Before the First Bit
Before we get into today’s light topic, I want to thank all of you who contributed to Friday’s group discussion about the key lessons and truths that we might teach our kids as they grow up. Your thoughts were truly enlightening for me and I’m sure plenty of you learned a little something as well. And to Hellen, Peta and Damian, if you can email Johnny your postal address, I will see that he sends you each a gift for your thoughtful contributions. Today’s chat is quite deep, provocative and philosophical, so if you’re after a “quick motivational fix”, today ain’t that day. However, it is a subject that will resonate with many of you and is relevant for all of us – when we’re ready. On with the show. Er, lesson.
Me and My Body
Growing up as a fat kid, I identified very strongly with my body. In fact, I’m sure there were times when I thought that I was my body. “Me” and “it” were one and the same; especially when my physical dimensions became my name. Being called “Jumbo” for the majority of my school life gave me a pretty clear picture of who I was; a fat kid. In other people’s eyes anyway. I remember being thirteen years old and turning up to play football for the first game of the season. I walked up to the blackboard (yep, it was that long ago) – where the coach would write the team for the day – to see if and where I would be playing. And there Jumbo was; playing on the half back line. Seeing my name up there on the board kind of confirmed who I was – made it official somehow. Amazingly, there was no malice or offense intended by the coach; he was merely calling me what everyone else did.
Fortunately for me, by my late teens I began to realise that I was more than a body, more than a label and more than someone else’s opinion of me. Although it’s fair to say that my unhealthy relationship with exercise and food continued into my early twenties.
Tall, Dark, Handsome and Pigeon-Holed
Thanks for that.
Perhaps we are the sum of those things. Or perhaps we’re none of them. Perhaps those things only have the meaning, power and significance that we give them. Perhaps they are distractions that mislead, distract and seduce us further and further away from finding our true selves. Or maybe not.
You and I live in a culture which likes to define us (tells us who we are) by what we look like, what we own and what we do. Think about it; when you’re in a social setting and you meet a person for the first time, what’s (often) the first question you’re asked? “So Sam, what do you do; where do you work”? Why are you asked this? Because your job tells them who you are. It also tells them how much money you earn, which tells them even more about who they are talking to. Or so they believe. And perhaps it’s this group thinking and this propensity that we (the collective we) have for identifying with “things” (things that keep the ego fed by the way) which keeps us at a distance from (1) moving towards enlightenment (2) a shift in consciousness and (3) connecting with our authentic selves. That is, discovering who we are beyond the noise of humanity, the expectations of those around us, the chaos of our mind, the programming of our past and the incessant chatter of our very demanding ego.A Terrestrial Pit Stop
Perhaps you and I are eternal beings having a temporary pit stop down here on the big blue ball; spiritual beings enjoying a momentary physical experience. That’s what most of the major religions teach anyway. Perhaps in the context of eternity – which is timeless – the thing we refer to as our “life” is a mere heartbeat of our on-going journey. Or perhaps our eighty years (or so) on planet Earth is it; the whole deal. When asked, most people will say that they believe we don’t just die and turn into worm food. “There’s gotta be more than this” is the common refrain. Maybe we say that because on some level we just know that there’s more. It doesn’t make sense logically or scientifically but somehow we just know. Or we believe we do anyway. Or perhaps we say it because the idea of this (physical) life being “all there is”, is just too uncomfortable and terrifying for us to consider.Life After Life?
When it comes to the age-old debate of what happens after our physical death down here on Terra Firma, we can speculate, theorise, hypothesize, philosophise, rationalise and argue till the cows come home (when is that by the way?) but we can’t actually know. If we had absolute, indisputable, irrefutable knowledge then we wouldn’t need faith because as we all know (or we’re about to know), faith is believing in something that we can’t prove. Yes, we can know what we think, we can know what we believe, and we can know what we expect but we can’t know with absolute certainty what happens once we die because unless there’s some important fact that I’m over-looking, at this point in time neither you or I have experienced physical death. Okay, I have digressed from today’s topic a little with this paragraph… but hey, what’s new?
I’ll finish part one of this little exploration with some wisdom from one of my faves…
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
I have to be honest and admit that I identify strongly with my body. When I am fit, strong, healthy – physically and mentally, for me life is full of possibility and wonderment and I am content. When I was overweight (for a small period out of my 40 years), I was most unhappiest during that period out of my entire life so far.
