Who am I?

[prg5001]

Re: Who am I?

How about the question "Who is sitting here now typing this?"

Is this the same as "Who am I?"

Too late, he's gone now.

Cheers,

Paul

[AlanLa]

Re: Who am I?

I find that the thought of who I am gets in the way of me being whatever I am.

[disastermouse]

Re: Who am I?

I find that the thought of who I am gets in the way of me being whatever I am.

How can you get in your own way?

More confusion.

[Dosho]

Re: Who am I?

Much of my life has been about getting in my own way. I suppose you can say your actions are conditioned by others or past responses, but ultimately the only one keeping you where you are is yourself.

In a manner of speaking.

[Tobiishi]

Re: Who am I?

At many of the potential turning points of my life, I stood in front of myself. I am a bit too tall to see past. I only found out what happened later by watching those fuzzy black and white security tapes.

I'm still not sure exactly what I missed.

:|

[disastermouse]

Re: Who am I?

Much of my life has been about getting in my own way. I suppose you can say your actions are conditioned by others or past responses, but ultimately the only one keeping you where you are is yourself.

In a manner of speaking.

What's wrong with where you are?

Chet

[Jundo]

Re: Who am I?

Much of my life has been about getting in my own way. I suppose you can say your actions are conditioned by others or past responses, but ultimately the only one keeping you where you are is yourself.

In a manner of speaking.

What's wrong with where you are?

Chet

We are always just where we are, and always at home, always perfectly a jewel of who we are right now. Nothing to add or take away.

Thus, do not be complacent and self-satisfied, never give up trying to be a better person, or to make this world better. Stillness does not depend on moving or sitting still, so in life we have to live and move for we are not stones.

Sometimes the way to get somewhere is to work very hard, sometimes the way to get somewhere is to stop whatever you were doing in the past to prevent that. Don't forget that either. Some may think the way to answer the question "who am I" is to search very hard, but perhaps the way to answer is to stop asking ... and just BE "who you are".

Gassho, Jundo

PS- (And, as we discovered earlier in this thread, still another way to answer the question "who am I" is to drop the idea that there is even an "I" to be (or, if you get right down to it, that there is even a "be" to "be or not to be".)

"Who am I" is kind of an "All of The Above" multiple choice question. It can be approached in each of those ways, and does lend itself to but a single perspective.

[disastermouse]

Re: Who am I?

Much of my life has been about getting in my own way. I suppose you can say your actions are conditioned by others or past responses, but ultimately the only one keeping you where you are is yourself.

In a manner of speaking.

What's wrong with where you are?

Chet

We are always just where we are, and always at home, always perfectly a jewel of who we are right now. Nothing to add or take away.

Thus, do not be complacent and self-satisfied, never give up trying to be a better person, or to make this world better. Stillness does not depend on moving or sitting still, so in life we have to live and move for we are not stones.

Honestly Jundo, most of my misery has come from 'trying to be a better person'. I've learned I'm a pretty good person as it is. Most of my ethical lapses have been the result of trying to get something or be somewhere else.

Sometimes the way to get somewhere is to work very hard, sometimes the way to get somewhere is to stop whatever you were doing in the past to prevent that. Don't forget that either. Some may think the way to answer the question "who am I" is to search very hard, but perhaps the way to answer is to stop asking ... and just BE "who you are".

Gassho, Jundo

Still, where are we going?

[AlanLa]

Re: Who am I?

Chet said

How can you get in your own way?

By thinking instead of being, which I think you might agree with because you write about it quite eloquently.

[Dosho]

Re: Who am I?

Much of my life has been about getting in my own way. I suppose you can say your actions are conditioned by others or past responses, but ultimately the only one keeping you where you are is yourself.

In a manner of speaking.

What's wrong with where you are?

Chet

Nothing at all.