What is My Identity?
What am I? How do you feel when you ask yourself this question? How many thoughts, memories, and concepts do you think of as your own?
Describe the thing that best describes you or what you are. Do you feel better or worse after going through this journey of self-discovery?
It’s possible that when your favorite basketball team loses, it seems as if you’ve also lost. When your automobile is destroyed, it feels as though you’re hurting yourself.
When someone assaults you for who you believe you are, you feel like they’re poking at your genuine self. Do you have any ideas on how to get out of this unnecessary agony and drama?
Seeing what you’re not may help you realize what you are. To be free of the ego attachments that give you pain, it is helpful to have a clear understanding of how identification takes place.
To assist you with this, there is an easy meditation.
A Contemplation on The Nature of One’s Own Identity
Lie down or take a seat in a quiet area. Take a few slow, deep breaths and relax. Allow your breathing to settle into a regular rhythm by breathing in and out through your nose.
Your lungs and nose are filled with air; pay attention to the movement of air in and out of them. Let go of all the stress you’ve been holding on to.
“Where am I?” is a good question to ask yourself. Then ponder, “What am I? Who am I? “, Let these questions float around in your head for a while.
Focus on your leg and pay attention to your body. Would your existence come to an end if you lost your phone? Is this your limb? “Am I here?” and “Is this what I am?” are questions you should ask yourself as you go through your body.
Then, with your eyes wide open, survey your immediate surroundings. Which of these best describes your character?
Despite the fact that you may experience anguish when your beloved chair breaks, you are not that chair. Which of the following items do you own?
Ask Yourself the Following Questions: Inquire, “Am I This?”
Close your eyes once again and repeat your name aloud. Does anybody feel like they belong? What would happen if you had no one to identify you?
After saying your name out loud, ask yourself, “Are you sure?” Consider the most truthful response. Try introducing yourself by stating, “I am…,” and then changing the name.
When you refer to yourself by a new name, you have a different sensation. What you call yourself is a set of thoughts that are interpreted differently by you and the people you interact with.
Observe How You Feel and Ask Yourself, “Am I Afraid?
Pain, grief, desire, pleasure, wrath, and so forth because your emotions don’t belong to you, you can recognize that you’re not the source of them.
Does anything about your appearance, physical appearance, or reputation define who you really are?
For the next twenty minutes or so, continue this meditation. Take a deep breath and stand up, paying attention to how you feel—either less stressed or more detached from objects, emotions, and ideas.
Repetition of the meditation will help you remember what you are not. The question, “Who am I?” doesn’t actually need to be answered.
