Who Do You Think You Are?
A tough question. Can we, can you, answer it honestly? Go ahead. I “dare” you. No one is looking. No one knows you are asking yourself this question. It’s not asked in terms of your social or political status or title, neither of which mean anything, at all. Your address, marital status or whether or not you have children doesn’t matter here either. How much you weigh, your skin color, your age – cast all of that aside. Strip yourself down naked – imaginatively or actually, doesn’t matter. Okay, now ask yourself that question again. Finding it difficult? Let me hold up several mirrors in front of you and let’s see if we can find the real you in there somewhere. Prepare yourself. More often than not what we find we do not like…
The Essenes were a strict bunch. To become one of their group you waited a full year under probation. After that year you were allowed into the fold on in a limited scope for another three years. Only then were you an Essene. The key here was strictness on who you were. It took that long for who you were to come to the surface in all its bareness. After that long there was nothing you could hide – from the elders or yourself. The following seven Essene mirrors reflect this journey into the Self. Are you mature enough to answer the question? To take a bold look into yourself in all honesty? If you truly care about this little exercise, you most likely will not like the answer. I haven’t. Have I changed? Yes, to a great degree. Would I qualify as an Essene? Certainly not. And most likely neither would you. But that is not the point. It can and should be the goal – “to be perfect, as your Father in Heaven is perfect.” That goal is almost impossible to obtain in a single lifetime. However it is the journey that is important. It is finding, then travelling, the Path to Perfection. You will fall down. When you do, just get back up, dust yourself off, get back on the Path and continue. Eventually you find those things that have long been a part of you start to fall away, they have a lessening power over you. THIS is the goal for now. Before you stands the Universe. Before you stands the real you – your Higher Self. Be honest. Dishonesty here only shows you are not mature enough to handle it. If that is the case, close this page and go on about your lie-filled life. I’ll be honest – the lie you are living is much easier than living in the Truth of who you (really) are…
The First Mirror
Do opposites really attract? With magnets, yes. With people? Yes. And no. In our relationships with other persons and people, we are drawn to those like ourselves. If we think little of ourselves, we will inevitably be drawn to people and environments that exude some form of pain and suffering. Granted, as the Buddha taught, life is pain and suffering – but that is another (huge) lesson for another day – right now we are dealing with YOU.
We tend to surround ourselves with individuals and models of behavior in which we feel “at home.” For example, if we are full of fear over this current lie deemed forever “covid,”, then we will (unconsciously) seek others who are bought into the same lie, living off the same fear that (now) guides and defines our (entire) life. Side note on “fear”: it is the food of the demons that seek to thrive within each of us.
In short, we will usually seek those of like a like mind. Therein lies the concept of the “hive mind.” A hive mind is the collective thoughts, ideas, and opinions of a group of people (such as Internet users or those who believe government propagandized lies) regarded as functioning together as a single mind.
The opposite side of the image portrayed above, is, of course, those who maintain a strong individual mind and tend to attract those who also think the same way about life and its (current) circumstances. A solidarity of hope and view of reality.
The Second Mirror
Judge not, lest ye be judged. Ooooo, you say. Yer quoting from the Bible. That’s old stuff. We’re beyond all of that crap, all that “Christ crap.”
Really? Is that where you’ve moved yourself? If so, you are a fool. If that is the height of your inner intelligence and you refuse to look elsewhere. Move on. You can’t handle what’s coming… For the rest of you:
How, in the private room of your own thoughts, do you judge others? Your judgments are simply a mirror – the first in this series. Justify your judgments all you want. You can’t alter reality, try as you might – or wish. The fact is, how we judge others is a reflection of how we see ourselves. So… Don’t be quick to judge others – or yourself for that matter. We are all fallible – even the Pope.
“To err is humane, to forgive Divine.” Coincidentally, (or not), that is a quote from Alexander Pope. And yes, in the original it is “humane,” not (necessarily) “human.” What he meant was, while anyone can make a mistake, we should aspire to do as God does, that is, show mercy and forgive others. And, I might add, we should do this within our own hearts, and let what is in our hearts be reflected outward (which it is anyway, whether we mean it or not, whether we think so or not).
The Third Mirror
What have you lost, given away, or had taken away from you in your life?
When we see something we love and desire in another, it is often something we have lost, given away or had stolen in our own lives. Every relationship is a relationship with Self and often we try to reclaim what was lost, we gave away, or had taken away as a child – sometimes even as an adult. It could be joy, innocence, honesty and integrity, courage or love. All of which can be reclaimed within Self.
