The question I always asked myself when I was a teenager was “Who am I?” This quest for an understanding of that important question spread throughout my life. I tried finding myself in different identities that I was attracted to which I had observed in the world.
I tried to find myself in relationships, in motherhood and a variety of jobs. But when all of these roles were absent from my day I was still here, so I realized that none of these roles defined who I am.
If these roles were who I am I would not exist without them.
I find it very easy to get trapped in the idea that what I do is who I am as a person. If this were true, then when I stopped doing something I would stop existing. If I feel feelings of regret (or feelings of achievement) they are due to an experience I have participated in or observed, I am not regretting me so these feelings are not me either.
If I follow this train of thought it shows I am not what I do as I would not exist without any stimulus outside of myself. A person in a jail isolation cell still exists without outside stimulus; I still am here when asleep even though I am not physically experiencing the world outside of me. So the world outside of me does not define who I am. It may affect me, but it does not define who I am.
So what is it that truly makes us who we are?
It cannot be from any occurrence outside of ourselves as what we do needs constant stimulation to support our existence. It can’t be based on our achievements or failures because as soon as we have an outcome contradictory to this we would no longer exist.
I have found that who we are is a quality that exists within. That quality sends us messages from time to time to remind us that what we are doing is either in conflict or in-line with, the quality we are within.
So if we go a little deeper in exploring these internal messages, what would we find?
I have found that I am a very loving and caring being who wants to share this with all I meet. Sometimes my actions may not reflect these qualities and this is when I receive another internal message that something is amiss. The more I listen to and learn from these messages the closer I get to fully appreciating and knowing who I am. This understanding has nothing to do with how I behave or what I do, but rather it is a self-generated feeling that needs no outside stimulus to support its existence.
The one thing I am learning is there is no end to exploring all that I am; it forever unfolds before me when I take the time to reflect on the internal messages and feelings that guide me back to a truer and deeper understanding of all that I am.
I have searched for this understanding of who I am far and wide and it was my introduction to Universal Medicine and Serge Benhayon that showed me clearly that all the answers were inside of me already; all I had to do was to start listening to that inner voice rather than allow another source outside of myself to tell me who I am.
We all have this exact same inner dialogue of feelings that is us, and from my experience it just takes a bit of listening to start to build a relationship with ourselves. It did take me a while to discern which internal feelings were truly mine and in line with who I am, and which feelings were generated from external ideals and beliefs I had taken on or formed throughout my life.
The never ending support and love I have received from Universal Medicine, Serge Benhayon and his amazing family has made this possible, practical and tangible for me. This is the greatest gift I have ever received; it keeps on giving as I grow to understand more of who I am. I am forever grateful for this.
By Toni Steenson, Goonellabah, Australia
Further Reading:
We Are So Much More Than This
Who I Really Am
Stillness and Aloneness
969 Comments
I know that feeling of being what you do Toni. It dawned on me not so long ago that on my days off when even though I may have plenty to do, if I didn’t have any concrete plans to meet up with friends or go out I would get a kind of frustrated empty feeling. It felt like I was using the plans and friends as a way of propping up the lack of value I had for myself, especially myself for just being me.
Dear Toni, I have yet to read all of your article. This sentence is too beautiful and deeply true to not highlight. “I have found that I am a very loving and caring being who wants to share this with all I meet.”
I too have found the same, I am now coming to terms with the very real fact that some do not want to share in this love. This does not stop me from expressing mine, actually it has opened my heart to love these people more than ever, love them and deeply respect their choice, but also deeply respect my own to continue to share my love with all.
I love that sentence so much too Leigh ““I have found that I am a very loving and caring being who wants to share this with all I meet.” – I also have found the same and even though some do not want a ‘bar of it’, it does not stop me from connecting to that being inside and take it with me wherever I go and whatever I do. Sometimes I slip and when I reconnect it just feels truly beautiful.
I loved your simply beautiful blog Toni, I have been identified throughout my life through my roles, I remember thinking if I am not a role, then who am I. When I breathe gently and feel the tenderness in my body, I get a sense of the love that lives within, that is, the real me.
