You are not your body (perceived as “good or bad”).
You are not your mind (perceived as “good or bad”).
You are not your social titles (perceived as “good or bad”).
You are not your occupational titles (perceived as “good or bad”).
You are not your constantly changing experiences (perceived as “good or bad”).
You are not your ever-changing emotions (perceived as “good or bad”).
You are not your ever-changing thoughts (perceived as “good or bad”).
You are not your “culture” (perceived as “good or bad”).
You are not your skin color (perceived as “good or bad”).
You are not your clothes, hairstyle or texture, makeup, and other costumes (perceived as “good or bad”).
You are not where you were born or where you currently live or where you have traveled to or lived (perceived as “good or bad”).
You are not your relationship titles or status (perceived as “good or bad”).
You are not the illusions of the world or other people’s projections (perceived as “good or bad”).
You are not a figment of the collective or anyone else’s imagination (perceived as “good or bad”).
You are not these limited forms (perceived as “good or bad”).
As beautiful, inspiring, and enjoyable as some of these limited forms and illusions may be; these things are not you.
You are the one unchanging and incorruptible pure consciousness (that encompasses all and none of these things and more).
You are called by a name, you experience life through a body, you have experiences in your body and mind, you perform activities and jobs in the world, you engage in relationships with others to varying degrees, you have a changing form that others can see, interact, and interface with, but you are not these things.
Contemplative Exercise (You Can Use Your Mind With Words, And Your Voice To Ponder Out Loud If You Wish)
Reread the list above three times and add 10 more things that you sometimes identify yourself with, or that others have identified you with (“correctly or incorrectly, good or bad”).
Use the same structure that I have created above when adding to the list, writing in the 2nd person, present tense, negative, by starting your sentence with “you are not.”
Reread the list (including what you wrote) a few more times and then focus on the bolded last sentence from above:
You are the one unchanging and incorruptible pure consciousness (that encompasses all and none of these things and more).
Take some time to contemplate (meaning using your mind to ponder with words, thoughts, and sentences, out loud or silently to yourself) the last sentence, and then start a list of “I am” (first person, present tense)…but do not write any more than these two words for now (keep your sentence intransitive–which means that it does not take a subject or an object).
Once your contemplation is complete (and be sure to take as much time as you need with your contemplation…days, weeks, months, are fine), sit with the words “I am,” and take them with you into concentration (silent sitting focused on one point to the exclusion of all else) for at least 30 minutes per day for the entire duration of the exercise, which is one year (I never said the exercise would be a quick one lol).
As you work on this exercise for your year (if you choose to partake in this important practice) take your “I am” statement with you into concentration without expanding on the two words until you are sure of “an answer” at the end of the exercise.
Be sure to continue with your meditation practice as always (silent sitting with an emptiness of mind).
At the end of your time on this activity (save this link if you need to, and put a one-year reminder on your phone or computer if you are serious about actually doing this), come back to your “I am” statement to complete the process.
What, if anything, will you add to these words?
It is important that you actually sit with these words in order to get the full benefits of the exercise if you choose to do it.
Some of you will inevitably use your bright intellectual minds to recognize that “I am” is a perfect statement unto itself and that it says everything that you need to communicate the full Truth of who you are, but the experiential understanding of this statement is more important than your intellectual one.
If you choose to do this practice, be sure to actually complete the exercise. See what you discover for yourself when you truly sit with/in your clear awareness of “I am.”
Want To Go A Bit Further In Your Self Reflections? Sign-Up To Complete Your Self-Inquiry & Self-Awareness Project
Thank you for reading.
If you enjoyed this post or found it useful, please be sure to like, comment, and share.
You can also connect with me on Social Media for ongoing inspiration on your Yoga and Meditation journey.
And if you have a question that you would like answered in a blog post or video, please submit your inquiry here!
