Who Am I? Do We Know Ourselves?
Who am I?
Trust me, we don’t know ourselves!
Your name, your designation, your qualifications, your net worth are just labels on your physical body, not YOU. You are something much bigger than these labels, but what is that?
Do a small exercise of trying to describe/ introduce yourself to someone without mentioning your name, the city you live in/come from, your qualifications, where you work/business and designation. If so far in your life, you haven’t asked yourself- Who am I? Now you will.
Going back to- what is it inside us that is much bigger than these labels?
To understand this, let us understand the 7 layers of our existence (from exterior to interior), as explained by Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
Now we exist on all these levels and all of them together comprise ME. Not just our body and mind, as most of us usually think. Many of us feel lost in our lives and are not able to put a finger on it, this happens because we have never spent time to understand ourselves.
Let’s deep dive into all these levels of existence-
1. BODY:
Body is which can see, hear, touch, feel etc. Close your eyes and feel your body from the tip of toe to tip of head. Your body carries all the labels, which we discussed above.
2. BREATH:
Body is ALIVE only when breath is coming in and out of your nostrils.
Our breath is the most overlooked and taken for-granted function of our body. We do pay attention to other functions of our body at times, but breath, never! Our breath is our “Prana”, our life force. The first act after birth is breathing in and the last act of our life is breathing out. Our breath is the very basis of our physical existence.
Have you ever noticed that your emotions are directly correlated to different breathing patterns?
When you are angry/anxious- your breath is short, fast and uneven;
when you are calm/relaxed- you take slow, long and deep breaths;
when you are scared- you breathe in quivers.
This means that our emotions directly influence our breathing patterns.
But what we don’t realize is- that the reverse is also true- our breath can also influence our emotions. Isn’t it wonderful?
Our breath is one of the most powerful tools that we have in our casket to take control of how we feel and spend each moment of our lives. With the right use of specialized breathing techniques (Pranayams and Sudarshan Kriya), we can make our life a cakewalk!
Long deep breaths = Happy and Calm mind
Short, uneven, quivery breaths = Unhappy/ stressed/ sad/ angry/ worried mind
3. MIND:
There is something in us that sees through eyes, feels touch through skin, feels taste through tongue, feels sound through ears and feels smell through nose. That something is our mind “mann”. In Hindi, we always say that “movie dekhne ka mann hai”. It is the mind “mann” that perceives the outer world through the five senses.
Next, you will be surprised to know that- our mind is not just inside our body. The mind is much bigger than our body, in-fact the body is enveloped inside the mind.
Our mind is nothing but energy (our attention to what we are thinking), and this energy surrounds us. It is even subtler than air and hence, has the wondrous power to penetrate time and space.
When our mind is focused and calm, only then it’s boundless energy can be harnessed to manifest intentions. And this can be only achieved through yoga and meditation.
“When your mind is not complaining and is responsible, courageous and confident; you become inexplicably beautiful.”- Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Always remember that your mind is the trickiest thing to manage. Your breath is always inside your body, but your mind is mostly wandering and oscillating between past (regretting or agonizing or getting nostalgic) and future (worrying, excessively planning).
Our mind is seldom in the present moment.
If you are listening to music but your mind is thinking about something else and, you are not actually listening, the sounds are just falling on your eardrums, as your mind is not in the present moment. If you are actually listening to the music and enjoying it, your mind is in the present moment.
Mind in present moment = Happy/ Calm/ centered/ equanimous state of mind
Mind not in present moment = Anxiety/ Stress/ Procrastination/ low enthusiasm/ sad/ lost/ regretful
“Your worries, your feelings, your thoughts arise in your own mind. You are totally responsible for all your feelings.” — Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
4. INTELLECT:
Whatever mind experiences through our five senses, there is a faculty which decides what is good or bad, right or wrong, happy or sad, yes or no etc. These decisions are taken by our intellect/brain.
5. MEMORY:
All the decisions that your intellect takes, are stored in our memory.
What is the tendency of our memory?
Memory mostly clings to the negative experiences; it will easily forget the positive experiences.
6. EGO:
With the above 5 levels of existence, we create our particular image in the society and that is ego.
We are always told that we should not have Ego. To this Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar says, “For God’s sake do not say that we should not have ego.” To understand this, we must understand ego at length.
There are two kinds of egos- positive and negative.
We should have positive ego, but no variety of negative egos.
But most of the time, we live in negative ego:
Either in superiority complex- I know everything/I don’t need to listen to anyone (overconfidence, self-praise)
Or in inferiority complex- I can’t do this
Or in victim ego- Poor me, I was wronged by someone/situation/life
Or in defensive ego- I didn’t do it, it was not me
Or in guilt ego- How could I make this mistake?
Or in blaming ego- always finding faults with others, blaming others for your situation
Now what is positive ego?
Having the internal confidence that- I am capable. I can do everything. Having this faith internally and quietly. Undertaking actions and tasks with inner confidence without making a noise about it is positive ego.
7. SELF / CONSCIOUSNESS:
Whatever is happening in the above 6 levels of existence, the WITNESS to that is our Self/ Consciousness/ Soul.
Self is the witness to our moment to moment and event to event life at all the above 6 levels of existence. Self is always the same. Never changes. Permanent. It has no beginning (“Anaadi”) and no end (“Ananta”).
When you feel very happy, have you noticed that there is something that expands inside you; and when you are sad, there is something that contracts inside you- this something is your Consciousness.
The basic nature of our Self is Love, Happiness and Peace. All negative emotions (anger/ hatred/ sorrow/ guilt) are just distorted forms of love. There is always a reason behind our negative emotions, but devoid of those reasons, there is Love, Happiness and Peace only.
(Your next question would be that- if my negative emotions spring from certain external reasons, how do I control them? If you feel a little inclined to know more, you might find the answer in the coming articles, I am sure it is going to be an interesting journey together!)
Going back to where we started from: Who am I? — Now you are much more acquainted with your multiple levels of existence.
In addition to your physical body, now you are aware of the importance of your breath in controlling your emotions; the boundless energy of your mind; tendency of your memory to stick to negative experiences; free will of the intellect to take decisions and most of all the true nature of your consciousness. Hope you feel more familiar with yourself!
Stay tuned for the coming articles to know more about ourselves, our lives, and this world. Sit tight, it is going to get even more interesting ;)
Disclaimer: The above article is purely based on my personal understanding of the knowledge gained from different courses, programs and knowledge sessions of The Art of Living Foundation.
