Who Am I?

Who am I? Not the body, because it is decaying; not the mind, because the brain will decay with the body; not the personality, nor the emotions, for these also will vanish with death.?

Ramana Maharshi

Wisdom is knowing I am nothing,?Love is knowing I am everything,?and between the two my life moves.?

Nisargadatta Maharaj

Descartes described himself as his thoughts. Freud and Jung described others as conscious or unconscious. What they described was not who we are, but what we manifest ourselves as. We are far more than our sensations, emotions, and thoughts.

5000 years ago, Vedic Upanishads said we are energy beings. Sensations, emotions and thoughts are situational outcomes based on where and when we are. Isavasya Upanishad described our true state as one that allowed us to look at others the same way as we would ourselves, selflessly.?

Keno Upanishad uses the metaphor of an invisible being who vanquishes Indra, the king of the divine beings, deva, and his generals, as the ultimate energy that is part of each of us. It speaks of the energy as the?‘Self that makes us hear but cannot be heard, makes us see but cannot be seen, makes us think but cannot be reached through thoughts, and lets us breathe but cannot be drawn in by the breath. The only way to know the Self is to realize the Self’.?

Mundaka Upanishad speaks of two golden birds on tree, one flitting from fruit to fruit, and another witnessing the antics of this bird disengaged. Our ego self is driven by we sense and experience. This causes unhappiness. It says that the disengaged energy Self, when we find it, liberates us.

Doesn’t help us much, does it? Where do we find it??

In Vigyana Bhairava Tantra, the source scripture of all meditations, Shiva tells Shakti. ‘I am in the space between your breaths.’?

Not for nothing is breath awareness is at the heart of all meditation. Inhale deeply. Hold the breath. Exhale slowly. Hold it again. In the space as you hold your breath, you will discover yourself, and Shiva.

Ramana Maharishi, the silent sage, taught the Self-Inquiry process seeking?Who Am I. Paraphrasing Ramana, ‘You are already aware of who you are. That is your nature. All you need is to unlearn what you are not. As each thought, feeling and sensation arises, peel it off as in inquiring where it comes from. Keep witnessing and disengaging, not getting caught in your senses. You’ll reach the core of bliss that’s you.’?

Add Shiva’s advice to Ramana’s. You will discover yourself.?

Watch your breath every 15 minutes. If you find that difficult, you should not be alive! Disengage from any thought or sensation you have, watch them as you would clouds in the sky in a disengaged way, and focus on your breath. Inhale deeply, hold, exhale slowly, hold, and repeat 10 times. You will be aware, alive and awake.?

That is who you are. You’re not the anxious, stressed out weakling hiding in a corner, or the overbearing bully hiding your insecurities, or the coward escaping drowning yourself in spirits. You are the Spirit. Being aware of your breath helps you in being aware that you are an energy being.

Reflections:

·??????What changes when the practise breath awareness?

·??????What happens when you witness your thoughts without following them??

Please do write in, resonant or dissonant. Let’s have a conversation.?Please share with others who may benefit.?

Ram is co-founder and mentor at Coacharya?https://coacharya.com. Ram's focus is integration of Eastern wisdom with modern science, spiritually, systemically and sustainably. Visit Coacharya.

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