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Know Yourself Discover Your True Identity The Peace And Joy

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Know Yourself Discover Your True Identity The Peace And Joy

by Johannes Tsurkka

COME TO KNOW YOURSELF

Since you are reading this article, I assume that you wish to know your true self; the authentic expression of joy and peace within. This article offers some practical steps towards embracing the truth within. Knowing yourself is not a matter of finding out new descriptions and names for that which you are externally, not at all. Knowing yourself involves discovering and letting go of the old descriptions and labels of who you thought you were. To know who you are, you need to first come to know who you are NOT. This is the beginning…and the rest is simple.

The current commercial market is packed with products that encourage us to become more attractive, more perfect and in a word; more superficial. They offer to deliver solutions to happiness through their products, which can change the way you are. It is very much like the pharmaceutical industry; they offer you a tablet to get rid of the symptoms but is that tablet going to cure the cause of the illness? Will that tablet reveal why the discomfort manifested itself in the first place? It does not. Only a holistic approach will uncover that answer.

Very few publications have been original enough to encourage you to look within, to unravel the peace, joy and truth in your life. Within the magazine industry, the few that do approach these issues, manage to defeat their very objective by including advertisements for beauty products, vanity essentials and dependency inducing services between the articles, as if saying “You are NOT okay the way you are. You should change and become somebody else, something else.” This does not help you to accept yourself just the way you are, nor does it encourage you to cherish and treasure the unique qualities that only you have been graced with. This is waste of time and energy. External solutions have proven to be disempowering rather than empowering in the long term.

I would like to take a look at the core issues around self-knowledge (or self- realisation as the eastern gurus tend to call it) to offer you some very simple and practical insights into who you are not and how your belief patterns contribute to your identitys makeup. Dont worry, theres no jargon involved, Ill keep it plain and simple. It is also far easier to start the process from back to front (by seeing who you are not) as most people tend to focus on the negative rather than the positive. In helping you to see your identity for what it really is, you will come to realise that you are not bound by nor confined in the limited descriptions and definitions of your name and history.

To be free, you need to be yourself, not your defined identity. I know that you want peace of mind and yearn for love and acceptance. Whether you are aware of it or not, you do wish and long for the understanding of what your true nature really is - deep within. What you may not know is the fact that the key to all of these things is already in your hands.

WHO YOU ARE NOT

Let us start with the most obvious subject (albeit the least explained). You may have lived your life with set routines and patterns of behaviour in the past, but how often have you caught yourself feeling desperate to find more meaning in life and obtain more lasting peace from the ever-jittering mind? Many times, no doubt. You have a name, history, past experiences, qualifications, social status and a bunch of expectations of what you want in the future. All of these parts of you form the label called "me". You identify yourself by referring to these old definitions, saying "This is me." “I am like this." Your identity is based upon who you once were and in the future expectations that are yet to happen.

When you or your family pronounce your name aloud, the image of who you once were will instantly conjure up in their minds. It is made up of your past. People see you through the story of your life and expect you to behave accordingly, in an easily predictable manner. If you were ever to be spontaneous and behave differently (God forbid, why would you ever want to do that?) they would not be able to predict your next step and would probably feel upset. Most of the time, you see yourself through this filter of the past too, although you are probably often unaware of it. Nobody has ever challenged you on who you think you are. Well, now I am.

Are you really this story of predictable patterns of thinking, behaviour and appearances? Can your loved ones really know the real you by the definitions of who you used to be? Of course not. That would be absurd. The identity described above is only that; a mask, a persona that you wear because it is comfortable, familiar and secure. Our identity is a dead collection of past definitions, re-lived in the fresh moment of today. Our personal identify is a label we have assumed to be ourselves and have adopted as our vehicle for this body and mind. It is not your real self, however. You may have noticed that I have not mentioned the present so far, but only the past and the future - this is because the present is the actual, tangible and authentic reflection of who you are today. It is the fresh, forever new and potential possibility of who you are within. In this moment - right now - you can behave differently and be unpredictable. It is not set in stone nor should it be. The time-line where your persona lives is not valid in the this moment; you have evolved, changed and grown since your past, so why keep repeating the old you with the old habits?

The definition of yourself is a simple one:

The Past = what your identity used to be.
The Future = what your identity wants to be.
The Present = who you are now.

The identity is a label that tries to describe the whole of you, but manages only to portray an image of what your persona was. The real you, however, is something way beyond this. In the present moment you are real, you can be heard, touched and influenced, whereas the past you lives only in memories and thus, cannot be touched.

WHO ARE YOU THEN?

