Who am I? - Part 7
Hello all,
Namaste! Hope all of you had a great week where you were able to spend wonderful and precious time with your family and friends during the holidays. For the last several weeks I have been describing the journey I had to take to discover who truly 'I am' from within. This week why don't we tie up many of the concepts together so that any human can use these towards finding who they truly are for their own life?
In the Indian movie 'Lagaan' there is a song called 'Mitwa'. In that the song starts with the lyric, 'Har Sant kahe, Sadhu kahe, sach aur saahas hein jiske mann mein, anth mein jeet usee hi ki rahe'. Meaning- Every saint and sage says, whoever has truth and courage in their mind, the victory becomes theirs at last. This particular line captures the whole gist of the series I have written named, 'Who am I'? That is it, my post for this week is done. See you next week. ;-)))
The personal truth: Okay, was just joking. Now, let us look at the meaning of that line. 'Whoever has truth and courage in their mind', so the truth comes first. What is the truth? Here, the truth being said is not the 'Universal truth or the Brahman' that we have discussed many times, but our own personal truth. Whatever we are truly at our own Soul level. Many times we are so much conditioned by our own family, community, society, and peers, we become masked by layers and layers of personas. Our true self becomes deeply locked inside our own hearts without any way for us to bring it out and live life the way we want. Many times so much time has passed, we have no way of going back and fixing it.
For example, let us take the example of a kid named B. B loved animals and had pets all through his/her life. They also like to take care of any stray cat coming around the block and give it food or water. Here this kid loves animals and feels one with them. But his/ her family is very privileged and all are doctors, engineers, or lawyers. When he/she came to high school, they wanted to take Veterinary medicine and become an animal doctor. When this he/she told their parents, the idea was shot down and was instructed to take law/medicine/engineering in college.
Here, the person loves animals. So, they can choose to become a human doctor. But though the field is very related, the person is not having the same passion he/she has with animals for humans. They may do the job with interest, but not a true passion. If they take law or engineering, they have come very far from their passion. Instead of having a career where their inner love for animals comes into the picture, it becomes a life of legalities or numbers. Every time the heart or the inner voice tugs at the person, it is ignored or shut down. Here, the day the person has decided to leave their true inner passion, they have started to 'live a lie'.
The lie sits at the very core. Around it, they have started to build their life, with education, stories, circumstances, and people. So, the true core is hollow as there is not that true passion they have to live their life with the fire of creativity that glows from their belly (Solar plexus chakra- Manipura). That is the true fire that spreads to the entire being that makes a person live their life to the fullest. That fire with continuous negligence become weak and later dies down. But the person lives with a yearning for the rest of their life. The yearning won't die down or won't allow them to live fully.
By the time they realize and wake up, they would be in their late forties or fifties, with family, wife/husband, home, mortgage, and car payments, children's education and more. They have responsibilities that keep them tied down to that spot for life, with that unyielding yearning for life. This I am drawing from a career perspective. (Not everyone gets a second chance in life. I am extremely Thankful, I have been given a second chance). There can be any number of things- like becoming a high school drop out and cutting short education, or not marrying the one person in whom one found true love, or being afraid to take the one chance at a fantastic overseas opportunity that showed up. It can be anything.
In some cases, the person themselves is conditioned or think so much, they themselves have no idea about the hidden talents they have. My case was very much like that. Even though I was always using all of my spiritual gifts, I was totally unaware of it. By the time I woke up, it was my late forties. Many times people look down upon midlife crisis, as a very bad thing. But most probably, it is the hand of the Divine guiding a person to their true path. The above case I mentioned was for a person who either is not aware or other life circumstances has forced them to choose another path. Now, there are another set of people.
Living a lie: Now, this lot, many times choose things that bring them the most wealth or prosperity. They deliberately choose this path to become wealthy. Yes, money is needed for the material world. But, just money alone never brings happiness. Here, with this group, it is everything about the presentation. One's own life should look fantastic from outside with car, house, facilities and more. Who cares what is truly within them? So, in this case, the persona or the ego-self has taken a larger than life perspective and the true Self is nowhere in the picture. This type of living leads one always to keep up appearances, as, in their inner core, there is nothing to anchor them.
