A case of mistaken identity

It is almost universally assumed that every one of us is a separate entity engaged in real activities in a real world. This is an assumption that is hardly ever questioned or scrutinised by anyone, maybe because it seems so obvious that it must be so. After all, everybody behaves and speaks in a way that only reinforces this notion of separateness, so even though we may be at odds with each other in many ways and disagree on many issues, the idea of separate beings is implicitly accepted by almost everybody. In fact, this idea is so ingrained in us that most people would probably think you’re a bit strange, maybe even mad, if you suggest that this might not necessarily be the case.

We are used to defining ourselves and our identity in many different ways, such as in terms of gender, age, nationality, religion, race, political affiliation, social position, career, ethnic belonging and so on. Even one’s name is a kind of marker of identity. However, even the most cursory investigation into the matter of identity will soon reveal to anyone who’s just a little bit persistent that all such labels are quite irrelevant when it comes to discovering the true nature of one’s being. Anyone who sincerely asks themselves the simple question “Who am I?” will soon find out that true identity is not to be found in anything that has been accumulated through cultural influences, upbringing, religious or political conditioning and so on. Neither can true identity be found in the circumstances one was born into, such as nationality, gender or family.

A sincere and persistent quest to find out what you truly are will sooner or later lead you to the conclusion that you are nothing rather than something. There is obviously consciousness, awareness, being, but is this something that’s separate from existence itself? You are the formless expressing itself through form, using the body, mind and personality, which is what most people think of as their true identity. The formless consciousness that you are is not personal in the sense of being separate from anything else. It is quite simply the underlying reality of everything that appears on the level of form; in other words, it’s the foundation of everything we know as the world and the universe. Form and formless are not separate, in fact it would be more accurate to say that form is formless and formless is form. In one sense universal consciousness is separate from the manifest world in that it is completely unaffected or untouched by form, but in another sense it’s equally true to say that the manifest world is the expression of formless consciousness.

Once you realise that you are formless consciousness, you will start to relate to other people and to the circumstances of life in a different way. The reason for this is that you will realise that other people and the circumstances of life, the world, are not different from you. They are what you are. It is all the same universal consciousness expressing itself in an infinite variety of forms. This also means that it doesn’t really matter that much what happens on the level of form, because you know that all forms are destined to disappear, and that does of course include the forms you know as your body, your mind and your personality. Death no longer seems like a calamity. It’s just a natural process of life that is constantly going on, and whether or not a particular form lives or dies isn’t all that important any more.

You might think that this could give rise to cynicism, lack of empathy, even callousness, but in actual fact the exact opposite is likely to be the case. Somebody who has realised their true nature, which is conscious and formless unlimited emptiness, will also more than likely experience a heightened capacity for love, empathy, care and compassion for others and the world. When you know your true nature, you also know that you are all, so being in conflict with others or with the world is no longer a very attractive proposition, in fact it becomes quite impossible, because there are no others to be in conflict with. To put it simply, love is the fragrance of the flowering of spiritual realisation.

All of this might seem like a lot of theoretical talk about something that is of interest only to people interested in obscure philosophical matters. However, because the realisation of one’s true being has such far-reaching consequences, it is actually something that has the potential of changing the world beyond all recognition.

Virtually every single problem facing humanity today has as its main root cause the erroneous assumption that we are all separate beings. If you experience yourself as being separate, you will of necessity also feel a need to fight for your survival, more often than not at somebody else’s expense, which means that you will be in a state of conflict with others. A separate ego will necessarily be at odds with other separate egos and this is the seed of every single conflict and war we have ever known and experienced. Peace, harmony and unconditional love can only ever be a universally experienced reality once we see through the illusion of ego and separateness and start to live from a perspective of universal, awakened consciousness.