Passing through life we may start to question our actual identity beneath the coverings of social interactions and familial relationships. Who are we really? Are we who we think we are? This is a very important point in life.
When I was growing up, especially through adolescence and early adulthood, I found myself playing various roles according to the different people I was interacting with. Sometimes I was a punk, sometimes a traveller, other times a professional diver or a new age person. It seemed as though I took on a different mask or image in relation to the time and circumstance. Now, knowing I didn't suffer from schizophrenia, still it was quite evident that I was really not being 'me'. But who was 'me"? I never felt I had truly found my real self. What was my actual identity, my real personality? Were my personal character and opinions actually mine or were they adopted from someone whom maybe I desired to be like?
The word personality is derived from the Latin 'persona', which means mask or character. More exactly it means 'to speak through', per sonare. Typically the actor would wear a mask or assume a character through which he would perform, hiding his own identity. Similarly we assume different identities according to how we live, how we like to be seen by others, what music scene we like. Music influences us so much that we imitate our idols dress and behaviour. Considering ourselves freely self-expressing, we just follow a general trend with millions of others.
Carl Jung on persona ;
'the individual's system of adaption to, or the manner he assumes in dealing with the rest of the world ... One could say that which in reality one is not, but which oneself as well as others think one is.'
Many people hide themselves behind masks or create many egos through multi blog pages.
Yet this image or mask covering our real self actually goes much deeper. Designations like English, Chinese, Hindu, Christian, man, woman, animal, all are subtle coverings or masks for the soul. By nature we are pure spirit soul, jivatma. Consciousness is the symptom of the soul. Wherever there is life, there is consciousness. Bhagavad Gita explains that we are the conscious driver of this biological machine or body, just as a man drives a car. The driver and the car are different, but due to attachment the driver may strongly identify with his car. We often see young men driving flash cars seemingly saying “look at me, how beautiful”, and when the car gets scratched they feel the pain as though their own limb was damaged. Yet if all focus goes to the car and one neglects the driver, one’s very self, then what? Polishing the car and using the best oils, yet starving himself is foolishness, madness.
We must take care of the body, but must not forget that we are the conscious element that lives on after the body gets scrapped. Gita explains the soul as being part and parcel of the supreme consciousness, Krishna. When we understand our actual identity, our real self as eternally connected to Krishna, then we can know what we should be doing. We will know how to act for our real benefit and for that of our conscious brothers and sisters. By trying to love and please Krishna we begin to truly love and please all life, as all is eternally connected to him. We are eternal by nature but have become illusioned to think we are these temporary bodies. Naturally fear arises from such misidentification as do all conflicts based on bodily consciousness. But by inquiring into spiritual teachings like Bhagavad Gita we can know our real identity and our real potential. We are fortunate to have this human life with powerful intelligence by which we can inquire into who are we and who is Krishna. We can learn that love is the basis of our eternal relationship to Krishna and that service is the way of expression. Pleasing Krishna pleases us as we are part of him. Chanting Hare Krishna will reawaken our pure love and pure consciousness, our real self.
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
When I was growing up, especially through adolescence and early adulthood, I found myself playing various roles according to the different people I was interacting with. Sometimes I was a punk, sometimes a traveller, other times a professional diver or a new age person. It seemed as though I took on a different mask or image in relation to the time and circumstance. Now, knowing I didn't suffer from schizophrenia, still it was quite evident that I was really not being 'me'. But who was 'me"? I never felt I had truly found my real self. What was my actual identity, my real personality? Were my personal character and opinions actually mine or were they adopted from someone whom maybe I desired to be like?
The word personality is derived from the Latin 'persona', which means mask or character. More exactly it means 'to speak through', per sonare. Typically the actor would wear a mask or assume a character through which he would perform, hiding his own identity. Similarly we assume different identities according to how we live, how we like to be seen by others, what music scene we like. Music influences us so much that we imitate our idols dress and behaviour. Considering ourselves freely self-expressing, we just follow a general trend with millions of others.
Carl Jung on persona ;
'the individual's system of adaption to, or the manner he assumes in dealing with the rest of the world ... One could say that which in reality one is not, but which oneself as well as others think one is.'
Many people hide themselves behind masks or create many egos through multi blog pages.
Yet this image or mask covering our real self actually goes much deeper. Designations like English, Chinese, Hindu, Christian, man, woman, animal, all are subtle coverings or masks for the soul. By nature we are pure spirit soul, jivatma. Consciousness is the symptom of the soul. Wherever there is life, there is consciousness. Bhagavad Gita explains that we are the conscious driver of this biological machine or body, just as a man drives a car. The driver and the car are different, but due to attachment the driver may strongly identify with his car. We often see young men driving flash cars seemingly saying “look at me, how beautiful”, and when the car gets scratched they feel the pain as though their own limb was damaged. Yet if all focus goes to the car and one neglects the driver, one’s very self, then what? Polishing the car and using the best oils, yet starving himself is foolishness, madness.
We must take care of the body, but must not forget that we are the conscious element that lives on after the body gets scrapped. Gita explains the soul as being part and parcel of the supreme consciousness, Krishna. When we understand our actual identity, our real self as eternally connected to Krishna, then we can know what we should be doing. We will know how to act for our real benefit and for that of our conscious brothers and sisters. By trying to love and please Krishna we begin to truly love and please all life, as all is eternally connected to him. We are eternal by nature but have become illusioned to think we are these temporary bodies. Naturally fear arises from such misidentification as do all conflicts based on bodily consciousness. But by inquiring into spiritual teachings like Bhagavad Gita we can know our real identity and our real potential. We are fortunate to have this human life with powerful intelligence by which we can inquire into who are we and who is Krishna. We can learn that love is the basis of our eternal relationship to Krishna and that service is the way of expression. Pleasing Krishna pleases us as we are part of him. Chanting Hare Krishna will reawaken our pure love and pure consciousness, our real self.
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
most impressed baba, most impressed! keep this going and I might even become a devotee myself....
ReplyDeletethanks for putting time and energy into this, if you come to the U.K to help develop things, I can only see very good things happening. dandavats to you my friend, haribol.
y.s
Kishormd