But to keep up appearances is mentally very tiring, as always our 'inner strength' comes from within. But here, that anchor is not there. Life becomes keeping up appearances, being 'nice, good, great' in other's eyes. The most important thing is first to feel good/great within ourselves. As we have discussed many times, 'our inner reality reflects our outer reality'. When we are living a lie keeping up appearances, do you think we would feel great? No, we feel totally down inside and that inner reality starts to show up in our outer life as well.
Also, when we are not living from our very truest core, the whole life permeates a shallowness. We don't have that solid anchor of personal truth to keep us solid to our core. Then the value doesn't come 'from within'. Of course, for that, we need to know ourselves inside and out. So, without that anchor we try to find value in our circumstances, career, job, other people in our life, our own kids, anything and everything that we can find the value for ourselves. I have been on that side of the aisle as well as on this side. Once we know truly who we are, then we don't have to act according to what other people want, what other people say, or what other people perceive about us. We are comfortable being who we are. In that comfort, we also don't interfere or interrupt anyone out of their own life path or purpose. And that also is a big 'No' in Vedic Philosophy. We only have the permission to lead our own true life path, not to fix, interrupt, or block another's.
Look at any of the great (yes, great!!!!) leaders of the world. They know solidly, who they are from their very core level. Whatever attire, attitude, perspective, or notion they have, comes from their deepest core. Whatever they project outside is what they are inside. This type of living is truly very powerful. They have nothing to hide, nothing to keep up with, or nothing to prove to others. They are just 'be'ing themselves, truly who they are. In this way of living, they just can be totally themselves and do their thing for life. This type of living is very freeing- truly being themselves, living from the heart space. To just 'be' for the present moment to show up. Every action/activity happens in the present moment. Nothing happens in the past or the future. Unfortunately a major portion of us, humans tend to live in the past or the future. This is why it is said, 'truth sets you free'. Free to be totally oneself.
The most powerful stance to be is in 'Veerabhadrasana II' in Yoga. The active warrior posture. Standing firmly in the present with legs strong on the 'reality of now', with one hand extending to the past and the other hand extending to the future. The left hand extending to the past signifies the lessons to be learned from the past. The right hand extending to the future signifies the vision towards the future. But the action towards the future only happens in the present, the 'now' we have. But, how many live life like that? We as a race are either looking at the past with regrets or hoping for what future brings. What we do today, brings in our future for tomorrow.
The inner courage: Now, to live a life like that with our inner truth, the next thing we need is inner courage. Without that, nothing is possible. Look around, we live in the materialistic world, the grand illusion- 'Maya'. That is always ready to swallow us fully into its stomach. A courageous and determined Soul only could lead a life of 'Dharma' (sacred purpose). Without that nothing is possible.
Because, every time a human starts something new, there would be a hundred others who would think it is not a good idea. So, if our anchor or core is not solid, we could get toppled out of our own path. The others are standing in their life experiences and looking at what we are doing. They may not have the same life experiences, the attitudes one developed, or the circumstances of life one went through. But, the Soul, which was there with each human being knows totally inside and out, what that person went through. Looking at a circumstance, for ourselves now is from the inside, with the circumstance surrounding us. It is a totally different perspective. So, the Soul gives better advice for a human than an outside person. A bit of 'tailor-made' advice. Every single human can access that. We can always get guidance and inspiration from others. There are a lot of people who can give us great advice. Listening to everything, the final decision for our own lives should be ours.
Now back to courage. In the path of 'life purpose', one is shown only two steps. So, to take that step, inner courage is needed. Without that, we would be rooted in the same spot for eons. In the case of the Soul for eternity. Look at any great leaders. Mahatma Gandhi had to have the inner courage to lead the millions of Indians to freedom. Abraham Lincoln had to have the courage to lead during the civil war and to free the slaves. Nelson Mandela had to have the inner audacity to be in solitary confinement for twenty-seven years and later free the country of 'apartheid regime'. Martin Luther King Jr had to have the willpower to lead the African Americans through the civil rights movement. Dalai Lama now has the courage to stand strong and speak for his people even while driven out of his own country and taking an asylum status in India.