Very beautiful Jill, once we stop defining our selves through the roles we take on, and return to stillness, it truly feels just joyous when we connect to that love deep inside.
“So what is it that truly makes us who we are?”
I love that question Toni! It is a question that is so worth exploring deeply.
Good point Toni “I tried to find myself in relationships, in motherhood and a variety of jobs. But when all of these roles were absent from my day I was still here, so I realized that none of these roles defined who I am.” What I found was that I was never absent of a role, for if I exhausted or finished for the day the roles I played, I could still identify with those that were sitting ‘in wait’ so to speak, like sister, daughter, problem-solver, super-woman. Running out of a role to play was never an option until I started to discover who I am. This has asked me to feel my inner-most essence rather than look to the outside for those roles and pictures to live up to. How I feel about myself now, from this inner-viewpoint, means the roles and pressures I would have put on myself, are naturally dropping away.
Yes I can really see and feel how draining it is to be jumping from one role to another and that, actually, the only non-draining way to live is as yourself.
Through out my life I would question who I was, observing others and comparing myself to what I could or should be and with this came critique and self judgement, so I never really got past this goal post. It was only through Universal Medicine and Serge Benhayon I can now understand and accept that I don’t need to be more than what I already am and all I have to do is show this to the world, so much simpler than the complicated way I lived my life before.
“It did take me a while to discern which internal feelings were truly mine and in line with who I am, and which feelings were generated from external ideals and beliefs I had taken on or formed throughout my life.”
This is a learning in itself and how to discern those energies has been taught by Serge Benhayon for many years now and is one of those invaluable lessons of life.
‘So what is it that truly makes us who we are?’ is a great question to ask. We are brought up to believe we are who we are, by what we do and we spend our whole lives making investments into our identity this way. Because of Universal Medicine I have made the space to feel underneath the drive, push and seeking for success and recognition and ‘to be somebody’. I have found instead my inner divine sensitivity, loveliness, delicateness, sweetness and a whole heap of love and found that ‘I am already somebody.’ In the knowing that this is the true me it becomes easier to let go of the drive and push and express from there. So what others get from my being and expressing is something else entirely from the former investing in what I do.
One of the most important questions we can ask ourselves Toni, your thorough and precise findings feel powerfully simple. Thank you for sharing this gem of a discovery.
This is one of those blogs that needs to be on a huge billboard somewhere – when we stop the doing we remain, we don’t cease to exist the moment the job, relationship, emotion etc stops, thus we are not what happens to us. There is so many people searching for who they are consciously or unconsciously and even if they have found something to invest in and claim as them it’s never sustainable – but this blog just cut all of that dead. Thank you Toni.
“If I follow this train of thought it shows I am not what I do as I would not exist without any stimulus outside of myself. A person in a jail isolation cell still exists without outside stimulus; I still am here when asleep even though I am not physically experiencing the world outside of me. So the world outside of me does not define who I am. It may affect me, but it does not define who I am.” This is a great example it makes it so very clear that we are simply by being ourself, that, as you say, the outside does not define who we are.
A great blog Toni.
As a child I always knew there was more and over the years this kept me going through some challenging patches in life, even though it felt as if I could not find my way back to it causing much confusion and anxiousness in my body and life. The long awaited re-connection within myself continues to be inspired by Serge Benhayon, Founder of Universal Medicine and the Benhayon family.
“I am learning there is no end to exploring all that I am”
I love this thought process Toni – leading to the understanding that the outer world does not define us… like WOW! We are not our roles, our jobs, our family or even our thoughts and feelings. So that leaves us with the beating heart in our chests and our breath – a consistency that offers a connection to the being we are (not the doing!).
No, we are just love. Well said, Rachael.
‘So that leaves us with the beating heart in our chests and our breath – a consistency that offers a connection to the being we are (not the doing!).’ Simplicity is so beautiful and true, we cannot deny the truth here being offered.
“So the world outside of me does not define who I am. It may affect me, but it does not define who I am.” There is so much more to us than the roles we play and what we do. The amazing thing is that it is always there and never goes. It’s simlply how much we listen to the internal messaging system that you write about, and make choices based on these and our feelings. If I can make this even more amazing- everybody has these feelings and this internal messaging system about who we really are.
