[Video] Who Am I Really? GP Walsh

All the questions we ask in life end up with this one:

“Who am I Really?”

Why is this? Because the reality is that our lives are built around our sense of identity. In fact, everything revolves around our sense of identity. Think about when we’re born. We’re there as a baby just lying around enjoying our existence. Then, around the age of 2 we begin to get a sense that we are someone. A sense of desire starts to occur and we start to prefer things.

For example, when we’re babies, we just eat what we’re given by our parents. No real thoughts about it, but at some point in the early toddler stage, we start desiring something different. We might want corn instead of peas or juice instead of milk. Whereas we used to see no separation between our parents and us, now we do and this is why oftentimes people call this age the “terrible twos”. Yes, we start to get a feel for who WE are separate from parents.

This is quite natural, as it is a natural expression of who we are. But what occurs during this time is that when we as a toddle start to try to emerge into our own being, sometimes differing in what we want as opposed to what our parents want, our behaviors are seen as wrong or bad. Mom and Dad don’t like it, so we start to suppress our desires. Our nervous system starts hiding such emotions and behaviors away.

At that age, we don’t know much. We know our family and we think they are the whole world. We have no idea that Mom and Dad are just a smidge of an entire universe.  We bump up against them and our nature gets constricted. Our nature, that really has infinite potential (like to become a Mozart or Einstein), gets suppressed. And that environment (functional or dysfunctional), dictates who we are and the idea of “me” emerges right there. We notice that what we want is different than what others want. That sense of connection of oneness between myself and my parents gets severed. So, essentially right here I become “me” and a sense of separateness emerges.

You know what this causes? Pain. Pain that follows us the rest of our lives, or at least until we start to discover that this is not necessarily true. The essence of that realization is what launches many on a spiritual path. Whether it’s to become a better person, more successful, free from trauma, etc., a commitment is made to a spiritual path to seek enlightenment. It’s all motivated by the same thing: A seeking to go back to our origin…a oneness of all things.

“Who am I” is the question we all come to. The “I” that got created and separated can’t possibly be all I am. It feels small. We know what it’s like to feel constricted, like a ghost in the machine. A self-image that was created in the nervous system to facilitate the distance that arose between me and the environment and to have a way of resolving the inevitable conflict that will follow.

Actually, it’s not a bad thing, as it is just part of the process. After all, no one is born enlightened. There are phases of the nervous system that it has to go through to survive. It’s a process that cannot be escaped.

I liken this to the process it takes to make a Steinway concert grand piano. It takes 18 months and a lot of steps to make each piano. Every detail is essential to the process in order for each one to be exquisite. It takes time and the result is that each piano sounds a little bit different and each one beautiful.

Now, imagine the process it takes for a human being. It takes time and each step is crucial. It all happens naturally and is self-instructed. So when you want to complain about your parents or childhood, know that it was inevitable and happened the way it had to in order for you to wake up. If it didn’t go down the way it did, you would be a different person today.

So the question “Who am I” is important and if you’re listening to this right now, the process is working. You are now a conscious adult asking and getting insight to this question. You are capable of confronting direction with passion and joy regarding this question. Who were you before all that programming took place? Before you got squished into that little room? Before the sperm met the egg?

This is the only question that matters.

Now I can’t tell you the answer. The only way to get your answer is to commit to the question. I can tell you that the question cannot be answered with your mind, as your mind is a servant of your identity. It can’t step out of that. Your mind is the programmed part, deeply entrenched into the nervous system. It’s like your 2 year old took over and you never took back control. Until now.

The first sign of awakening is a sense of discomfort. A sense that there is more and a burning desire to know what the truth is. At that point you forget about all that you’ve learned because it’s useless. You start again and hold that question, “Who am I really?” like a brand new baby.

Welcome to the spiritual path.