Who or what is a ‘self’?
Our language is full of references to him/her self, me/myself, our/ourselves, them/theirselves and so on…..
At first glance we could be mistaken for thinking that a ‘self’ is a tangible entity. Yet if we force ‘ourselves’ (another paradox) to try and locate the ‘self’ we discover just how elusive it really is!
A ‘self’ on a general level seems to be a useful name to give to a conglomeration of unique parts that together make up our separate individual identities.It is also known as the ‘Egoic Self’.
When we consider who our unique ‘self’ is we are faced with a daunting task.
We would need to examine in detail:
- our cellular genetic make-up
- our biology
- our diverse primary and subordinant personalities
- our intelligence
- our beliefs and values
- our cultural imperatives
- our environment
- our occupation
- our relationships
- our material acquisitions
- and the list could go on ad infinitum……
Wow.. it is little wonder most of us never bother to look too closely at who we are! Most of us just accept that we are who we are: which just means we represent and are habitually driven by an infinite number of unconscious factors over which we have little or no control.
The good news however is that we are in ‘reality’ much less than we think we are (another paradox and in this case less is more). In fact all of our unique and complex querks are just window dressing! They are all made up! They are not ‘REAL’.
WE as unique and separate SELVES are not real. WE are constructs. WE are like robots who have been programmed by Society to respond in the manner which serves those who hold the power in Society.
We have become slaves/worker drones who make the honey on which the Queen Bees get fatter and fatter!
That is why Society rewards those who acquiesce and punishes those who rebel. A free thinking rebel is dangerous to Society. Look what happened to Jesus and in more recent times, Ghandi, Martin Luther King, JFK and many more.
Society with the aid of science and technology has rewarded us for not rocking the boat. If we behave ourselves we can distract ourselves with our little treasures such as television, shopping, all manner of toys, drugs, alcohol and other obsessions to which we become addicted and which all serve to enslave us further.
The more we have the more we want and the harder we have to work to achieve our insatiable desires.
The source of all our conflicts, problems, unhappiness, lack of meaning and purpose is our alignment to our “Fairy Stories”. There is no happy ever after if we believe these stories.
Most likely you are now starting to scratch your head and mutter something like ‘this guy is nuts’! The truth is that we are all nuts! We are nuts for allowing our connection with the “bigger consciousness” to be distorted by a process of socialisation which in simple terms is ‘brainwashing’.
It is only when we are conscious that we can see through the veil that has been lowered over our eyes. We are all connected….. we are all one…..when we wake up from our slumber only then can we truly see and observe that we are nothing more than ONE CONSCIOUSNESS inhabiting many forms.
It is a universal game of hide and seek. If you remain asleep the game remains afoot and appears to be all there is. If you awaken you can still enjoy the game but you do so consciously and willingly.
Will you choose to remain asleep and SELF-ISH (self-identitified and separate) or will you choose to wake up and become SELF-LESS (nothing in particular but connected).