Who We Really Are

Waihihi Bay, Russell, Bay of Islands, New Zealand

Who we think we are

We believe that we are our physical bodies plus our beliefs about who we are that we have constructed through our lifetimes. These beliefs consist of our gender, our birthplace, where we were raised, the schools that we went to, the religious beliefs of our families and those around us, our socio-economic status, and so on. This complex system of beliefs is constantly reinforced by what we experience because what we experience is filtered by our belief systems.

Who we really are

Pay attention. This is important. Who we really are is pure awareness. What is pure awareness? It is our attention without the belief system of who we think we are. What is our "attention"? If someone who is behind us calls our name, our attention immediately goes to the sound. If someone touches our arm, our attention goes to the touch. That "attention" without any judgments or beliefs is what we are. If we think that the person who called our name is a jerk or someone we admire, or we think that the touch is hard or wonder why this person is touching us, the pure awareness is altered by our thoughts, our judgments or our labels. We are not our thoughts and beliefs. We are pure presence.

Let's be who we really are.