Who am I?

As President Obama gave his Inaugural speech (Tuesday, January 20th, 2009), I sat in our local coffee house, Java Jacks, contemplating these three little but very big words. I had intended to get myself to a television to watch the inauguration, but as I read these words within the Yoga Sutras I felt grounded to my seat. I found myself opening my journal to make an attempt to answer the question, "Who am I?"

SUTRA 1.4 VRTTI SARUPYAM ITARATRA

At other times [the Self appears to] assume the forms of the mental modifications.

Following are the notes from my journal exactly as the thoughts arose in mind...

Self Portrait, Who am I?, 2009

Without any identifications, Who am I?

I am NOT...
this body
this mind
a yoga instructor
daughter/sister
identified by monetary value
Who am I? I am NOT...
Filipino/Chinese
the clothes I wear
defined by that which I do
Who am I? I am NOT...
defined by that which I own
my hair

Who am "I"? The pure "I"... The "I" beyond all thought...


It has always bothered me that one of the first questions we ask one another upon first meeting someone is "So, what do you do?" As if that would answer the question of the true make-up of the person I was talking to. Do we truly allow that to define who we are?!

To see the truth of one another we must look beyond these identifications and thereby know there is NO difference between you and me... for life is lived as ONE. It is here that I set my journal down and looked around the room at all of the people surrounding me. And it is here I asked myself, "Can you, Jennifer, look at each individual and look beyond those identifying characteristics that we have all grown so accustomed to... to see beyond the differences... to connect with each person knowing we are all connected as One?" And being honest with myself I thought, "Damn! That is really hard to do!" But should it be so hard or do we make it harder than it has to be?

The Self is unaware of any differences.

Thought: If we are not identified by these outside characteristics is it then true that we can do/be anything we desire?

And so I went into information overload and decided to marinate on this very thought provoking sutra for the next few days.....