That is the difference between an authentic being and a normal human just living by. A normal human being doesn't try to find who they truly are. So many times they themselves don't know about them. The Dharma ( authentic duty) doors open only from the perspective of totally brutal Self-honesty and truth. Knowing totally who we are. Until the person doesn't find that, their true Dharma is never revealed. So, we humans try to lead our life whichever way humanly possible. But the optimum and best way, that door remains closed. Not even that, many times there may not even be a door. The door even comes into existence only after one truly finds themselves and 'who they are.' I can totally attest to that. There was no door for me until I figure out, ' Who I am'.
Who am I? These series of posts I started, to show everyone, the one and the only way to find the true meaning and purpose to one's own life is to find, who they are. From all the news and information seen on television, internet and social media we many times can sense, many beings are struggling to find a true purpose or meaning to their own life. My question- When we have our own inbuilt free advice, why go around reading every Self-help book, asking advice and going behind the new gadget or tool in town?
While we are behind the newest gadget or toys, the most precious thing we have is slipping away. Our time! Each human comes only with so much of time. So, we have to use it very wisely. I realized that just three years back. Each human has only so much time. Ask any person suffering from a major terminal disease. Their only wish would be 'more time'. Now, come to us normal everyday human beings. We all live in a bubble that we have eons of time. No! We also have an only a limited amount of time. So each second should become the most precious for us.
We, human beings should not waste our life in aimless pursuits, going behind the latest trends, latest gadgets, latest hype and more. Yes, we can have every tool, toy, gadget, car, and house in our life. But that should not be our focus. Our focus should be squarely on bringing out more and more of our true core out; using that and every tool towards our life purpose. That way the inner core anchors us to our life. Our life becomes a painting drawn out from our very core - our Sun or Soul as the center of the painting, with every other aspect of life projecting out like the rays of the Sun. By the way, Sun represents our Soul in Vedic Astrology. The funny thing is, in symbolism the image for courage is 'Lion'. The sign for Lion in Vedic astrology is Leo, whose lord is Sun. So, find your inner Lion or Sun - powerful and courageous!
So, it becomes our duty or Dharma to find who our Sun is in our own life. Who are we? What does our Sun or Soul want? The answer to that question, answers every other question we have for our own life. Then life takes the most authentic, deep, and inspiring tone. That is why the wise man of Arunachala, Ramana Maharshi guided every human to deep Self-enquiry, "Naan Yaar?" - Who am I?
I wish you a good weekend and I'll see you next Friday!😉
Next week: Yet another New Year!
Note: Images from Wikimedia Commons and Pixabay.com
Ralph Waldo Emerson writes, "There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance ; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better for worse as his portion that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till. The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried".
All rights reserved to Jayasree Padmanabhan and SwaroopaBlog.
To my Blog readers: As all of you know, the European Union has passed laws regarding the collection of the user data. This is just to inform all my EU blog readers, I just use Google Analytics, which Google provides, to look at from where readers are reading my blogs. I also use Specific feeds to use their service for subscription list. I don't collect or intend to collect user data to sell or provide to third-party applications. Regards,
SwaroopaBlog.
Namaste! Hope all of you had a great week where you were able to spend wonderful and precious time with your family and friends during the holidays. For the last several weeks I have been describing the journey I had to take to discover who truly 'I am' from within. This week why don't we tie up many of the concepts together so that any human can use these towards finding who they truly are for their own life?
