Who am I?
A meditation.
A common practice in meditation is to sit with this question,
Who am I?
This is a method of self inquiry that I believe can guide you to a deeper truth within.
And as Jesus said,
The truth shall set you free.
I've taken down some insights I received about this question and I've decided to start with what I am not,
And then I will tell you the deeper truth I received.
I am not this body.
Recently I listened to a guided meditation on the skeleton.
The practice involves sitting peacefully and focusing on your skeleton.
By doing this,
You realize that the bones are nothing but matter.
What are the bones without the direction of consciousness?
The perception of beauty is gone when you've removed the skin.
You are so much more than this physical body.
Many people can only see themselves as a physical image.
And what are the dangers of being so caught up in your own physical image?
To believe that it is truth that it's you.
The truth is that your bones will decay,
Your face will change as you age,
You can cut your hair off,
Your skin can bruise.
People survive without their limbs.
You have a body but you are not this body.
To become too attached to your body causes you to lose your true sense of self.
If your hair looks bad then you feel bad.
If you gain weight you feel less worthy of attention or affection.
If your sense of self comes from a deeper place of truth,
Then you will have more confidence.
A sense of peace within.
Because you're not concerned so much with how others see you.
You know who you are.
I am not my emotions.
The emotions you and I feel are temporary.
It is important to not be guided entirely by how you feel.
That is an easy way for you to fall out of balance.
Distance yourself from what you feel.
Instead of I am angry or I am sad,
Understand that you are experiencing these waves of emotion.
Create space between you and what you experience.
Do not become it.
I am not the stories I believe.
This perhaps was my deepest insight.
I feel that humans find meaning by telling stories.
That is a part of what makes us human.
We must be able to see through these stories to find our true self.
Think about this.
When a person loses their memory,
What is it that they lose?
Their stories.
But is that person gone then?
The question,
The search then becomes,
Who are you?
Who are you really?
This is a search for truth.
To see clearly,
To expand your awareness,
You become mindful of your thoughts and catch yourself in your constant storytelling.
In our minds we create endless storylines.
Stories about who we are and what we believe.
Stories about our relationships with other people.
We create the story of our life by attaching meaning to every experience we have.
Now I am not asking you to judge this as bad,
But to become aware of it so that you may avoid unnecessary stress.
Learn to see the story for what it is.
Step away from the storyline for a moment.
Nurturing your spirit requires you to take a step back and understand your spirit cares less about all these stories.
Your spirit desires a peaceful existence,
A living connection,
A reconciliation to all that is and to have that you cannot be constantly wrapped up in a story.
We get so caught up in this question of purpose because we are so used to creating a story about our life,
About who we are.
Are you able to just be here?
Realize you are more than a story,
More than this lifetime.
Jesus said if you hold on to your life you will surely lose it.
I'm not saying that your story doesn't matter.
As a person who lives mostly in my head,
I love to write.
I can make meaning literally out of nothing and I enjoy it.
It makes life interesting.
But you have to know how to take a step back.
Let your spirit take up more space to find God in all things and all people.
To know that if God is in you and you are one with God then are you not one with all?
Is this not what love yourself as your neighbor means?
Now,
What do you do with this knowledge?
Expand.
Go beyond your limited perception of self and let the truth open you.
Let it soften you and make you more compassionate so that love can flow through you more easily.
So that you become a vessel of love and God is given more space here.
Thank you.
