Know Thy Self

With all humility, here is a very simple yet strange question: who do you think you are? Do you know who you are? I mean: Do you really know who you truly are? You have a name; you have a form, known to be a human being, have a nationality, young or old, educated or uneducated, rich or poor, and so on. Interestingly, these are what you have but NOT who you really are.

From the time you are born, parents gave a name, and everyone around addresses you by that name. As you grow, teachers and friends address you by that name. Then you become an engineer, a doctor, a scientist, a politician, an artist or a sportsperson, father, mother, grand parents or whatever. Note that as you grow, you keep adding more and more qualifications. These are all descriptions of you but NOT you.
 

Have you ever wondered who you really are? Interestingly, you are never asked about your true identity when admitted to school or when going for professional education; neither when you get married nor when you apply for a job. You are an intelligent human being. Isn’t it rather strange that neither you nor others ever questioned this?
 

If you happen to get a good night sleep, sleeping at least 8 hours a day and sleeping like a log; totally unaware of your surrounding including your identity, your nationality, your gender, race, income, social status; basically, almost everything. This means 1/3 of the day is gone without knowing of your existence. If you happen to live for 100 years, 33 years of your life will be gone completely unaware of your existence. Don’t you think it is worthwhile to inquire and find out what is going on?

Lets analyze. To observe change, one MUST be out of the change. As long as one is within the change, changes cannot be observed. For example, you are told that the earth rotates and you believe it too. But, only when one goes into space (i.e. out of the earth), you can observe the earth going round and round. The point to note is: “Only that which is other than the change can observe the change”. Now let us try to bring this phenomenon a bit closer to us. You definitely were not born the same size and shape that you are today. You were a baby, then a child, then a teenager, then an adult, to whatever you are now. The point is that physically, you have been changing, all this time since birth. But, something within KNOWS that "YOU" are the same person. Isn’t that fascinating? What is this entity that must be other than the change?
 

Here is another thought provoking idea: “Any thing you are aware of, you cannot be that”. Let us analyze and check it out!
 

You are aware of me, you are NOT me.
You are aware of a car, you are certainly NOT the car.
You are aware of a tree, definitely you are NOT the tree.
You are aware of the house, you are NOT the house.
Look around you. Can you identify with anything; I mean can you point to any thing and say as “that is me”?

Lets go a bit more deeper. 
You are aware of your body. So, you must be someone other than the body.
You are aware of your mind. So, you must be someone other than the mind.
You are aware of your intellect. So, you must be someone other than the intellect.

Hope the above gave you a bit of shocking revelation.
This is really interesting. Your entire body is changing, your mind is changing and yet something inside you is observing everything but that itself cannot be observed. Who is this great Observer inside you that you don’t seem to know?
 

Let me ask you a very basic question: “What do you want in life?” Every one of us will probably have the same answer: i.e. we wish to be happy. All our struggles in life: education, getting a job, getting married, making money, retirement accounts, parties and entertainment is only geared to giving us the happiness and peace of mind that we so dearly want. However, the best of mankind:- the saints, sages and prophets say that if you know your true identity, you will be the happiest being in this universe. All your problems will be solved. All your worries will be gone. And, you will be always happy. Generations have come and gone. One day, you will be gone as well. No thing will go with you. This body that you love so much will be thrown away. Don’t you feel it worthwhile to find out your true identity and figure out what you are doing in this rat-race of life (as often known)?

Interestingly, you have never paid attention to figure this out. You buy the best of beds, luxury linens, best of pillows, blankets, etc. Isn’t all this paraphernalia just to get a good night sleep? These are all preparations for a good night’s sleep. But I am sure you will agree that having all these things cannot guarantee that one will indeed get a good sleep. The point to note here is that only when you drop every thought, every worry, every relationship, every possession including your body and mind, you glide (or fall) into sleep. And then you are happy. And in that state, you are totally unaware of every-thing. Honestly, you look forward for a good sleep. If there is a single thought, a pain, or some botheration you just cannot sleep. I am sure you will agree to that.

Even though this is the simplest of all things, this might sound extremely difficult. Here is a clue to eternal happiness. What is demonstrated above is that when you are completely relieved of identity and possessions (as in deep sleep) you are happy. However, you are unaware of this experience. This is possible even while you are awake. The effort is to make one fully aware while one is awake. If one who is conscious and fully aware of their true being-ness, one will be able to enjoy that blissful state your True Identity shall be revealed to You.

The ignorant one thinks: "I Am This Body"

The Wise one knows: "I Am The Self"

Read on... for a deeper dive!