In the Indian movie 'Lagaan' there is a song called 'Mitwa'. In that the song starts with the lyric, 'Har Sant kahe, Sadhu kahe, sach aur saahas hein jiske mann mein, anth mein jeet usee hi ki rahe'. Meaning- Every saint and sage says, whoever has truth and courage in their mind, the victory becomes theirs at last. This particular line captures the whole gist of the series I have written named, 'Who am I'? That is it, my post for this week is done. See you next week. ;-)))
The personal truth: Okay, was just joking. Now, let us look at the meaning of that line. 'Whoever has truth and courage in their mind', so the truth comes first. What is the truth? Here, the truth being said is not the 'Universal truth or the Brahman' that we have discussed many times, but our own personal truth. Whatever we are truly at our own Soul level. Many times we are so much conditioned by our own family, community, society, and peers, we become masked by layers and layers of personas. Our true self becomes deeply locked inside our own hearts without any way for us to bring it out and live life the way we want. Many times so much time has passed, we have no way of going back and fixing it.
For example, let us take the example of a kid named B. B loved animals and had pets all through his/her life. They also like to take care of any stray cat coming around the block and give it food or water. Here this kid loves animals and feels one with them. But his/ her family is very privileged and all are doctors, engineers, or lawyers. When he/she came to high school, they wanted to take Veterinary medicine and become an animal doctor. When this he/she told their parents, the idea was shot down and was instructed to take law/medicine/engineering in college.
Here, the person loves animals. So, they can choose to become a human doctor. But though the field is very related, the person is not having the same passion he/she has with animals for humans. They may do the job with interest, but not a true passion. If they take law or engineering, they have come very far from their passion. Instead of having a career where their inner love for animals comes into the picture, it becomes a life of legalities or numbers. Every time the heart or the inner voice tugs at the person, it is ignored or shut down. Here, the day the person has decided to leave their true inner passion, they have started to 'live a lie'.
The lie sits at the very core. Around it, they have started to build their life, with education, stories, circumstances, and people. So, the true core is hollow as there is not that true passion they have to live their life with the fire of creativity that glows from their belly (Solar plexus chakra- Manipura). That is the true fire that spreads to the entire being that makes a person live their life to the fullest. That fire with continuous negligence become weak and later dies down. But the person lives with a yearning for the rest of their life. The yearning won't die down or won't allow them to live fully.
 |
| The personal truth! Image courtesy - Pixabay.com |
By the time they realize and wake up, they would be in their late forties or fifties, with family, wife/husband, home, mortgage, and car payments, children's education and more. They have responsibilities that keep them tied down to that spot for life, with that unyielding yearning for life. This I am drawing from a career perspective. (Not everyone gets a second chance in life. I am extremely Thankful, I have been given a second chance). There can be any number of things- like becoming a high school drop out and cutting short education, or not marrying the one person in whom one found true love, or being afraid to take the one chance at a fantastic overseas opportunity that showed up. It can be anything.
In some cases, the person themselves is conditioned or think so much, they themselves have no idea about the hidden talents they have. My case was very much like that. Even though I was always using all of my spiritual gifts, I was totally unaware of it. By the time I woke up, it was my late forties. Many times people look down upon midlife crisis, as a very bad thing. But most probably, it is the hand of the Divine guiding a person to their true path. The above case I mentioned was for a person who either is not aware or other life circumstances has forced them to choose another path. Now, there are another set of people.
Living a lie: Now, this lot, many times choose things that bring them the most wealth or prosperity. They deliberately choose this path to become wealthy. Yes, money is needed for the material world. But, just money alone never brings happiness. Here, with this group, it is everything about the presentation. One's own life should look fantastic from outside with car, house, facilities and more. Who cares what is truly within them? So, in this case, the persona or the ego-self has taken a larger than life perspective and the true Self is nowhere in the picture. This type of living leads one always to keep up appearances, as, in their inner core, there is nothing to anchor them.
But to keep up appearances is mentally very tiring, as always our 'inner strength' comes from within. But here, that anchor is not there. Life becomes keeping up appearances, being 'nice, good, great' in other's eyes. The most important thing is first to feel good/great within ourselves. As we have discussed many times, 'our inner reality reflects our outer reality'. When we are living a lie keeping up appearances, do you think we would feel great? No, we feel totally down inside and that inner reality starts to show up in our outer life as well.
