Today`s topic is #SelfReflectionSunday and #WhoAreYou I was asked this question on a Facebook post today and my answer is revealed if you read further below in my post.
I AM EVERYTHING
I AM IN YOU, AS YOU ARE IN ME
I AM IN TRUTH
I AM BOTH, PAST, THE FUTURE AND THE PRESENT MOMENT
I AM ALSO WHOEVER YOU WANT ME TO BE.– Tiaga Nihal Kaur
Let me try to explain what I mean by my answers, In the first and second sentence “I AM EVERYTHING, I AM IN YOU, AS YOU ARE IN ME.” I am not separate from others or from things. We are all vibrational energy that has the same chemical building blocks of life. We all came from the Universe and are comprised of stardust. Take a look at what Neil DeGrasse Tyson says in this quote below
“The atoms of our bodies are traceable to stars that manufactured them in their cores and exploded these enriched ingredients across our galaxy, billions of years ago. For this reason, we are biologically connected to every other living thing in the world. We are chemically connected to all molecules on Earth. And we are atomically connected to all atoms in the universe. We are not figuratively, but literally stardust.” – Neil deGrasse Tyson, American Astrophysicist and Science Communicator.
… or what Buddhist view has to say about interconnectedness. Interconnectedness is part of the terminology of a worldview which sees a oneness in all things. The mystics have related this as the notion of “All in one, and one in all” as we can see from the Avatamsaka Sutra which is a basic idea of Unity of the Absolute and the Relative.
All in One, One in All. The All melts into a single whole. There are no divisions in the totality of reality. It views the cosmos as holy as “one bright pearl,” the universal reality of the Buddha.
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama has this beautiful quote about Oneness.
Ultimately, humanity is one and this small planet is our only home, if we are to protect this home of ours, each of us needs to experience a vivid sense of universal altruism. it is only this feeling that can remove the self-centered motives that cause people to deceive and misuse one another.
.. or this quote on the interconnected nature of our existence.
At a fundamental level, as human beings, we are all the same; each one of us aspires to happiness and each one of us does not wish to suffer. This is why, whenever I have the opportunity, I try to draw people’s attention to what as members of the human family we have in common and the deeply interconnected nature of our existence and welfare. – Dalai Lama
The next sentence in my answer of who I am,
“I AM IN TRUTH”
So what does this exactly mean? Well, I am a Buddhist practitioner and I do follow to my best effort The Four Noble Truths and The Eightfold Path.
No one wants to suffer in this world and I didn`t know much about Buddhism at first, but what I have learned is that this religion shows practical things we can do to become liberated, see the Noble Eightfold Path illustration from below.
I didn’t really chase Buddhism at all, Buddha found me. I have always been searching for the deeper meanings of life, I need depth and not superficiality in my life so I started studying hard and long, and I still do, every single day, I fail and I get up and continue with my dharma to end my suffering.
धर्मः तस्माद्धर्मात् परं नास्त्य् अथो अबलीयान् बलीयाँसमाशँसते धर्मेण यथा राज्ञैवम् ।
यो वै स धर्मः सत्यं वै तत् तस्मात्सत्यं वदन्तमाहुर् धर्मं वदतीति धर्मं वा वदन्तँ सत्यं वदतीत्य् एतद्ध्येवैतदुभयं भवति
Nothing is higher than Dharma. The weak overcomes the stronger by Dharma, as over a king. Truly that Dharma is the Truth (Satya); Therefore, when a man speaks the Truth, they say, “He speaks the Dharma”; and if he speaks Dharma, they say, “He speaks the Truth!” For both are one.
— Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, 1.4.xiv
… Being in truth means that I try my best to live a conscious life and direct my focus on what the basic truth is. The basic truth to me is for example when I reflect over my perceptions of things, whether it`s about how I perceive someone, a situation or even myself, I try to dig a little bit deeper, and ask myself a set of questions, is it really so? Or do I have alternative options on how I can perceive the flow of life and can I change my perceptions through meditation, mindfulness, yoga, and reflection? So I try to keep my mind in check. I love this Hindu illustration that illustrates the horses of Arjunas chariot because it also describes to a fuller visual extent what I am trying to say.
The next sentence in my answer is,
“I AM BOTH, PAST, THE FUTURE AND THE PRESENT MOMENT”
Our mind is elusive, we have a hard time coming back to the present moment so we continuously lose our focus and jump back and forth with our thoughts of the past, the future and being here. This is also a practice where you can find stability and balance when you focus and direct your attention towards your breath. Let`s say you are going about your daily business, waking up early, you start to think about your work and everything that has to be done later on when you come home again.
“But first, you need to drive to the kindergarten, be on time for work, make appointments, send emails, Oh No! you have forgotten that it’s your mum`s birthday today. You start to have bad feelings about not getting her a present and you feel like the worst daughter ever forgetting your mums birthday.”
You have to find the time and figure out what to get her while you have all these thoughts passing through your mind’s eye, you drift off a bit from the present moment, forget that you are breathing, but you still do, you`re just not paying attention to it. This mind is called the “Monkey Mind“, Everything seems to be in motion all the time, its a series of thoughts running through your mind all day long .. And its tiering, its draining and your energy levels, Oh my, and let’s not talk about stress you feel in your neck, in your back hurts like he** your stress levels hit the roof and you need to sit down and calm down. Breathe. Just follow your breath and be here in the moment, this is life and where you belong. Not in the past or with the concern of the future. Let me tell you something, the future is out of your control, so is the past. The only thing that really matters is this PRESENT MOMENT, nothing else.
… The very last sentence in my answer is;
“I AM ALSO WHOEVER YOU WANT ME TO BE.”
In today’s society identity is a patchwork that has loose ends, we need to stop letting others decide who we are, what we should look like, how we should dress and how much money we should have. You are who you are regardless what other people are saying about you or how they perceive you. You need to have a certain stability in your life to know who you truly are and to live a life that you want, that isn’t based on what your family, your friends, co-workers, and strangers would like you to be. But people are relentless because they perceive you in relation to their own minds, they reflect their own sorrows, fears of not being good enough and they even compare themselves to you and that births the end of your happiness, because when they express themselves and rationalize that its okay to say things like; – “You will never make it that far” when the core issue here actually is their own self-image, their own incapability to own their own lives because they are actually too scared to live consciously. I have experienced this so many times before and it is heartbreaking when the circumstances in your own life alter the path that you actually do want to take in life. But with this insight, I believe we can raise our heads and our mind to a higher level of insight and look beyond the horizon and reach for the land of clarity. You now see that you can`t be defined by others because you are steady within yourself, you pursue the fundamental truth of who you really are. You are enough just the way you are,
AND YOU ARE FIERCE!!
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Let`s not be shy and recite this mantra;
I AM COURAGEOUS,
I AM BRAVE
I VOICE MY OPINIONS
I AM A SEEKER OF TRUTH
I AM I AM ..
I AM COMMENTING THIS POST!
SHARING ON SOCIAL MEDIA!! Join the CONSCIOUS LIFE MOVEMENT
How would you describe yourself? Who are you really? Please share your answers on your own website, blog or social media but use the hashtags #SelfReflectionSunday and #WhoAreYou to contribute to living a more conscious life.
Thank you for reading!
With loving kindness,
Tiaga Nihal Kaur.
Namaste ॐ
Metta Yoga: Kundalini Yoga & Meditation for Awakening to Your Infinite Self 