Who Are We?

By Julia George and Laura Castanza ©2011

“Who are we?” is a question that bewilders many of us. Here we are on planet Earth; a vast and diverse place yet small and simple in proportion to the Universe. From our human perspective, our world seems dualistic with many opposites, mismatches, and comparatives. But if we explore more deeply, there exists unity, synchronicity, and continuity. What creates the separation keeping us at odds with each other and nature is a lack of understanding as to who we really are. It is because we mostly identify our self and everything around us from our ego/personality perspective: what we have (our primitive, external side necessary for survival). Rarely do we delve into the more subtle and powerful inner self of who we are. The unfamiliar sound of our inner voice/intuition causes us confusion, and confusion leads to calamity. However, if we can resolve our own oppositions within through exploring the depth of our soul, we can manifest our core reality in our outward experience.

Generation after generation, we are shaped by our predecessors. We have lineage/baggage to uphold, carry-on, or transform. It’s neither positive nor negative, but rather an obstacle keeping us from truly knowing our self. Laden with roles/titles doled out to us as youngsters from family and peers, our authenticity is buried under preconception. Preconceptions of who we “should be”, are from our caregivers who gave birth and/or raised us in their perception of the world. But these perceptions are not accurate, can be quite skewed/unhealthy, and tend to squelch our natural, creative inclinations to be who we truly are in this life.

Who we “should be” is as burdensome as what we “should have”. Our story, the roles and titles we’ve been taught, comes with associated display materials or “stuff” for exhibition. We dive into the material world with fervor to support the mask we wear; never satisfying us while often times convoluting and endangering our well being. If we choose to stick to our story as adults, we will continue to chase the dragon of illusion. If we wake up, we have the opportunity live authentically through our inner treasure, our soul.

But who are we, really? Are we just a person born of our parents, society, culture, etc? While we are the product of our Earthly life for the time being (a mortal), we are much more in the grand scheme things (a soul). From a soul perspective, we are energy and essence, making us a crucial element of the Universe. Traversing planes of existence, our energy transforms or reincarnates through lifetimes depending on our awareness.

The level of awareness we reach in any one lifetime will set forth conditions for the next (a.k.a. our karma). These conditions are temporary unless we become ingrained in patterns we’re unable to resolve. Karma changes with every decision to change our patterns (for better or for worse). So, the realization of our self, our interconnectedness with all things, and subsequent actions towards harmony and the greater good (the light side of our being), ultimately aids our soul’s ascension/betterment.

This belief is based on the concept that energy is finite, yet ever changing. We witness it in physics; when kinetic energy (electricity) is hindered, it then turns to thermal energy (heat). Since our human species has found itself to be the most advanced/intelligent being on the planet, we either transform into another realm/plane of existence or reincarnate through lifetimes, as energy is not dispensable.

Our hindrances/obstacles as humans are the unwholesome, unskillful thoughts, feelings, and actions generated from our unhealed/wounded mental and emotional bodies. We have a number of bodies: our physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. Essentially, we’re all the same, only varying in color, shape, expression, capacity, and level of awareness. Our physical body is the vessel, and the emotional, mental, and spiritual bodies, travel within it. Fulfilling our soul potential in any one lifetime depends on overcoming our obstacles.

The dualistic nature of our planet reflects the dualistic nature within us. We are black and white, wrong and right, dark and light. Our obstacles reside in our darkness/unawareness, that which has not been brought to light. It is also referred to as “the shadow”. Various philosophies have noted 5 main shadow traits in the human condition: desire/cravings, anger, laziness, restlessness, and doubt. There are many “offspring” from these states all undermining our value of being and rule the majority of our actions. In a nutshell, desire is an insatiable thirst to get our “needs” met; anger is the result of continuous self dissatisfaction; laziness is our choice to not make choices; restlessness is our constant pursuit for distraction inevitably leading to anger; and doubt drives all the above = low self esteem, low self worth towards overcoming these obstacles.

When we are not acting out our shadow traits, we live and share: loving kindness/friendliness (unconditional love towards all), appreciative joy (happiness for others), equanimity (peace with who we are and what is around us), and compassion (kindheartedness). This is our light side, our soul’s nature, the center of our being, god within. It happens instantaneously when we are awed by something; but rarely does our light/love drive our day-to-day interactions. If we monitor our thought process for a single day, we will witness the frequency of shadow traits interfering with our ability to remain loving. Try it.

We can change when we realize we are not our jobs, our titles, our roles, our home, our car, our bank account (or lack thereof), or anything in our manufactured existence. We can change when we realize we are each other, nature, a soul, a crucial element of the Universe, essence. We do not have to destroy our manufactured existence to realize our true nature. However, to harmonize within our current existence, we must dedicate our efforts towards manifesting our self and our soul, right here, right now.

Acknowledging our light and accepting our dark is the only way to truly manifest our self in this world. The external perception of our self and the roles we play only become challenged by a conscious internal dialogue that takes place between our emotional, mental, and spiritual bodies. Witnessing our shadow traits will remind us to redefine who we are from a core level perspective. Only then are we able to model our highest self and walk the world in a state of grace; this state only evolves from the resolution of our inner conflict. The world around us will begin to change for the better, subtly yet significantly. Remembering to practice non-judgmental awareness of our how are bodies communicate with one another (witnessing the manifestation of our thoughts and feelings without labeling them as “good” or “bad”) will liberate us from the calamity of not knowing how we feel and therefore acting out with negative consequences. Our world will open up as we attract and connect with others who also work to reveal their true essence. This support aids us in our own process and allows others to see who we are from the inside out. It is only through this revelation that we connect at a soul level and grow to see who we are.

For more information or to discuss this topic one-on-one, please contact Julia George of Aquarian Age @ 561-750-9292