Funnily enough, during that unhappy period, I was also on the path of thinking where I thought success had to do with being monetarily rich. Now that I’ve regained my health and fitness, I realise it’s significance, and that as long as I have it, all aspects of my life are now so enriched. Being ‘monetarily rich’ is no longer a pursuit.
Can who we are, or who we are not be truly defined?
Surely what is to one, is not the same as what is to someone else?
Who’s definition in the end is the truth?
Perhaps we are not so much defined by what we look like or what job we have, but by the choices we make. If we should choose the body we inhabit whilst on the blue ball, then we choose the family we are born into. We choose the lessons we need to learn in this lifetime, thus attracting all that is needed to ourselves to do this…. in whatever form that may come!!!!…. Good, bad or otherwise?!?!?!
I consider my guts fairly spilt! Enjoy your Monday too
KK
xoxo
Hi Craig,
Well, my head has not exploded but it is pretty early in the morning for me to be thinking thoughts that your post provoked. Then again, maybe a good way to wake up!
I have been looking forward to a another post like this one & today's was it! Loved it. It is good to explore the 'who we are' question and also the 'who we aren't'. Lately I seem to have been hearing the line 'but society makes us feel…." from a couple of close friends. I am trying to ignore that type of thinking…as (I am learning)(mostly from here) not to place so much emphasise on 'the noise of humanity'.
Reading today's post is another great guide in that (right) direction.
Much food for thought…now for breakfast. Have a peaceful, cheerful, purposeful, loving day (as I know you will),
Mon ( )
I love it when you make me think and shake me out of my trance Craig. Thanks. x
I was 5 years old and having my 1st epileptic fit. I had no idea what was happening except that my year older brother had brought mum and dad into the room saying “something is wrong with Karen” They had the light on and were prompting me with my name. All I could hear and feel was me…inside my body….thinking, why won’t my body speak? Why isn’t this working? I also clearly remember knowing at that moment,that I wasn’t my body. It was the thing wrapped around me that wasn’t working or taking my instructions! Big learning for a little girl!
Crikey it’s not usual for my head to explode when it comes to this stuff but today the fog just doesn’t seem to be lifting!!
I read ET’s books a while back and now am onto the Abraham Hicks books which expand ET’s philosophical teachings somewhat. When you can accept that “I am” so many unnecessary unimportant garbage can finally be let go of…
Hi Craig,
Not much to add…giving me a bit to think about..I will wait for part 2 and work it out then. Love it when you make me think though!!
thanks
hugs
Chelle xxx
Years ago my brother competed in the Murrey Marathon (a 7 day canoe race from Yarrawonga to Swan Hill) It was one morning when he was about to start the race that his coach said to him, Mark there are 3 people in this K1 today,
1- The person you want to be
2- The person you think you are
3- And the person who is sitting in the K1
Signed Sunshine Coast Lurker
I agree with I AM!
I am now, I am living, I AM!
Yes I love and enjoy my physical reality as well however that is only part of it and we all KNOW this as we feel it if not have experienced it!
My body is not the same one day to the next no matter either are those little things that make me me as intense as I may be this can create great joy and great pain! No matter how much I try reality if formidable and forever changing … which is why I relate to I AM NOW.. forever changing yet now I AM.
Hi Guys – I’m away doing a gig for most of today but I’ll catch you (and all your comments) later… cheers. ( )
We are alive, we have breath, we have consciousness, we have choice, we have a body to use as a tool…quite amazing stuff. I reflect on my state every day and I can only think…”What the?”
Just how often as we dither and dather through life, do we hold the preciousness of being…of being just the ‘I AM’.
To describe myself in any other way is to merely present myself as a byproduct of comparison, nothing else. To do so,I live in a constant of conflict and unrest within, for I am judging my persona as a result of a feeling of lack, as compared to something or someone else. My sense of self worth is dependent upon the critique of others and how I place myself in the scheme of that evolving critique.
Yet, we are all the same beings, with breath, consciousness,choice and a body with a heartbeat.
Thoughts, beliefs, feelings and emotions interfere with the purity and force of our being. Every living being has the privilege of being anchored to that magical force…what a gift. Until thought and belief and emotion create the distraction to the I AM.
Expectations of others, and my expectations, create the dislocation at an early age.
Our mission in life is to cut through the disconnect and get back in touch with the purity of spirit within us all, at any given moment.
The journey begins with my gift of choice, a choice to lay aside the comparison and expectation, to return to the state that I am wrapped in at any moment…the I AM
That state is there within at any time.
The most difficult part is catching a glimmer of that presence. Yet I am a cell of it, so is it so difficult to feel one with the whole?