To realize who you are now, today, you need to become aware of all of the things that are covering over that real spark within. When you become conscious of all the old patterns of speaking, thinking and behaviour that you re-live today, you begin to see what is underneath, what is your true identity. This identity cannot be described as easily as your old one, since the real you is still indefinable. You are only beginning to take the first steps to seeing beyond your patterns, to penetrate into the unknown which is yet to be defined; it is without labels. Once you become aware of the old you, with acceptance and love, you can then start letting go of any unnecessary patterns that do not serve you or your relationship any longer. It is hugely important to accept the old you with all of its painful and less pleasant parts, because if you were to reject them, hate them or to try to hide them, they would persist underneath only to pop up and disturb you every so often. Therefore, to accept yourself as you have been, with a degree of humour and understanding, is of great importance. You are then ready to face the unknown, the silent witness within. Moreover, whether you choose to label the “new” you within is up to you, but would you really want to build another identity of labels once you have removed the old one? I certainly would not.

BEYOND LABELS, WHO AM I?

What are you if not all these labels? Much to your disappointment, I will not tell you what you are. This is YOUR journey of self-discovery, not mine. Even if I did tell you what you are, that would be just another label that somebody else has given you. You will need to go within to discover it for yourself, like many other yogis have done in the past. Instead, let me tell you what is underneath my old shells and labels; who I am in the core of myself, beyond any costumes. This may awaken some recognition inside of you, since we all possess the same beauty and magic within.

There is this lasting peace from my childhood that has never left me. There is a place I had covered over with the busyness of my mind, life and all of its selfish wants and desires. This place of joy and peace had been dismissed with the restlessness of my identity, the constant search for the next excitement and entertainment. My old identity (also called the ego) had been too busy satisfying its own desires in the pursuit for the next goal. This gentle peace however, has always been with me, it laid dormant for a long time until I finally chose to take notice of it.

Deep within me, beyond any of these past memories, I am the bursting joy and laughter that is the very reason I am alive. This happiness is not dependant on external outcomes, achievements or people. Yes, you heard me; it is not dependant on my loved-ones! Happiness and joy - being the very nature of who I am - sees the world through its non-judgmental eye of wisdom, with an understanding that at the core we are all united and only appear to wear these different masks. Because I am the universal love within, I can share it with others. There is no neediness in wanting love from others, before I can have it myself or give it back to others. This knowledge is very comforting, it is the calm lake that is not disturbed by the stormy reflections of clouds on its surface, these reflections will pass away, just as my thoughts and emotionality will come and go. The internal sun on my sky, remains hot and bright, regardless of whether the clouds gather in the sky; these are only momentary movements and can never cover the permanent spark of my soul or the sun within.

Inside my true essence is in constant communion with life, the source and the reason. This union is called by many names, non-duality and God being only some of them. This is a silent relationship with the knowledge that all is fine and everyone is catered for to his or her level of need and understanding. The presence of life is a reassuring promise. It is a promise of the heartfelt joy and trust that we thought was lacking, but is actually already present in our bodies. All that life is asking anybody to do is to stop, listen and recognize.

1) Stop rushing around, stop your racing mind and stop the hunger for more excitement. You already have all you really need in order to be at peace.

2) Listen to the silence within. Listen to the whisper of God within, and hear what is asked of you. Listen beyond the hunger of your restless identity.

3) Recognize who you are not. Recognize who you truly are. Recognize beyond any set of labels and identities that you are free, happy and the perfect reflection of Life in existence.

The only one holding the keys to your happiness is you. You alone have the responsibility for your life and only you can uncover the peace within by recognizing the old beliefs that hold you down; the labels and patterns of who you used to be. The journey back to yourself is not really a journey at all. You never left home; you never left who you really are. It was merely covered over by Clingfilm of the Past, the comings and goings of your mind, until you no longer knew where you were going or why. Nevertheless, the hunger for peace and meaning remained the same. The peace kept knocking on your door all of this time, and now it is your chance to answer it and open the door. It is your time to take responsibility for your own life and your internal happiness.

Who is it in you that feels unhappy?

Who is it that experiences the torrent of emotions?

This question is the only one that you ever need to ask. The answer will always be: the false identity, the old patterns.

This question of “Who is it inside of me that ...” will always reveal the core of the problem, the attachment to the old patterns, which keeps you going around in circles. It will point back to your old identity - your ego.

This article is only a sweep over the subject of self-realization, but hopefully it will intrigue you enough to initiate the “journey” back to yourself. It is a joyful journey, with amazing discoveries of what is false and what is real. Take part in this beautiful adventure to the unknown inside your psyche, your soul, where no man has gone before.

The future is bright; the future is in your hands, right now.

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