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Mar 19
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As human beings, we all have the same basic desire for happiness; however, many people in the world are not achieving this basic desire. In fact, most people are unfulfilled and feel as if life is just passing them by. For some, they have come to a point in life where the question becomes something like, “Is this all there is to life?” and are seeking to transform what they are experiencing.
Some of these people turn to so-called motivation gurus, politicians, or religion to find answers that will end their suffering in life. However, most people still do not find the answers because they are looking in the wrong place. Many people believe that external situations and circumstances are the root of their unhappiness, but this is a fallacy. What is causing people to suffering is they do not know who they are, and they do not understand that they create their experiences based on who they are BEing, their thoughts, their emotions, their beliefs, and how close they are in alignment with Source Energy (God).
Who Am I?
When confronted with the question, “who am I?”, most of us do not know how to answer it. We inevitably answer by saying “I am …” followed by a descriptive label such a father, a doctor, a rich man, a clever man, a smart woman, an American, a Republican, or a Christian. Others will say that I am good looking, athletic, old or young or hard working, but what exactly are we referring to when we say “I”?
Are we a body? Are we a mind? Are we emotions? Are we consciousness? Are we what we do? Where do we draw the line between “I” and “my” and between who and what we are and what we have? Many people believe they are their bodies; however, we are much more than that limited perception. Although we are human beings, we consist of two parts - the human and the BEing. The human part is our physical body which is just a vehicle for our BEing to experience this physical dimension; however, this is a small part of us. The “BEing”, which is the “highest” part of us, includes our mind, emotions, thoughts, Will, and consciousness.
Many people are unaware of this concept and insist that they are their body. If you are really your body, what happens to you when you lose your leg in an automobile accident? Are you still you? What if you lose both legs, both arms and become a quadriplegic amputee, are you still you? Is your “I”, now lessened? Are you less a person? Have you lost any part of the real you? Yes, you have a loss of physical function, but are you as a person, a character, a personality in any way lessened? Is your Will lessened? Is your consciousness lessened? Is your mind and intelligence lessened? By applying deductive reasoning, you will conclude that your sense of self and the essence of what and who you are remain unchanged.
Other people say they are their name, job title, nationality or mind, but are these labels really true? Let’s examine this. Throughout western society, it is customary for new brides to take the last name of their new husbands, but does this change the essence of who they are. If Sally Jones changed her name to Sally Smith, did the essence of who she is change? No, she remains unchanged. Her body, memories, Will, consciousness, and essence of who she is, remains unchanged. The same applies to labels of nationality and job titles. I have a friend who was born and raised in the Philippines. When she was twenty, she moved to America and eventually became a naturalized citizen. She is now “an American citizen”. Again, I ask the question, did the essence of who she is change? No, she remains unchanged. Her body, memories, Will, and consciousness, remains unchanged.
Well, what about your mind? Are you your mind? Many people do indeed think that they are their mind. When a person says, I am my mind, I usually ask them to do a simple exercise. I ask them to close their eyes and take a deep breathe. As they slowly exhale, I ask them to stop all thinking and remain quiet. I have them do this for about 45 seconds. Then, I ask the person if they heard a voice in their head. Everyone that I asked to do this exercise say the same answer -”yes”. I reconfirm the answer by repeating the question a second time. Again, the person usually answers “yes”. Next I asked the following: “if you heard a voice, who was listening to the voice, and who was speaking?” Most people are unusually baffled and stated that “I was listening, and my mind was speaking”. Does this not show a clear distinction between you and your mind? There is that which possesses: “I” and that which is possessed: “mind”. Furthermore, when you tried to control your mind by stop thinking, your mind continued to generate thoughts (chatter) almost as if they were wild horses. So there is a “controller”, and there is that which is controlled which further indicate two separate entities. So, in a stringent analysis, “I” is not your mind. You have a mind, but you are not your mind.
If you are not our name, job title, nationality, or mind, who are you? The Yogic teachings explain that we are made up of five different energy layers or koshas, also called sheaths. The outermost is the Physical body. Inside that is our Breath layer, through which flows the universal life-force energy or prana. The next layer is the Mind, which is our consciousness, and further inside we discover our Intellect, which serves the function of discrimination. The final sheath is our Bliss body which is the domain of Spirit, the collective consciousness, and the place where we find our Soul.
Our Soul, sometimes referred to as the True Self or Higher Self, is pure Spirit and is a luminous ray of light from Source Energy (God). The Higher Self is our inner core that has awareness, and it is the center that observes. It is eternal, and is the part of us that consist of pure consciousness and connects us directly to the Source Energy (God). It is the big “I” inside us; the “I” that is the true “I am”; the “I” that is God. Our Higher Self is not only limited to our present incarnation, but it as access to all our lifetimes, past, present and future. It spans dimensions, time and space.
In the late-eighties, there was a popular movie entitled “Cocoon”. The aliens in the movie were just glowing bundles of serene white light (energy). When trying to envision the energetic bodies that the ancient yogis were describing, it reminds me of this movie. Unfortunately, we rarely think of ourselves in this way. But we are an aspect of Source Energy (God); not God in the monotheistic, religious sense, but God as the Ultimate Consciousness, the great field of pure potentiality from which all things arise who has chosen to come to this physical space / time dimension for the purpose of experiencing the variety that surrounds us and to create our reality for expansion of our souls.
Furthermore, we are each here to awaken a hidden part of ourselves, which naturally wants to explore the Universe and experience how amazing life is. We were all given the power of co-creation so we can celebrate our spiritual existence through an out-flowing of our infinite creative cosmic energy. Therefore, we are the creators of our experiences, and we are the experiencers of that which we create. Creating our experiences is the most natural creative expression of our innate power. According to Dr. Joseph Murphy, founder of the Church of Divine Science, we are here to discover our true place in life, and to give of our talents to the world. We are here to expand and unfold in a wonderful way, according to a God-given potential, and to bring forth spiritual, mental, and material riches, which will bless humanity in countless ways.
If this true, why do most people create limited experiences that is based in lack such as ill-health, bad relationships, and poverty which cause them to suffer? It occurs because they are being controlled by their minds, and they have not connected to their Higher Self which is the source of intuitive knowledge and guidance. Furthermore, most people are unaware that they are the creator of their experiences. Instead, most people go through life thinking that life just happens, and they are basically at the mercy of random events, luck, fate, karma, or circumstances and they believe they are powerless human beings who have little influence over what they experience in life. As a result, many people feel trapped in a reality that keep them feeling unfulfilled, unhappy, and experiencing suffering. However, this is just an illusion because we have been endowed with Will which is our ability to decide, to choose, and to determine. Will is our power to move energy, move things, manifest our desires, and create who we are BEing. By using our Will, we can change our realities because they are nothing more than illusions that are based on our thoughts, emotions, beliefs, attitudes, opinions, and points of views, and this change begins by renewing our mind.
In the Christian Bible, Apostle Paul stated “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind….” (Romans 12:2) which means we must remove all negative thoughts, limiting beliefs, opinions, emotional trauma, and negative memories that is trapped in our mind. Our mind is our greatest ally or our greatest enemy, depending on whether we control it or it controls us. What is going on in our lives is a reflection of what is going on in our mind. Our mind is a major determinant of our experiences, and our happiness or pain in our lives. To resolve our problems and conflicts in life, we must first resolve the turbulence in our mind and remove the negative energy that causes the illusion of separateness and become our Higher Self. By accomplishing this, we will be in alignment with Source Energy (God) and our good will flow to us.
Namaste,
RC