Also, when we are not living from our very truest core, the whole life permeates a shallowness. We don't have that solid anchor of personal truth to keep us solid to our core. Then the value doesn't come 'from within'. Of course, for that, we need to know ourselves inside and out. So, without that anchor we try to find value in our circumstances, career, job, other people in our life, our own kids, anything and everything that we can find the value for ourselves. I have been on that side of the aisle as well as on this side. Once we know truly who we are, then we don't have to act according to what other people want, what other people say, or what other people perceive about us. We are comfortable being who we are. In that comfort, we also don't interfere or interrupt anyone out of their own life path or purpose. And that also is a big 'No' in Vedic Philosophy. We only have the permission to lead our own true life path, not to fix, interrupt, or block another's.
Look at any of the great (yes, great!!!!) leaders of the world. They know solidly, who they are from their very core level. Whatever attire, attitude, perspective, or notion they have, comes from their deepest core. Whatever they project outside is what they are inside. This type of living is truly very powerful. They have nothing to hide, nothing to keep up with, or nothing to prove to others. They are just 'be'ing themselves, truly who they are. In this way of living, they just can be totally themselves and do their thing for life. This type of living is very freeing- truly being themselves, living from the heart space. To just 'be' for the present moment to show up. Every action/activity happens in the present moment. Nothing happens in the past or the future. Unfortunately a major portion of us, humans tend to live in the past or the future. This is why it is said, 'truth sets you free'. Free to be totally oneself.
The most powerful stance to be is in 'Veerabhadrasana II' in Yoga. The active warrior posture. Standing firmly in the present with legs strong on the 'reality of now', with one hand extending to the past and the other hand extending to the future. The left hand extending to the past signifies the lessons to be learned from the past. The right hand extending to the future signifies the vision towards the future. But the action towards the future only happens in the present, the 'now' we have. But, how many live life like that? We as a race are either looking at the past with regrets or hoping for what future brings. What we do today, brings in our future for tomorrow.
The inner courage: Now, to live a life like that with our inner truth, the next thing we need is inner courage. Without that, nothing is possible. Look around, we live in the materialistic world, the grand illusion- 'Maya'. That is always ready to swallow us fully into its stomach. A courageous and determined Soul only could lead a life of 'Dharma' (sacred purpose). Without that nothing is possible.
Because, every time a human starts something new, there would be a hundred others who would think it is not a good idea. So, if our anchor or core is not solid, we could get toppled out of our own path. The others are standing in their life experiences and looking at what we are doing. They may not have the same life experiences, the attitudes one developed, or the circumstances of life one went through. But, the Soul, which was there with each human being knows totally inside and out, what that person went through. Looking at a circumstance, for ourselves now is from the inside, with the circumstance surrounding us. It is a totally different perspective. So, the Soul gives better advice for a human than an outside person. A bit of 'tailor-made' advice. Every single human can access that. We can always get guidance and inspiration from others. There are a lot of people who can give us great advice. Listening to everything, the final decision for our own lives should be ours.
 |
| Lion - Symbol of courage! Image courtesy - Pixabay.com |
Now back to courage. In the path of 'life purpose', one is shown only two steps. So, to take that step, inner courage is needed. Without that, we would be rooted in the same spot for eons. In the case of the Soul for eternity. Look at any great leaders. Mahatma Gandhi had to have the inner courage to lead the millions of Indians to freedom. Abraham Lincoln had to have the courage to lead during the civil war and to free the slaves. Nelson Mandela had to have the inner audacity to be in solitary confinement for twenty-seven years and later free the country of 'apartheid regime'. Martin Luther King Jr had to have the willpower to lead the African Americans through the civil rights movement. Dalai Lama now has the courage to stand strong and speak for his people even while driven out of his own country and taking an asylum status in India.
