“WHO AM I?”
Have you ever asked yourself this question? If not, do it right now. If you have, what was your answer? How do you identify yourself? Do you know yourself by your name, your career, title, look, gender, nationality, religion, or race? Is this your identity? Is this what you truly are?
The answer is no, a big no! These are just labels that demonstrate our roles in the physical world and a way our society differentiates us from others.
I started asking the identity question when I was twenty years old. I did not find my answer until ten years later when I read the best-selling book Discover Your Destiny with the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari by Robin
Sharma. This book contained an old story that helped me uncover the truth and start my journey toward self-realization and faith in the self. I’d like to share this story taken from Robin Sharma’s book in order to make some points. Here is the story:
Many years ago in the East, there was a band of monks who had a huge golden Buddha statue that they idolized. They would pray to it, meditate around it, and cherish its presence in their lives. A time
came when their place faced the threat of attack from foreign invaders. The monks thought they would lose the prized possession of their community. So, they began to think of ways to protect it. One of the
monks came up with a simple yet effective plan: the monks would work together to place layers of mud over the golden Buddha in an attempt to cover it up and hide it. And the plan worked: The invaders did not find it.Years later, a young monk who was on his morning walk saw something shimmering amidst the mountain of dirt. It got his attention. He called his monk sisters and brothers and they began to remove the layers of mud. The more mud was removed, the more beauty of the gold appeared. Finally, with all layers removed, the full glory of the golden Buddha could present itself and they rediscovered their treasure.
This short story taught me about my true nature, my golden Buddha. I learned that my true self is pure and precious like gold. I learned that as souls, we are here to spread peace and love, to seek the truth, to attain and share knowledge, and to be happy and joyful. What happens that makes us lose our true identity?
This is the answer I found:
When we grow up as children, we are asked to do what others want us to do, taught to follow such and such religion, and told that if we don’t do this or that, we will be punished and won’t be loved. So we feel threatened.
In order to protect ourselves, to protect our golden Buddha, we cover it up with layers and layers of mud, layers of negativity, false beliefs, and body consciousness. We hide our true self in order to become what others want us to be and to be loved and accepted by society. In this way, we gradually forget who we are and lose our connection to the Source and invite chaos, fear, and stress into our lives. We feel lost. Eventually, we lose faith in the self and replace it with doubt.
In order to rediscover our true self, our lost identity, we need to remove the layers of mud. We need to look at our garbage and look for that shimmering light. By doing so, we can bring peace, love, and bliss back into our lives and the lives of others. We will also increase our self-confidence and self-trust by gradually eliminating our self-doubt. The more doubts we eliminate, the higher the level of faith in the self becomes. And the higher the level of faith, the easier it will be to achieve our dreams, vision, and goals in life.
