WHO ARE YOU?
This seemingly harmless question was one of the major initiators of my spiritual journey.
It made me fall deep and rise high.
I know you might think the answer is super easy but trust me the answer is as deep as it gets...
I'm talking about God, Eternity, and more...
So hear me out on this one, it will be worth it.
You are not who you think you are that is for sure!
Let's start at the very beginning...
Content Table
What does the question mean?
Who are you is pretty much like asking What truly & ultimately defines YOU?
So we are looking for a definition of YOU.
What is a definition even?
A definition is a statement expressing the essential nature of something.
So we are looking for YOUR essential nature a thing that is at the core & not changeable - that will be the answer to the question of who you are...
The Easy Replacement Questions
Most people answer the question: Who are you?
By simply replacing it with a way easier question: What is your name?
It's just an easy escape from a hard and long search for yourself.
In fact most people DO NOT know who they are.
They can answer these easier replacement questions like:
Easy Replacement Questions - THAT ARE NOT the original question:
❌ What is your name?
❌ What are your hobbies?
❌ What is your profession?
❌ What roles do you play in this life?
❌ Which nationality are you?
❌ What are some of your characteristics or values?
So NO!!!
I did not ask what's your name, where you came from or what you do for work...
I asked WHO YOU TRULY ARE?
In many religions finding your true self will lead you to truth and so does this question.
If you are ready and open to accept that your current self-image might not be complete ONLY THEN you are ready and open for a better definition of who you are, always have been & always will be...
Destroying the old Self-Image
Let's get into the trenches and discuss why you are NONE of the things mentioned above with some examples.
This process is ruthless and a lot of resistance SHOULD come up when hearing this because this will threaten your so-called EGO (sense of self).
You will most likely have a lot of voices trying to tell you:
He is wrong, that is nonsense...
But there is a fundamental truth in this question that has been around for thousands of years now - so there is a part of you buried deep down inside of you that KNOWS that this question is important and that the answer could change EVERYTHING. (So it did for me...)
So stay as open as you possibly can and we might experience a breakthrough together today.
You are NOT your Name.
You ARE NOT your name.
You POSSESS a name but you ARE not your name.
Makes sense? I mean think about it what if you changed a letter in your name wouldn't you be still the same?
Of course!
So you are NOT your name.
How could you be?! I mean a name is just a random sequence of letters, you are WAYYYY more complex than that...
Say goodbye to that concept and label for now.
In fact no label that is just a sequence of letters can define you!
Words are just trying to describe you but they are NOT the thing that is truly from the core defining you.
Makes sense?
(So you are not your nationality - the borders of countries are just made up anyway...
The concept of a country is made up so you better not attach yourself to it because if one country would cease to exist so would you, but you obviously wouldn't - so you are NOT your nationality - let that sink in and let that go!)
You are not what you do!
"I'm a person who does this and that and likes this and that."
That is NOT a valid answer either. Nothing that you can do - can be you.
➡️ You PLAY football - You ARE NOT the football.
Makes sense?
So STOP defining yourself with your job, your hobbies, or any preferences.
These definitions don't last - so they are not the ultimate truth.
If your job, hobby, or preference would cease to exist - SO WOULD YOU, but you don't keep being here even though things change around you (and inside of you) all the time.
We must find something consistent throughout our whole life to pinpoint the definition of who we are...
You are not your persona
That's the same reason why you are NOT your personality, personalities change all the time!!!
You are not your personality you are the CHANGER of your personality in the background - you decide which character trait you'd like to pursue and which one to abandon.
You are like the stonemason of your character.
I mean after all the word personality comes from the old latin word "persona" which referred to a theatrical mask...
➡️ YOU ARE NOT THE MASK but behind it.
➡️ YOU ARE NOT THE ROLE you are playing you are the DIRECTOR adjusting the role when needed to fit into the play at hand.
I hope I sold this point is very important to understand that and to let that sink in for a bit...
But it is getting even harder now...
YOU ARE NOT YOUR BODY
Wait what?
Yes, you heard me correctly.
Hear me out.
You maneuver your body like a car...
Telling it what to do... move this finger, keep running, etc.
So if you USE your body like a tool to accomplish things - you cannot BE your body.
Makes sense?
I wouldn't say John IS the hammer, just because he is USING it, right?
The only difference between the hammer and your body is, that you can feel when your body is being hurt, you can't feel when the hammer is being hurt...
But just because you can feel something - it does not mean that you ARE that thing it means this thing is connected to you and can transfer messages to you. Like this is too hot or cold for this body.
So yeah the body is like our door into this world.
We get to experience many beautiful things from outside like the wind, the sun, and music through our senses.
They are like connectors from the outside world to the inside world.
But your ears can't hear the music - they just transfer the notes to you and you can hear it.
Makes sense?