That is the difference between an authentic being and a normal human just living by. A normal human being doesn't try to find who they truly are. So many times they themselves don't know about them. The Dharma ( authentic duty) doors open only from the perspective of totally brutal Self-honesty and truth. Knowing totally who we are. Until the person doesn't find that, their true Dharma is never revealed. So, we humans try to lead our life whichever way humanly possible. But the optimum and best way, that door remains closed. Not even that, many times there may not even be a door. The door even comes into existence only after one truly finds themselves and 'who they are.' I can totally attest to that. There was no door for me until I figure out, ' Who I am'.
Who am I? These series of posts I started, to show everyone, the one and the only way to find the true meaning and purpose to one's own life is to find, who they are. From all the news and information seen on television, internet and social media we many times can sense, many beings are struggling to find a true purpose or meaning to their own life. My question- When we have our own inbuilt free advice, why go around reading every Self-help book, asking advice and going behind the new gadget or tool in town?
While we are behind the newest gadget or toys, the most precious thing we have is slipping away. Our time! Each human comes only with so much of time. So, we have to use it very wisely. I realized that just three years back. Each human has only so much time. Ask any person suffering from a major terminal disease. Their only wish would be 'more time'. Now, come to us normal everyday human beings. We all live in a bubble that we have eons of time. No! We also have an only a limited amount of time. So each second should become the most precious for us.
We, human beings should not waste our life in aimless pursuits, going behind the latest trends, latest gadgets, latest hype and more. Yes, we can have every tool, toy, gadget, car, and house in our life. But that should not be our focus. Our focus should be squarely on bringing out more and more of our true core out; using that and every tool towards our life purpose. That way the inner core anchors us to our life. Our life becomes a painting drawn out from our very core - our Sun or Soul as the center of the painting, with every other aspect of life projecting out like the rays of the Sun. By the way, Sun represents our Soul in Vedic Astrology. The funny thing is, in symbolism the image for courage is 'Lion'. The sign for Lion in Vedic astrology is Leo, whose lord is Sun. So, find your inner Lion or Sun - powerful and courageous!
 |
| "Naan Yaar?" - Ramana Maharshi User:G. G. Welling - Sri Ramanasramam, Tiruvannamalai, 606603, Tamil Nadu, India [CC BY-SA 4.0], from Wikimedia Commons |
So, it becomes our duty or Dharma to find who our Sun is in our own life. Who are we? What does our Sun or Soul want? The answer to that question, answers every other question we have for our own life. Then life takes the most authentic, deep, and inspiring tone. That is why the wise man of Arunachala, Ramana Maharshi guided every human to deep Self-enquiry, "Naan Yaar?" - Who am I?
I wish you a good weekend and I'll see you next Friday!😉
Next week: Yet another New Year!
Note: Images from Wikimedia Commons and Pixabay.com
Ralph Waldo Emerson writes, "There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance ; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better for worse as his portion that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till. The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried".
All rights reserved to Jayasree Padmanabhan and SwaroopaBlog.
To my Blog readers: As all of you know, the European Union has passed laws regarding the collection of the user data. This is just to inform all my EU blog readers, I just use Google Analytics, which Google provides, to look at from where readers are reading my blogs. I also use Specific feeds to use their service for subscription list. I don't collect or intend to collect user data to sell or provide to third-party applications. Regards,
SwaroopaBlog.
Disclaimer: This is a personal blog. The opinions and perspectives shared here are that of the author/owner only. Even though the author/owner will try to research well before posting the information, the author/owner of this blog does not make any portrayal of the accuracy or correctness of the content on this blog or the links provided. The author/owner will not be liable for any omissions or inaccuracies occurred. The author/owner will not be liable for any damages or losses due to the use or display of this blog. These terms and conditions can change at any time.
This blog is purely for informational purposes only.
©Jayasree Padmanabhan and Swaroopa, 2017- Eternity
This blog is purely for informational purposes only.
©Jayasree Padmanabhan and Swaroopa, 2017- Eternity
![User:G. G. Welling - Sri Ramanasramam, Tiruvannamalai, 606603, Tamil Nadu, India[CC BY-SA 4.0], from Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ADVAITASRI.jpg){kind=link}
Comments
Post a Comment
Give an opinion! Post a comment! Ask for a topic!