Hi,
I am Johnny John.
The journey of self-knowing is the journey of developing the knowing of who we really are.
And this journey can be quite confusing for some.
For there are many levels of the self.
For instance,
The body,
The emotions,
The mind,
The heart,
And so forth.
And the more one develops self-awareness,
The more one will become aware of these levels of the self participating in the discussions of who I am.
Sometimes they will agree,
And when all levels of the self agree,
All is well.
However,
When there are disagreements within,
Then confusions can arise.
For instance,
Your heart may know that it's right to forgive,
But your mind just doesn't want to.
For instance,
Your mind may want a better job,
But your emotions don't want to.
For instance,
Your body may want a drink of water,
But you just can't be bothered.
Which one is the real me?
Which self should I listen to?
Which self should I develop the self-knowing?
In this talk,
We will talk about the different levels of the self,
So that one can clear the confusions,
So that one can develop greater self-knowing.
So let's begin.
Let's begin with a question.
Why aren't we born just with one perspective?
For instance,
With just one level of the self.
Wouldn't that make things much simpler,
As compared to having different levels of perception,
Of thoughts,
Emotions,
Intuition,
Body instincts,
Which simply complicates self-knowing?
To understand,
Let us use the knowing of a tree,
For example.
If you want to know what a tree is,
With just one level of thought,
A tree is a tree.
That's it.
That is the undistorted truth.
The tree knowing is complete.
But how can you refine that knowing even more?
You can do so by adding more perspectives.
For instance,
If you add the perspective which allows you to zoom in to the tree so close that the tree no longer looks like a tree,
And zoom out of the tree,
Until it just becomes a dot,
Then this extra perspective will allow you to refine the knowing of what a tree looks like from different distances.
Although these perspectives distort what the tree actually is,
The tree is still a tree.
By experiencing the distortion of the truth,
Actually allows you to refine the tree knowing.
You can also add more perspectives,
Such as one which allows you to adjust the angle at which you observe the tree.
Now you will be able to see the same tree differently,
In ways that you never imagined a tree would look like.
From above,
From below,
From sideways,
At odd angles.
These perspectives which make a tree look like not a tree,
Will again help you to refine the tree knowing even more.
So if a person were to show you a picture of a tree taken at an odd angle,
Would you say that the picture is not of a tree?
If you never saw a tree from above,
And someone showed you a picture of a tree taken from the bird's eye point of view,
Would that still be a tree?
Essentially yes,
It is still a tree,
But simply viewed from another angle.
So now let us use this analogy and come back to the question about which level of the self is the real you.
At the level of the absolute truth,
You are you,
One is one,
Creator is creator,
Infinity is infinity,
This is the undistorted self,
You are all there is,
Because you are oneness,
You are infinite.
The heart will always know this truth,
But right now it is difficult to see this truth.
Because like viewing a tree from different angles,
The physical,
Mental and emotional self allows one to have many perspectives of the same experience,
Allowing one to see the same experience from different angles,
Different viewpoints.
Now oneness doesn't look so much like one,
Now oneness looks separated,
Now oneness looks many,
And because now one looks different from different perspectives,
One can create the belief that this is not one,
That is not one,
Like believing that a tree is not a tree,
Just because it is viewed from a different angle.
You can create the belief that you are not oneness,
That you are not infinite,
And when this happens,
The suffering states of mind will be experienced,
For there is no greater pain than one to point in a mirror to say that it is not one.
That is why there will always be a desire within towards greater happiness in life,
Because the state of happiness is simply a state of embracing the truth of who we really are.
So as one learns to accept all there is,
One is developing a self-knowing of who they really are.
So it's important to look within for the beliefs we have created which goes against the truth of who we are,
And these will be the negative ideas that we have created within,
Which promotes self-rejection and separation,
Thus the experience of unhappiness.
So to know the self is to know the real you,
Which is infinite,
Which is oneness,
And your heart will always know the truth.
That is why you will often experience conflicts between the mind and heart.
To know the self is also to know how you are currently viewing yourself from the perspective of your body,
Emotions and thoughts,
How you are viewing yourself from different perspectives.
Thus to know the self is to also develop the knowing of what beliefs you carry within.
It's about knowing your fears,
Your desires.
It's important to know what beliefs that you have,
That are currently making you reject yourself in others,
For these will be the beliefs that make you go against the truth of who you are,
Thus giving rise to the suffering states of the mind.
The practice of meditation will help you greatly to develop self-knowing,
Because meditation will help you to go deeper and deeper into yourself,
To help you see how you are viewing yourself from different perspectives.
For instance,
As you view yourself from the outside,
You may think that you are a person that gets along with everyone,
But then as you turn onwards to see the negative reactions that you always experience when people around you,
You will get an inner perspective of who you really are.
And like this,
You go deeper into the self,
To discover the beliefs you have created,
Which is generating all these reactions.
And like this,
You go deeper to see that,
When there are no attachments to the ideas of who you are,
You are simply being yourself,
You are simply the infinite consciousness,
The mind which is infinite in potential.
And like this,
You go deeper and deeper,
To know the self from all perspectives.
Ultimately,
The journey of self-knowing is to reach a state where you are able to see the truth of who you really are,
No matter where you stand.
Thus,
It is a journey of aligning the mind and heart as one.
In conclusion,
The different levels of the self simply allows you to see oneness from different perspectives.
And the journey of self-knowing is to become aware of these perspectives,
To become aware of the different levels of the self,
So that you can transform your beliefs that are preventing you from seeing that all is one.
The more we develop self-knowing of who we really are,
The more we will develop happiness.
Because with self-knowing comes self-transformation.
Because how can you not accept all the errors,
The more you realise who you are,
That you are one,
That you are all there is,
That there really is just oneself,
No matter where we stand,
And that is the one and only the Creator.
