Thanks for this post. It got me thinking about the following:
“Just be yourself” is a tall order since:
Who is “yourself” to the person to whom the question is being posed? Many people equate their “self” with their physical self: “I am a person who likes walks on the beach, caring for my children, sports, and art” vs. I am infinite awareness having a physical experience (as David Icke puts it).
The self is constantly evolving as it is exposed to more and more things that help it define what it prefers. How does one decide to be something that is in flux?
Rather than saying “just be yourself,” maybe it’s more useful to advise ourselves to frequently ask ourselves:
Who do I want to be in this moment?
Do I want to be the self who is at peace with myself and those around me?
Do I want to be the self who is worried about myself and those around me?
Do I want to be the self who is excited to experience whatever life situation manifests next?
Do I want to be the self who is only happy if a very rigid set of circumstances are going in the exact way I decided I wanted them to?
More simply:
Do I want to be the self who knows all is well and everything is always working out perfectly?
Very well put. I agree with everything you wrote here. I think it is very clear that the 'self' commonly referred to is an illusion, merely an artifact of our ability to remember past experiences and draw complex connections. The real self can probably only be described as the stream of consciousness, the experiences of the present moment.