IDENTITY IS THE ROOT OF ALL PROBLEMS

It's probably not the politically or socially correct thing to say, but I'm speaking from a much deeper place than all that! I'm speaking from the recognition of being-ness as the source of "I am".

The entity we call "the self" loves to identify itself as this or that. But this or that are temporary phenomena, like clouds appearing in the sky. If you are "intellectual", this is only a passing expression in the larger existential scheme of things. If you are "body-centered", this too is a passing expression. Neither the mind nor the body is the source of who you are. If you are "spiritual" or "unspiritual", "lucky" or unlucky", "rich" or "poor", "black" or "white" ... these are all surface manifestations. Some of them refer to the conditions of your life, some to the proclivity of your interests, some to the beliefs you have about yourself, and others are simply descriptions of the color of your skin.

If you look inside, if you rest within, if you touch the core of being - in other words, that which is here prior to thought and feeling and experience - you will see that none of these descriptions can accurately portray your essential nature. If you look beyond culture and race and gender and education and circumstance, you will know yourself simply as a human being. And if you look even beyond that, you will know yourself as simply being-ness. Each and every one of us is being-ness beneath and beyond the surface manifestation of body, mind, emotion, belief and opinion.

Each of us is conditioned biologically, historically, and geographically. Each of us is conditioned educationally, socially, and culturally. Each of us is born into a family constellation, a certain dynamic that influences us and shapes us into our beliefs about ourselves and about the world. For many people, they are also conditioned politically and collectively. And yet none of this is who you are. If you seek to know yourself at the deepest, if you seek to awaken out of the prison of ego-self and be free of conditioning even whilst you embody your biology and your unique expression ... then you will seek to know the source of "I am".

Deriving a sense of identity from the fluctuating conditions of the earthly experience is the root of all problems. Because whatever is fixed as an identity, there is inevitably the opposite in the world. And so the argument begins. And so the war of "us versus them" perpetuates itself. Not only is it a prison for the self, but it is also a prison for others.

We can acknowledge the unique unfoldment of our individual lives, we can live intimately with our felt-sense, we can be fully here unashamed and unapologetic for our color, shape, language, scars and wounds, expressions and visions, history and geography ... and yet be free of deriving our identity from the peaks and valleys of the human experience. We can go deep within and examine what is true and what is more present and more eternal and unchanging than the waves of this and that. And in this deepest knowing, we are free to be and we allow others to be free to be.

In this deepest knowing, we are all one in being. Surely this is the way to peace and freedom? Surely this ends the divided state, within ourselves and within the world?

To know true nature as being-ness is not just a spiritual pursuit for those who have the luxury to contemplate their navel. It is a necessity for each human being concerned with taking responsibility for living a life of peace and being the source of peace in the world. If only we all really knew ourselves as the source, we would stop condemning those who seem different, we would stop arguing about what we think or believe, we would see beyond time and space to the eternal oneness of things.

My friend, may you look within and know yourself. Namaste. 🙏

image by Alexandra_Koch from Pixabay

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