“Seek first the Kingdom of God within you, and all else shall be given to you.” Why? Once we have discovered the Truth of who we are, we come to realize that we never really lost anything – it has been within us – and shall remain within us – all along. Whatever it is you think has been lost, given away or stolen – reflect deeply on that “thing” and ask yourself – is THAT really part of what defines the real you? Did you, do you, really need that “thing?” If we are honest, the answer is most likely “no.”
The Fourth Mirror
What have you given up (of yourself) to be where you are? Is it, or was it, something of value? Something, perhaps, that you now realize defined the “who” of what you feel yourself to be more than whatever it is that you gave it up for, what you have now? Has this “thing” become a compulsive behavior that you believe you cannot live without? Money? Sex? Alcohol? __________ <– Fill in the Blank.
What are you clinging to that caused you to lose a part of yourself? Ask yourself – is the loss (of that part of yourself) worth it? In this “covid” world, did you shun someone you once loved and respected simply because they see through the lies? Or is the fear you hang on to worth more to you than the relationship with that person? Are you “better” now than before you sacrificed on the altar of some supposed authority telling you what you need to be happy, to be successful, to survive?
The Fifth Mirror
Are you acting out the same healthy and unhealthy patterns we learned as a child? Children are seeds that can only grow dependent on others to lead them into (healthy) adulthood. Our father and mother, our elders as we grow up, are gods. (As parents it is critical to understand this – and the enormous responsibility that is inherent in it).
Are you confused about your sexuality? Are you confused on who to believe as you navigate the storms of life? In our time we are over-wrought with the opinions and influences of others telling us what is right and what is wrong, what is healthy and what is unhealthy when all along the answers are within us. We are NOT physical beings that (sometimes) have spiritual experiences. We ARE Spiritual Beings having a human, a physical, experience. The answers to life’s questions are found within, in that small spark that is our connection to the Eternal, to the All. It has been referred to as our conscience.
As adults it becomes all to easy to blame others, namely our parents, for the ills, the struggles, in our life – and maybe in a lot of cases this the blame is correctly placed. However, true maturity is the realization we can have control over our life and thus the accepting of responsibility for our own life. Face the Truth you see in this mirror and take responsibility for your own life. Regardless of influence, opinions and force heaped upon you by others, be self-determinant. Break these chains that bind you. Let you conscience (truly) be your guide.
The Sixth Mirror
You are all alone, and no one is coming to save you. You must find the strength within yourself to save yourself. This is known as the dark night of the soul. For it is your very soul that you seek to save in all of these mirrors.
It is not uncommon that we come to the precipice of who we really are and lack the courage to jump into the abyss for fear we shall never find our way back. If you are a true seeker of Self, one who abides fully to the maxim, “Know Thyself,” it is also not uncommon that the “push” we need is provided for us. In these cases we might find ourselves having lost everything – jobs, family, friends, security. In these times we become awake to the reality that all we really have in this world is ourselves. It is all we have ever had. Every other help we have received has been either a blessing or a crutch. If we lost those blessings, perhaps we never realized them as such. If we have lost a crutch, then maybe that has become in and of itself a blessing.
The greatest hope one can realize in these moments is that God, the gods, never places any challenge before you that you are unable to overcome. And yes, more often than not this is when we (finally) call our to our Creator for help. It is said that there are no atheists in fox holes. In these moments, when we do indeed call out in all sincerity, humility, thankfulness and love, for Divine help, we realize – we are not alone after all.
The Seventh Mirror
The ancient symbol of the Ouroboros is most often described as a snake consuming its own tail – the inevitable end of everything. Is it? Or is the snake actually (re) creating itself from within?
In the seventh mirror, we come back “full circle” to the first mirror. It reflects back to us our self-reflection. How do we see ourselves? If likes do indeed attract, then now is our opportunity to end the patterns of self-destruction and begin to re-create ourselves from within.
Others will perceive and treat us according to how we perceive and treat ourselves. If we have a low self-esteem and do not acknowledge our wisdom and beauty, others will not acknowledge them. If we are angry, bitter and unloving to others, they in turn will often react in the same way towards us. If we change our perception of ourselves, we change the world. Maybe it is time to be kind, loving and compassionate to ourselves and others.
All of this is our choice. This is the beauty of Free Will. Free Will is a gift of the Godhead, a gift bore out of the work and sacrifice of the gods. It is the one thing that (absolutely) no one can take from us. Choose wisely my friend, my brother, my sister, my father, my mother.