Very simple and straightforward blog, yet brilliant with a lot of common sense. How exhausting to constantly identify ourselves with what we do and or by outside recognition. How can that e v e r be fulfilling? It can’t. The point you make, Toni: “If these roles were who I am I would not exist without them.” says at ALL. I am in the process of returning and reconnecting to my inner true self and it’s blogs like this one that sparkle more inspiration into my journey.
‘nothing really is needed except our own presence. In this world we have literally EVERYTHING except being at ease with ourselves and being joy full from our hearts with each other.’ Being present, fully present, with ourselves is such a humbling yet enormously powerful feeling and opens the way for joyfullness and connection with one another. For me practising Esoteric Yoga is a great support for this way of being.
I can see now how I have used the lists of what I do and all my doings to say to people ‘This is who I am..engage with my doings, and behaviours….and stay away from me’ However, like you Toni, I am learning that actually ‘I have found that I am a very loving and caring being who wants to share this with all I meet.’ I am learning that choosing appreciation and self-care support me to do this.
I searched and searched for who I am only to find myself even more lost…..I stopped searching and the space was created to let go of all I had taken on that was not me,( hugely supported by the courses of Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine), which initiated my path of return.
I agree Susan, and it’s easy to see how so many are lost to knowing who they are in Truth and how this devastation then plays out in their lives.
Toni, this article could be a revelation, because how many of us determine who we are from the messages we receive from the outside world. The fact, as you have pointed out, is that who we are comes from discovering the beauty of what lies within. Just like a treasure chest until we open it up we have no idea of the wonders that may inside. Thank you.
I love, Toni, how you expose so simply that we are not who we are by what we do. “.. when I stopped doing something I would stop existing.”
Yes Jonathan – when we take away all our identifications, not only the doing part, who am I then ? I realised the other day, that I had a picture in me, to which I always tried to live up to. And this was very exhausting. Thanks to Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine I know now, that there is nothing to be found outside myself, everything what I need is inside me.
This is beautiful, it is great how you point out that when we would be something defined by what we do that we wouldn’t be existing without it, but we still do. So all that we are is indeed there inside us, I feel that it is a great learning to see that that is what we are, as it rarely get confirmed by the outside world, we have been made to belief that all we are is the outside projection. But in our core is that what we truly are.
Toni, it is really lovely to read your article, I can feel how as a society we focus so much on what we do rather than who we are and our unique qualities, this is such a gorgeous way to describe yourself, ‘I have found that I am a very loving and caring being who wants to share this with all I meet’. At a recent Women In Livingness group in London one of the exercises was to introduce ourselves, I started by saying my name, age etc, this felt very surface so I started to talk about how gentle and calm I was this felt much more true and lovely to share.
A Beautiful Blog Toni which makes so much sense. When I first asked myself the question – ‘Who am I?’, I freaked out a little as I had no idea. I had always believed that what I did was who I was and this meant that I felt very little self worth as I lived in the era where you stayed at home and cleaned the house and cared for the children. This changed through building a relationship with myself. I started to look more deeply at who I was and the quality in which I lived my life. It took some time but slowly I began to uncover the truth and could hear which voice to listen to. The Beautiful thing about claiming who I am is that my world is now flowing with a gentle momentum and my foundations are solid. I am no longer allowing what is happening outside of myself to dictate my value. Thank you for the awesome reflection of what is possible if we choose to claim who we are.
‘I am no longer allowing what is happening outside of myself to dictate my value’ this is such a powerful statement Nicola, one that will one day become a truth for everyone. Our current society is designed in a way to keep everyone less than who they truly are; there are SO many ideals and beliefs, pressures and un-normal ‘norms’ that make up a recipe for every type of individual to ‘stay down’ and not express the light they are in an otherwise dark cloud. This keeps love at bay, until people such as yourself begin firing up a spark that will shine the way home for everyone, back to a true way of living with ourselves and one another.
I agree Susie. There is an elaborate reward and punishment system to keep us off balance and to make us fit into the group of people we live with. It takes a lot of strength to still express our truth and our love rather than fulfil expectations.
