Who Am I?

Who Am I?
One Life Tutorial for June 2021

One of the first questions you ask yourself when you begin a quest for awareness is “who am I?” There is no ultimate or permanent answer to that question, for in every moment you are someone new. What is the value of seeking to answer that question then? The value is in understanding the process of seeking answers, allowing the answers to arise, detaching from them, and effortlessly landing in One Life Awareness.

The process of diving deep inside and looking at yourself creates the ground for the naturally occurring question of “who am I?” This is a question which everyone has considered, and is used as a part of many meditation techniques. The practice is one in which the awareness of the self eventually disappears in order to discover that simple and effortless awareness, One Life Awareness, is all that remains.

This discovery arises as part of your questioning, as part of your experience, and is not separate from your experience. You cannot become a person asking questions of a self; you cannot separate the inquirer from the inquiry or the object of the inquiry. There is but one field, One Life, All That Is, which can never be truly expressed in words, as words are necessarily dependent on subjects and objects, inquirers and objects of inquiry.

So there is no answer to the question, “Who am I?” and yet you keep asking it because “who you are” is a compelling mystery, as life is a compelling mystery. Perhaps even by formulating that question, you acknowledge the mystery that lies deep within every question and every attempt to live life with awareness.

Asking “who am I?” encourages answers like “I am that,” and “I am not that” in an endless cycle of thoughts. By consistently detaching from these “who you are” notions, even for a moment, you can lessen the influence of your standard beliefs and habits, moods and perspectives, and free yourself from unconscious reactions to circumstances in your life. As you observe your automatic reactions with real detachment, you can begin to experience and interpret the conditions and events of your life with a greater sense of awareness. As a consequence, you can free yourself of many of the limiting assumptions you have unconsciously made about who you think you are.

This is especially the case when your unconscious habit is to describe yourself with terms that automatically highlight illness, wounds and dysfunctional parts of your life. Answering “I am a cancer survivor” while perhaps being true, will always be inadequate. You are always so much more. Learning how to detach from notions like these, as well as notions of self-absorbed or narcissistic identity can open the door to awareness that is no longer bound to ideas and thoughts of “who you are.” One Life Awareness opens up to you to the degree that you detach from old and no longer relevant attitudes about who you are. Opening up to your potential is limited when your attention stays focused on pain, physical distress, depression, anxiety, frustration, anger and apathy. “Who you are” is not determined by what you perceive about yourself, or by what you label and identify as you. “Who you are” is beyond any answer to any question that arises.

Eventually you realize that who you are is not just the amalgamation of “things” you feel, touch and see, but who you are is All That Is. Even though you may indulge in the examination of your thoughts and feelings, you will come to have a deep understanding that any answer to the question “who am I?” is just a fleeting and momentary look at a limiting assumption you have made about yourself.

We are not suggesting that you detach from answers you formulate to eliminate or discount memories or feelings. We are suggesting that in order to identify yourself in some practical or useful manner, you will often lose touch with deeper, non-verbal, All That Is Knowing. Your tendency is to habitually rely on the same old stories and ideas, and losing touch with All That Is Knowing, can often lead to generating more pain and confusion. We are also not suggesting that you should ask yourself over and over “Who am I?” though of course you could. We are suggesting that as that question naturally arises in the course of your thoughts, that you invoke the source from which the question arises. Withdraw the attention and fascination from who you think you are and are not, and allow the One Life Awareness to effortlessly emerge. “Who you are” at that moment then is being rather than discovering. Let it all become effortless and become free. One Life Awareness simply is. You are Aware, you are free, you are All That Is. Instead of strengthening the idea of “who you are” as a separate identity, let it all be. Just “Be Who You Are” even if you still ask “Who Am I?” 

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