AM I REALLY?
The first grand question...
Let’s start with our first GRAND question
WHO AM I REALLY?
Let’s question WHO we REALLY are!
Philosophers and Spiritual masters have debated this topic for millennia. Scientists have entered the debate more recently.
A WARNING:
This exploration could be a little disconcerting or distressing. It might even trigger some emotions, powerful feelings or a reactive line of thought. So, please be prepared!
Perhaps consider instead that it could be liberating not be be constrained and limited by a fixed concept of yourself.
FRIENDLY ADVICE:
It’s best to approach this exploration with a calm, quiet, open and non-judgemental frame of mind. Try to put your past beliefs, ideas & concepts aside for a while.
Maybe think of this as having a casual chat with a good friend where you feel secure and not threatened. Where you don’t feel the need to defend yourself or assert any point of view at all. Where you are purely interested in being open to other points of view.
To HELP you find YOUR ANSWER, let’s LIST
what EXPERTS have concluded we are NOT:
We are obviously NOT just our name, our occupation or the role that we hold in society.
Others often identify us with those occupations, roles or positions.
It's often how we identify our self to a stranger. It’s what they usually first want to know!
We are also NOT the signature of our name, our birth certificate or our passport, even though for legal purposes that is what identifies us.
We are similarly NOT our religious, spiritual or philosophical beliefs.
We might have these beliefs and even hold them very strongly, but they are not directly who we are. For example, we could change or modify them later if we wanted.
We are certainly NOT just our age, gender, body type or even our specific identifying body features.
These might help identify us for government documents, but they are not really us.
These features can change, even if only by a little, over time. So, we need to update our drivers licence or passport photo.
We are also NOT just our genetic and family lineage although again this is another common way we are characterised, particularly from the scientific perspective.
We are NOT even our unique DNA which we can pass on in part to our offspring.
This is perhaps in science, the most accurate biological marker we have of our body, but it is not our true Self.
We are NOT the cells and organs of our body. These continually change throughout our lifetime. Our component cells die at various rates and are replaced by new cells.
So, we can’t be our cells, organs or body parts. Body parts or organs can even be removed at surgery, and we would still identify our self as the same Self.
We are NOT even our whole physical body, or even all the above features lumped together. Even if we include all our invisible energetic fields as well.
We are NOT even our personality, emotions, attitudes or our quirky likes and dislikes. These are not even totally unique to us!
Medical scientists have even found these can sometimes be passed on to another person through body organ transplantation. So that can’t be the unique and real self.
We are NOT even all our memories of the ‘whole life experience’ we had on Earth. This includes all the things we’ve done or felt.
Some scientists however feel this might be as close as they can get to identifying who we really are from a experiential perspective.
But many philosophers and most spiritual masters say that is not the identity of the true Self.
Let’s now move to the spiritual domain:
Maybe we are the invisible energy that powers our body? The spiritual masters explain we are NOT even the animating energy that vitalizes all the cells and organs of our body.
That energy certainly empowers the body and brain in its functioning but is not the true autonomous self.
That doesn’t seem to leave much, does it?
But don’t distress or panic! There really is an answer.
It's just not available through conventional thought!
Instead, seek an insight through your contemplation.
As an alternative, we could still cling to one or some of the above markers for our perceived identity. Most people still do!
All the above certainly do play some part in labelling or identifying our physical and emotional body and its functions. But the label is not the real item!
Our logical mind however does tend to associate very strongly with these labels, and so identifies who we are with these features.
Let’s leave the scientists, philosophers and even our logical mind behind!
The highest spiritual masters confirm that we are NOT our human mind nor its feelings and sensations. We do have these vivid experiences, but we are not just the experiences. We are the Self that HAS these experiences, and the Self that WITNESSES these experiences.
WE COULD VIEW THIS AS A REAL PROBLEM:
We could try hard to come up with a clever thought-based answer or abstract concept of this Self!
Or we could instead just hold ‘this thought-based uncertainty’ very gently in our ‘Greater Mind’. This is the REALM beyond conventional thinking and the need for linear or logic-based answers.
We invite you to try going beyond thinking.
Tune into your insight and realisation.
Sit still quietly and deeply contemplate:
Who am I? Who am I really?
That’s the first of the GRAND questions we invite you to ponder.
Try this not just at an Intellectual or philosophical level but at a much deeper EXPERIENTIAL LEVEL.
SUGGESTIONS:
Try to go beyond conventional thinking and even abstract concepts.
Only allow your thinking mind to gently embrace what you are NOT, as per the list above.
Don’t in any way urge your thought-based mind to come up with any other answer.
Instead, employ your greater Mind & your deep Intuitive knowing. Use your heart-based knowing for a deep insight or realization.
ONLY use your logical thought-based mind to verbalize or preferably write down this insight or realization in a few plain words. Try not to expand or modify this too much as this is likely to employ the thinking mind.
Try to intuitively feel or deeply realize what the true essence of the human SELF really is.
There is no time limit. This could take a lifetime, or more!
Who are YOU really?
Please consider briefly sharing some of your insights or realizations with the UltimateTest.org online community using the form below.
To learn more about who we really are, read our blogs on this topic: