Knowing who we are is something that most of us rarely take the time to think about. It is often a question that is brushed off as deeply philosophical, and one that we don’t have time for. After all, we live with ourselves every day – what new could there be to discover anyway?For most, our personal identity has been quietly shaped by family, work and our environment and is often attached to the worth of our achievements, what we own and what we display to the world. We are also led to believe that we are each individuals with our own thoughts, minds and actions, separate from our environment and those we share it with. While this can feel like ‘the norm’ for most, what if the way we have been conditioned to understand ourselves is not the full picture?
Your career, partner and material possessions may shape aspects of you and how you move around in the world, but they do not define your true nature. They are simply roles, experiences and actors in the play of life. The ‘me’, as most of us know it, is a mask and what many traditions refer to as the ego – the false centre many cling to as an identity. However, you are not the contents of your life or your passing emotions. You are the awareness of it, otherwise known as consciousness. Understanding this is the first step to seeing through the illusion of yourself, which can be incredibly liberating.
It is also fundamental to recognise that each of our souls is unique but not separate from the whole. We are all living the same human life. We see the same sunrise and the same sunset, yet each of us experiences this reality through a different lens. The way we engage with our life experiences and the people in it is shaped by a vast field of influences and conditioning, including our past, our environment, culture, fears, hopes, and even ancestral patterns. So, in essence, we are like ripples in an ocean of collective consciousness.
A profound statement from globally acclaimed and award-winning shamanic healer and teacher, Antonia Ruhl, was inspired by the ancient Sanskrit-based philosophies and helps to explain this further.
“Thoughts are not mine. It is listening but no listener. It is seeing but no see-er. It is doing but no do-er. Mind is not mine. I as a person do not exist. I am existence, consciousness, bliss.”
At first, these words may seem contradictory. But within them lies a very simple roadmap for loosening the grip on ego and living life more harmoniously, from a less reactive state.
‘Thoughts are not mine’
Have you ever experienced a childhood memory surfacing uninvited while lying in bed? Or a thought about the future enters your mind in the middle of an unrelated meeting? Did you consciously decide to think these thoughts? In reality, they have arisen from countless influences and are often the echoes of shared consciousness, our conditioning, and the ‘noise’ of life.
Recognising this can help you take the pressure off, because if your thoughts are not solely ‘yours’, you don’t have to identify with every single one of them, especially those that do not serve you well. You don’t need to believe all of them, worry about them, or allow them to dictate what you do or who you are. Instead, you can simply observe, then choose what aligns with your true nature.
This is not to say you won’t be affected by your thoughts and emotions. But awareness of whether they come from a place of love, fear, or past conditioning can help you choose what to focus on and how to respond. Without this awareness, you risk being at the mercy of outside forces you can’t control, which, in turn, gives them the power to create a state of volatility within you at any given time. This can result in knee-jerk reactions, rather than a considered response from the true self – that place of wholeness and clarity.
‘No Listener, No See-er, No Do-er’
Each person is a vessel of energy, contributing to the collective frequency of the world we live in. Some call this God, Source, a Higher Power or Earth’s vibration; however, it is listening, seeing and doing through the life experiences that unfold. No one person is orchestrating this – no listener, no see-er, no doer, so when life is viewed as a series of experiences flowing through you, rather than happening to you, it provides an opportunity to view things more objectively. Gratefulness rather than bitterness may be felt for a hardship that created resilience, or joy may be felt more readily in a moment that would have otherwise passed you by. Seeing experiences as moments in time helps to view each one for what it is, instead of being tied to future outcomes or past regrets.
‘The Mind Is Not Mine’
The mind, like thoughts, is similar to a stream fed by many rivers. It carries not only individual memories but also the imprints of humanity and genetics. It is just one of the many versions of the collective human mind. This is why universal emotions such as fear, love, grief, or joy feel so similar amongst us all, no matter who we are. Take the example of nervousness that one may experience before public speaking. Most know how that feels, so it can be seen as the echo of countless humans who, across history, feared embarrassment or judgement in groups. So your mind is not entirely separate; it is part of a wider intelligence that moves through you. You are just one expression of a shared consciousness. If this is so, everyone’s struggles and mistakes are not so different from your own, and once this is recognised, kindness and understanding for each other can come more readily.
‘I as a person do not exist’
This does not mean that you, as a living, breathing human, do not exist. It instead points to the ego, that person who you think you are. That which happens to you, who you love, and what you’ve achieved is just the mask worn to get around in the world. It is not your deepest reality or true self. You will still laugh, cry, struggle, love and feel emotion, but when you recognise that these experiences are passing while the deeper you remain unchanged, it becomes easier for you to not confuse your ego with your true self. You are the unchanging backdrop against which movement, thoughts and the world appear.
‘Existence, Consciousness, Bliss’
This teaching, from the ancient phrase Sat-Chit-Ananda, means Existence, Consciousness, Bliss.
- Existence. Relationships come and go, jobs change, bodies age and the ego shifts, but beneath it all is the steady current of you that is not tied to your name, your history, or your future. It is the unchanging essence of who you are.
- Consciousness. This is the awareness of your inner self and awareness of your thoughts, experiences and emotions. You can notice worry, without being worried. You can witness joy without clinging to it. You are not these thoughts or emotions, but rather, you are the witness that notices them, and you can choose how to process them.
- Bliss. When you are no longer fighting reality or identifying with the ego, you are at peace beneath it all. Like the stillness that lies at the depth of an ocean despite the clapping waves on the surface, it is here, in the deep-rooted natural state of your true nature, that lives Bliss.
Reaching this stillness is not always easy, as the constant noise of the world and identifying with the ego can make it difficult. However, when all aspects of the self are understood, a better balance can be found. The ego and external influences no longer dominate, and instead, there is a respect for, and ability to, remain in harmony with them rather than be controlled by them.
From this inner place of balance and quiet, what naturally arises is self-love and compassion. And this is what life is ultimately about – love. Because without love and genuine connection, life can feel hollow, souls can disconnect and slowly fade into isolation. However, you cannot give to others what you do not first have within yourself, so until you have genuine love and compassion for yourself, it cannot be given away wholeheartedly. It all begins with you.
Seeing through the illusion of self is not about giving up who you are but about remembering who you are beyond the superficial stories – an unchanged self of awareness, love and bliss. Living from this perspective, with the understanding that you are part of a collective consciousness, life no longer becomes something to control, but rather experience, moment by moment. Decisions come with more clarity, relationships soften with more compassion, and challenges transform into opportunities for growth.
Authored by Sandra Lo Giudice
Sandra Lo Giudice is a Melbourne-based writer and creative with a professional and academic background in business and marketing. She is currently focused on exploring and studying alternative therapies and sharing her nature-based wisdom through storytelling and embodied practice, which draws on a deep personal connection to nature.
For more information about Antonia Ruhl, visit her profile and blogs here https://www.consciouslivingdirectory.com.au/australia/antonia-ruhl/victoria
