“Who am I?”

-Sri Ramana Maharshi

You are not the following:

The list includes but are not limited to the following. Thoughts, emotions, your body, beliefs, dreams in your sleep, your memories, identities, roles, or anything you own.

All the above are subject to change, growth, and decay, and you know this because you’re the one who notices it all. So what are you then?

We can start with a few facts, verifiable by direct experience:

1. You are aware. You are aware of the thoughts in your head and the feelings in your body.

2. You are never not aware. How else would you know your dreams, or how well you’ve slept?

3. You’ve always been aware since you were a baby, and that’s the case till physical death.

4. All thoughts, feelings, and sensations take place inside of you. Even memories of the past or imagined future occur in you right now.

5. The body is a mobile sensing apparatus, and our physical perceptions are bound to the senses. What an immersive experience it is to be human!

6. You are self-aware, too! How else would you refer to yourself as “I”?

There’s an idea in the non-duality and new age spirituality circles that points toward what you are: pure consciousness. Aware, eternal, infinite, and more importantly, self-conscious.

This is where the idea of letting go comes in. This I’ve found especially relevant in light of the chaotic, info overloaded times that we live in.

Knowing the impermanence of all things, we can bring a new understanding to the workings of being a full-time human being. Knowing the physical limitations of the body, what we can do in many situations is to work with our inner world. Our focus then, lies with our thoughts and emotions.

I’ve spoken at length about the emotions within, but will go over it again briefly. The usual tendency of most when feeling negative emotions is to either push/ suppress it, or to express it. The former creates inner toxicity and fatigue, the latter creates needless drama outside. Instead of pushing away our emotions, we can stop making them wrong and let go of them. This creates room for the trapped energy behind an emotion to de-energize, and it’s analogically akin to relaxation. Let whatever happens with the feeling happen, but never suppress or express them. In short, let go and relax.

Regarding the subject of thoughts, we ought to study the art of cognitive reframing. Here the majority of self-help advice teaches us to see things from a different perspective. In fact, we love comedians because they reframe the stupid things into funny things, and give us a good laugh. You have the choice to reframe any situation into something funny or let it go altogether. Such is the power of the mind when used properly.

Knowing this, you are now far from a victim of your circumstances.

You have the power to let go of negative emotions, or non-functional thought systems. That is the real power you have as a human being.

In a bigger context, you are pure consciousness playing the human game. You have free will to decide what you want your inner state to be. Consider this an invitation to freedom, starting from within you. And before long, who knows if the outer world will start to reflect the freedom that you’ve cultivated within?

The only way to know is to find out.