#NerdsUnite: Ego and Our True Self
<editorsnote> Nerds, meet Brian Freedman!! He's recently undergone a transformation in an effort to connect with his "true" self. He's here today to tell you about his latest and greatest discovery in the hopes of helping others on their journey as well. I only have one more thing left to say ... HIT IT BRIAN!!! </editorsnote>
#TalkNerdyToMeLover's Brian Freedman
I started reading “A New Earth” by Eckhart Tolle and been thinking a lot about the ego, the false self, compared to the Spirit, our true self.
“I usually congratulate people when they tell me, ‘I don’t know who I am anymore.’
Then they look perplexed and ask,
‘Are you saying it is a good thing to be confused?’
I ask them to investigate. What does it mean to be confused?
‘I don’t know’ is not confusion. Confusion is: ‘I don’t know, but I should know’ or ‘I don’t know, but I need to know.’
Is it possible to let go of the belief that you should or need to know who you are? In other words, can you cease looking to conceptual definitions to give you a sense of self? Can you cease looking to thought for an identity?
When you let go of the belief that you should or need to know who you are, what happens to confusion? Suddenly, it’s gone.
When you fully accept that you don’t know, you actually enter a state of peace and clarity that is closer to who you truly are than thought could ever be.
Defining yourself through thought is limiting yourself.” (Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth, p. 90)
What you identify with, you are not.
It seems the more spiritual reading I do, the more Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday’s I watch, the more meaningless ego becomes apparent. I didn’t realize how much the ego has infiltrated mine and seemingly everyone’s lives, causing us attachment and inevitably fear and unhappiness.
It seems the ego in all of us loves titles, things we can identify with to show our value, our self-worth. Our jobs, our hobbies, our friends and family, all used by the ego to cling to a false sense of self. We know all those aren’t who we truly are because they are impermanent; they will eventually be gone. Impermanence is the way of life, we are blessed to enjoy things and people for periods of time, but eventually, they will go back where they came from.
Let’s say, for example, you are a woman with exceptional physical beauty. That’s an amazing gift you have and I’m sure you’re grateful for it. However, at some point, your physical beauty will fade, as everything does, and what are you left with? Who are you now that what your ego identified with for so long is gone? Is your greatness and value diminished? No. The ego wants you to believe that, but it is not the case. Who you truly are never changes, you are, and will always be, a great light of peace and joy here to bring love to everyone you meet.
#nerdsunite
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