Beliefs are challenging to morph.
But the power of the I AM comes to the fore of my consciousness to fan the journey…what more do I need?
Zilch!
Craig, you’re a walking, talking, writing thesaurus…..”speculate, theorise, hypothesize, philosophise, rationalise and argue”…..I love it!!
Nothing like feeding your brain. I’ll be thinking a lot about your comments today.
Rex, that is a great comment by you’re brother’s coach. I’ll definietly remember that one.
Nat (happy country chick)
Eckhart Tolle is actually paraphrasing one of the world’s great philosophers – René Descartes – whose most famous statement is: Cogito ergo sum (Latin)(French: Je pense, donc je suis; (Usually translated in English as: I think, therefore I am, but can be less ambiguously translated as: I am thinking, therefore I exist…
Thanks for the encouragement to get on with the thinking Craig, while we still have the I AMness.
I can get very tired from trying to figure this stuff out – I have gone in circles on a number of occasions trying to uncover the “real me”. It’s not like peeling an onion to uncover the layers; it’s determining if the onion actually exists…
Do dogs know the answer? Because they sure don’t seem stressed about this stuff…
Hi Craig!
Funny you should mention those annoying ‘getting to know you’ questions that adults always seem to ask! I really hate those! My answers, however truthful, tend to make others uncomfortable.
Q. What kind of work do you do?
A. I’m not working right now.
Their ‘oh’ is followed by a rather confused look. They can’t understand why that doesn’t bother me, and how I just picked up the $50 check for lunch. That line of questioning isn’t going to generate much conversation. So, onto the next popular topic:
Q. You mentioned your kids. Are you married?
A. No.
Q. Divorced?
A. No.
Again, the confusion.
A. Widowed.
‘Oh.’ Silence. ‘I’m sorry.’ Silence. Then, the question I dread the most:
Q. How did he die? Was he ill?’
A. No.
Q. An accident?
A. No.
More confusion.
A. Suicide.
Another ‘oh’ usually followed by that ‘I should shut up now’ look.
Now they don’t know what to say. I’m not uncomfortable with my circumstances. On the contrary, I’m enjoying life! (And that confuses them even more!) But I do feel bad that I’ve made them uncomfortable.
I don’t volunteer this information, but if they push for answers, I’m not going to hide it. I have nothing to be ashamed of. I’d just rather avoid making people feel uncomfortable.
So, they’ve asked the standard ‘getting to know you’ questions, gotten answers they were totally unprepared for, have determined that we have nothing in common, are now inclined to feel sorry for me (another reason I hate answering those questions!), and still don’t know a damn thing about me!
CRAIG! That could be a great idea for a follow-up article! Challenge your readers to submit their ideas, and compile a NEW set of ‘getting to know you’ questions!
Wouldn’t THAT rattle the cage of ’society’? How dare we change the questions?
I like the way you challenge me to think! Keep it up!
From across the pond,
Sandra in Virginia, US
Is the I AM question a question that is there to differentiate us from others? or just to give us the peace of mind in knowing that one integral thing about ourselves?
Maybe if we take everything else away we are a spark. (Though I guess that doesn’t really answer anything.)
It amazes me that when a baby is conceived that those two cells come together and then this little spark of energy/electricity is what causes those cells to mutiply and create a new person.
I believe that spark came from somewhere, is the me that I am while here then goes back to “wherever” when my body dies.
Very obtuse and probably not helpful but still my point of view and is what gives me peace of mind.
Looking forward to your next installment Craig, I am here to learn.
CJ
Hey Guys – thanks for sharing your considerable thoughts… (( ))
The thing that scares me is not so much that people might/will define me by what I do or my behaviours, but that I define myself and therefore allow others to pigeon-hole me based on my own confidence or lack thereof.
We’ve all met someone who doesn’t fit the stereotype of ‘attractive’ and yet has such a warm personality and is just so darn happy within themself that we find them attractive after all. And it can work the other way as well.
Same rule applies for the ‘where do you live’ – definitely an easy one to judge. I’m the first to admit I was so happy to get away from Melbourne’s western suburbs after living there for a year – not because there was anything for my home, but just because I had an idea that it wasn’t ‘the place to be’. And yet I’ve met people from Melbourne’s far west who are incredibly successful in property and stocks and exude that success in both their behaviour and pattern.
At the end of the day, can’t we just do create whichever image we desire and let that be our perception?
Now the trick is just seeing past our own insecurities to do that!