The body is giving you a stream of information but who is experiencing and reviewing this stream of info?
The mind?
Well, we are getting closer here!
You are NOT your mind.
Maaaaany people define themselves as the inner voice inside of their head - let's call it the mind.
Their thoughts, emotions, and all these things from the inside never seem to stop so they are consistent, right?
Well... Not really.
I mean understanding you are the voice inside of your head that talks all the time is super close to the truth and WAAYYY closer than identifying yourself with what you have or what you do.
But it's not completely there yet.
I mean what if the voice stops for a minute - do you cease to exist?
NO obviously not - therefore you cannot BE the voice - you HEAR it...
When you meditate (which is quite difficult I admit) you can reach a state of not thinking about anything and not having any emotions going around in your body. No thoughts or words in your mind.
BUT you are still there. You arrived in the here & now.
It is not coincidental that people who meditate a lot become spiritual...
They remember that they are NOT their body, nor their mind, nor their feelings, nor their past or any of those labels or things...
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THEY ARE....the EXPERIENCER of all these things.
They are the CONSCIOUSNESS watching the thoughts go by like clouds.
They are the AWARENESS that see emotions come and go like the tides.
They are the LISTENER of their thoughts - not the thoughts themselves.
Imagine it like this...
You are the person sitting in the cinema watching & feeling the life of the main character through the 1st person perspective.
You hear all of the character's thoughts.
You can see everything he sees.
You can hear everything he hears.
You can even feel all the sensations in his body.
BUT...
YOU ARE still the experiencer, the viewer, not the character himself...
It is kind of obvious once you see it but it is hard to remember that because the movie is so immersive that you forget from time to time to take a step back and remember that this is NOT you, you are just consciousness experiencing this life.
So... who are you after all? Here are some terms that fit will describe what you really are:
You are not your name, you are an AWARENESS inside of a human body that has received a name.
You are not your body, you are the CONSCIOUSNESS steering your body in different directions.
You are not the character in the video game but you are the PLAYER with the joystick in your hand.
You are not your thoughts but the LISTENER of your thoughts who can judge your thoughts and steer them in another direction.
BTW, I love THIS question here to help people awaken and see the truth...
If the voice in your head is talking all the time... then who is hearing & listening to your voice?
I mean you can hear the voice right? So who is the LISTENER?
Let that one sink in - it hit me haaaard...
A Christian way to say consciousness/awareness/listener etc? THE SOUL perhaps even the holy spirit?
I love this Quora Comment ... (Please read it!)
It is pretty logical to understand this - you are not what you possess - you are not what you do - you are the one experiencing this human life.
That is the ONLY constant in your life. You being aware of all this...
AND BTW that is also what makes you such an amazing being...
Example:
Imagine a human who is truly unaware of their thoughts etc.
They would just function like a machine - solely relying on the subconscious mind.
There would be no reflecting, no new thinking just functioning.
There would be no spark in that being, some could argue that there would be no soul!
With no consciousness, you'd lose all your individuality, all of your creativity and therefore you would lose everything that makes you so uniquely awesome...
Your road ahead
If you can feel JUST A BIT of truth here then hang on to these thoughts for a while!!!
They are like seeds in your mind and eventually, you will awaken if you keep pursuing the deeper truth in this...
(At least most people will, some have too big of a resistance from their ego to transcend into that higher realm of being.)
Because after you truly realize that you are the awareness & consciousness (gifted with a human body) a WHOLE other world will open in front of your eyes...
I'm talking about God, connecting to everything in the universe, seeing truths so deep you could fall on your knees and simply cry when seeing them.
Rising in consciousness will get you closer to your creator (God & Consciousness) and there is no feeling on this planet that even resembles the amount of awe and ecstasy that you get when getting closer to God and making him open your eyes...
There is a difference between mentally understanding this concept - and really looking at your thoughts and be like - wait a second... OMG THIS IS NOT ME!!!!! ...It is truly like waking up from being asleep for many years!!! Refilling your SOUL again with life & light!
Don't fall into the trap of just understanding it - this is something that needs to be FELT and that can only happen if you TRULY let go & surrender ALL the concepts you have of yourself and you'll be scared to fall into nothingness but the beauty is you will fall into "everything-ness" God's hands.
BUT you need to empty your cup first and release all the worldly attachments you have - surrender of self is the ONLY path that will get you there.
Concepts of yourself are like ballast to a heat balloon.
They hold you down, don't let you transcend.
Your ego wants you to believe in your Self... It is afraid of letting go of it - it fears death.
The number one false God to worship is the Self! It is a deception an illusion that separates you from the ultimate SELF the ultimate everything - God.
Let these seeds sprout for a few weeks without killing them immediately and see where it leads.
Write me (on Instagram) if you have any blocks here.
Always ready to help another soul find the light of their creation from their creator again!
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