“I am learning there is no end to exploring all that I am;” and all that I am is true love and as I deepen my connection to the love within my inner-heart so that love is in every move I make and everything I do.
Beautiful Mary, to discover who we are is to discover the love that we all are.
I never asked the question ‘Who am I?’. I have always known, yet I did not get this quality reflected much in the world around me, which unconsciously made me feel depressed and alone at times. I would have loved to be guided as a child and teenager to express the delicateness and tenderness I am. Thank God for Serge Benhayon who’s love and livingness reminded me of how I can live and express all that I am.
Beautiful Katinka. There is a solidness in what you share and a joy at being able to express yourself in a true way.
Until I attended presentations by Serge Benhayon, I was on an endless search for the truth of who I am, all in spiritual or psychological knowledge. Thank God Serge showed me by his own living presence that I could connect with that inner most that is who I truly am at any time.
Great questions and great ponderings Toni, thank you for sharing these. We continu to exist even if we are not stimulated by any outside impulse or without any taken on identity based on something we do. Looking at the outside for who I am has led me nowhere except to a number of different identities I had measured myself for in different situations, but I never was truly at ease with myself, always measuring and in that missing always a part of me that was not allowed to contribute to the whole. How absurd this way of living is while that is so common in our nowadays societies but fortunately there is another way, ‘the Way of the Livingnes’ as presented by Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine that shows us a way of living that is based on living to the impulses we receive for our inner most, that quality that is in all of us equally so.
I agree Susan it’s devastating and such a time waster when we walk away from our inner knowing. It leaves us muddled and not clearly seeing the true way forward. Universal Medicine has definitely stirred up a lot of truths for a lot of people and all I can say is… thank God for that!
Yes Susan and Aimee, choosing to use the external world as the reflection of who we think we are, rather than knowing our inner connection with the truth of WHO WE ARE is devastating – the merry-go-round of never feeling enough and feeling somehow incomplete can consume us in continual searching and seeking leading to jealousy, comparison, competition with and/ or trying to control others.
Thank God for Universal Medicine presentations that have inspired me to step off the incessant merry-go-round and re-connect to the ever-present Divine essence within.
Yes, searching for an identity, to be someone, to be part of something and getting lost in all kinds of areas and further away from yourself. I know as I did this for a while, getting lost in the spiritual search and giving my power away.
Yes, thank God for Universal Medicine Aimee. Every step away from our truth aches to the bone and every step in line with our truth comes with such joy.
Amazing Toni, this jumped off the page… “If this were true, then when I stopped doing something I would stop existing.” Ah yes! Great point… it dissolves the need for recognition or pressure to be something. I find that when I identify myself with what I do, it’s like I’m sitting up off the driver’s seat and have limited or flimsy connection to my internal messages, but when I’m allowing myself to be me, then I feel solid and deeply seated in the drivers seat again.
Yes this line certainly puts into perspective the consciousness that says we are what we do. If this is the case we would indeed stop existing, and so of course this argument is completely debased. Who are we when we stop doing then? is a great question. Learning to connect to this and surrender to the quality that is there has turned my world around.
Great analogy Aimee, nothing like sitting firmly in our own drivers seat, in direct communication, with less chance of missing the call.
Yes Aimee. Recognition keeps us flailing about in the rough seas, but when we are connected to ourselves we are sailing free in the bay with all of the other beautiful yachts equally.
Toni I have searched far and wide for ‘myself’ and still struggle to know who I am. When I just let it all go and feel the nature around me, feel the breeze on my skin I know I am home. All the internal dialogue is poison to feeling that I am already everything that I am searching for outside myself.
‘ All the internal dialogue is poison to feeling that I am already everything that I am searching for outside myself.’
Beautifully said Natasha – we are all already what we will ever be.
“All the internal dialogue is poison to feeling that I am already everything that I am searching for outside myself.” – this cannot be said and understood deeply enough. They way we poison our lives with conditional thoughts and expectations of how we need to look based on how the world around us want us to be
Awesome contemplation Toni – and so simply put. I love how you say : “So the world outside of me does not define who I am. It may affect me, but it does not define who I am.” That is such an important key for people I am sure, with that we can all move forward and look at what has been holding us back to truly connect to who we are, and letting go of our self-imposed roles.
