Three little words... One BIG meaning

“…I'm a bitch...I'm a lover... I'm a child.. I'm a mother…"

You remember that old Alanis Morisset song right?

Those four phrases were on instant replay in my mind as I pondered these three little words... "Who Am I?".

Three little words... One BIG meaning. A meaning that ironically is not found in the language we use to define who we think we are. The very first labels we grow into are directly related to gender. Mommy is a girl and Daddy is a boy. Our vision via our eyes help us determine the other humans who are divided into these categories also. As we grow older, race or nationality begin to play into our understanding of ourselves and others. She is black, he is European, they are white. Increasingly, different aspects of who we believe we are create the characters we grow to become. But are we really ONLY caricatures of these limiting labels?

Ekhart Tolle, a leader in the spiritual teachings of human consciousness evolution, points out that humans, along with every other living being in the universe, have a deep knowing that resides in the inner core of the spirit self. He believes that we call ourselves, woman, man, lawyer, drug user, doctor, stripper, author, alcoholic, mother, daughter, father son, trauma survivor, however, we are none of these things. We are instead, physical beings manifested out of a higher consciousness of spiritual energy. This energy is also labeled for the purpose of communication. Some call this energy God. Some call it the Tao. Others have many names to describe its existence. One thing we all agree on, is that it exists.

Tolle believes that the person who is most in touch with himself is he who is in touch with this deep spiritual self. Like most spiritual concepts, this deep internal understanding is too complex to express in words. When you experience it, you know it. This knowing is invariably who you are. Tolle encourages us to connect with this spiritual self and identify with it, without attempting to cognitively come to a seemingly logical explanation of who we are. He states that, not knowing who we are, is knowing who we are. When you no longer need to provide an answer for the “Who Am I?” question, you are in fact, who you are.

How can you become one with the one you are? Almost every spiritual leader will first advise a student to learn to breathe. As Americans we are always in such a rush to do this, go here, think about this, talk about that, worry, worry, worry, go to work, get this done…etc, etc. In the midst of all of that, we forget to just breathe. My martial arts Master, Zhenkang Sun taught me that shallow breath is the first sign of death. The closer we get to the point of the dying, the more staccato our breathing becomes. So we first learn to breathe deeply. Breathing, like water, cleanses the state of our inner body. Our heart rate drops, our muscles relax, and more oxygen is carried to every inch of our body, particularly our brain. When our body is in a relaxed state, we are better able to access the functioning of higher consciousness wherein The Answers reside.

Think about it this way. Have you ever experienced a time when you were under great duress? When something major was going wrong in your life, and you couldn’t help but to ruminate over the issue trying to come up with an answer. Finally something convinced you to calm down and you entered a state of harmony. And finally, seemingly out of nowhere, the answer was revealed to you? Entering a state of peace through breathing provides the opportunity for these magical moments to happen all the time. Some people call this faith. Some call this God. Some call this luck. Ultimately it is just a person entering a state of peace. All of the answers to life’s woes lie in the solar plexus of each being. We just have to learn to tap into that space and become connected with the energy that exists there. The answer will mysteriously reveal itself to you. No worries, no logic, no pros/cons list. Just a deep knowing.

So rather than google your time away trying to find out who you are. Rather than worrying incessantly about whether you fit into this label or that label. Just breathe. Breathe deeply through your nose until your diaphragm is full and exhale slowly through your mouth until you feel your diaphragm empty. And repeat. Repeat as many times as you need to. Whenever you begin to feel anxiety of any sort. Breathe. The answer of to your question will arrive.

“Who Am I?” I ask.
“I Am”, I answered.

Until next time….