Who Do I Say I Am?

Before I knew about the above quote I wrote a visionary fiction novel where Remembering to Remember who you are was a central theme. To become the Who that is really You and the Thee that is We has become a central tenant in my understanding of what Life is all about. It’s not something that most of us were taught even though it’s a basic premise of all the major world religions in their most profound inner teachings.

Shakti Gawain says it this way: “We will discover the nature of our particular genius when we stop trying to conform to our own or to other people’s models, learn to be ourselves, and allow our natural channel to open.”

Willa Cather says it in another way: “Where there is great love there are always miracles.”

Brenda Ueland says it even differently: “The way to find your True Self is by recklessness and freedom.”

Julia Cameron speaks as an artist: “We are expressions of the Great Creator, and we in turn are intended to create. It is not mere ego but our divine birthright to create. We carry creativity within us as surely as we carry our blood, and, in expressing it, we express our full humanity, which is far more than material. When we fail to answer this calling, we are not in alignment with our own nature or our destiny.”

There’s a koan exercise in the Zen tradition where the student is asked repeatedly “Who Are You? Who Are You? Who Are You?” It’s asked and answered until the student, the answerer, finally runs out of words and phrases to arrive in the silent space of ‘not knowing’. This becomes the beginning of knowing. When I dropped down this rabbit hole the first time and met the Ineffable Infinite, I experienced uncontrollable laughter.

The masquerade of my ego self, my personality self, my well groomed false self was revealed and it’s deconstruction and realignment began. To become the True Self, the Who that is You, the Thee that is We, requires a self-less-ness that the ego can’t accomplish on it’s own and starts kicking and screaming at any hint of it. Try asking yourself Who You Are and make a list of all the things that come up. Run it out until there are no more words, then see what’s left. It’s the I AM THAT I AM, ISNESS….Huh?

This I AM Consciousness shows up in all the sacred writings of the world by various names and descriptions. It’s the Divine Intelligence of the Universe that has created and continues to create everything that is, has been, and ever will be and amazingly, we are a part of this I AM. No matter what you put after this I AM you are and you are not. How’s that for a joke, a koan, a parable, a riddle, a mind bender, a way of Be–ing. Hmm.

If, as Jung said, “The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.” Would it not be important to know this WHO? All inner teaching starts with Be Still and Know. Know what? Know that you don’t know and in this, you can begin to know. This is the launch pad. . . Be Still, Listen, Love, Learn, Laugh, Enlighten Up. Truly, Who Are You???