The world is in tumult.
Everywhere, people are fighting people. Social media arguments disparage and wound, and even separate friends and families; sometimes forever. Everywhere you look, there are groups of people engaging in group think, and it is as if the zombies have descended upon the world; their minds having been eaten by a virus they so readily catch from those around them. They attack each other. They hurt each other. They yell and scream at each other, each group blaming the other for their suffering and oppression.
This is mournful to me. I don't like seeing the world in this terrible state, because there is a simple truth about the life inside every one of us, an easily recognized fact that is not so easy to convey.
That we are all of the same thing, all of us. It is our minds that separate us. It is the mind that tricks us into identifying with things that we are not.
The truth about our shared heritage is not in genetics, even if our bodies are all very similar in that respect. It is certainly not in our ideologies; for those are as varied as the various shades of all the flowers of the world. It is not in our minds, whose thoughts and behavioral patterns change from day to day, week to week, and year to year. All of these things are transitory and impermanent. We are not our personalities, since those change over time as well. We aren't the same person as we were born when we are eighty; our body and mind and personality have all changed in such drastic ways in the span of a lifetime.
It is plain then, to see that none of these things are who we really are: they are not even close to being us. How is it that they can be us when they change so often, that the body is born, ages, and dies, and the same with all our ideals and dreams and hopes? They all live and perish, and yet this entity we call -I- is still here. YOU are still here because YOU are reading this. And if you read this again five years from now, you will still be YOU. That doesn't change, but the rest of it does.
Are you with me so far? :) Good. Carry on.
The Upanishads addresses the identity crisis and declares so very boldly, "THAT THOU ART".
Now, that which is the subtle essence - in it all that exists has its self. That is the True. That is the Self. That thou art, Svetaketu. (6.8.7) -- Quote Source
What does this mean? They are not referring to the YOU that is seen, your body or your named form. They are referring to the YOU that is the WITNESS within. The part of you that never changes, even though your mind and body does, as does your emotional makeup, your beliefs, all of these change with the winds.
And yet YOU are still here; a presence. A witness. The unchanging single point of existence and consciousness that is viewing everything behind the scenes. The hidden seer of all things that come to pass. The knower of all the secrets of the universe. The quiet watcher behind all the chattering thoughts. THAT THOU ART.
Once you identify with that which is unbreakable, ineffable, ever present, ever eternal and completely unchangeable, the transitory world loses a great portion of its importance. You begin to see your life from the point of view of this witness within, and all the ignorance and dramas of this world fall away. You will feel the depth of your being, and know the bliss and peace that is behind all of creation. You will permanently be immune to dogmas; and your mind will be absolutely free.
The aim of Jnana Yoga is to turn the naturally extroverted mind's powers inward, and discover this Witness - THAT THOU ART - within. It is through this introversion and contemplation upon what is impermanent about you and what is permanent, that you begin to settle this identity crisis within you. And you will understand what is said about our purest essence, as per the Vedanta teachings: that we are all EXISTENCE-CONSCIOUSNESS-BLISS.
When more people understand this about themselves, watch the world change.
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