Well said Karina, this understanding that the world outside of us does not define who we are is so important, and allows us to express freely without feeling burdened by society’s expectations and ‘roles’ that we feel are necessary to meet.
What we do is not who we are; one of life’s most important understandings.
‘What we do is not who we are; one of life’s most important understandings.’ Absolutely. I work in a school and clearly see this message being inverted- that what we do is who we are. As teachers, we can also define ourselves by what others do. If students do well in their work then we are seen as a successful teacher.
As has been said before, we are human beings, not human doings. It’s the way we live that defines us, not what we do.
And also the theme of a wonderful book ‘I am beauty-full just for being me’. When I started to read this blog I immediately saw the coloured images which point out it is not about what we do but about who we are.
Thank you Annelies, that is exactly the point, we are beautiful just for who we are and with that we can do anything what we want, but that will never change the beauty that I am for just being me.
I can easily relate to what you have written Toni. It’s so easy to get lost in roles and identities created via what we have absorbed from many avenues in the outside world. What a merry-go-round that creates! The way you have laid this all out in your blog Toni makes perfect sense to me so thank you – it has inspired me to continue my commitment to knowing and appreciating me for who I am.
I agree Helen, I had an experience recently where I noticed myself being aware I was not going to be acknowledged for contributions I had made, yet the unrest in me was that up until that point what was actually missing was my own appreciation for where I had got to, and in that moment appreciation was there, erasing any want or need for it to come from anywhere else.
This is key what you share here Giselle. I can absolutely relate and I too have found that appreciation is a key foundation from which to hold myself from.
i agree with you Helen, ‘”it has inspired me to continue my commitment to knowing and appreciating me for who I am”.
How gorgeous that we get to be inspired by each other to live a different way to everything we were taught and believed was true.
Part of the reason we lose ourselves in life is that the outside does not honour what we feel inside, and so we start to question what was there innately within us, as it does not seem comparable with what life has to offer.
Spot on Adam, we lose ourselves because we find no reflection or confirmation of who we innately are… which is love, and there are very few role models living from love and truth, but I was blessed to meet Serge Benhayon and forever grateful for the reflection of his livingness – in how to live in this world being yourself.
Love this line jacqmcfadden04…’we lose ourselves because we find no reflection or confirmation of who we innately are… which is love,’.
Thank god for Serge Benhayon for reflecting another way – a loving way. And now that we know and have confirmed this loving way in our bodies we are able to do the same for others.
‘we lose ourselves because we find no reflection or confirmation of who we innately are… which is love’, As children, teenagers and even adults without this reflection we are left rudderless at sea and float aimlessness picking up whatever flotsam and jetsam we find on the way. Meeting Serge Benhayon was the beginning of a new life for me. It took time, but eventually I started to let go of all that was not truly me and began to connect to my own beauty, trust in my own uniqueness, nothing else needed.
Agreed Adam. Growing up I certainly felt this – the innateness of myself was not recognised by anything on the outer and so I started to doubt it. In that doubt and in comprising myself to fit in I gave up on myself and started to resent and blame others, becoming sad and later in life hard to push through. To recognise that all we have to do is to honour our own innate essence by choosing to connect to it, despite what is going on around us, is all that needs to happen. Once this happens everything around us then starts to change and we understand that we are the ones that offering life, not the other way around.
I love how you have expressed this Michelle: “the innateness of myself was not recognised by anything on the outer and so I started to doubt it.”, and I can so very easily relate to it. I used to feel that I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and as a result I just didn’t fit, so like you, slowing beginning to doubt everything about me and creating a “me” that was far removed from the wonderful “me” that I actually am.
This is beautifully said, Michelle McWaters, the only thing to do is to honour our innate essence …. and then everything around us starts to change… In this lies so much magic.
Yes absolutely I can relate to this. And for most the outside is what life becomes about especially as a child. As an adult though we have a choice to chose that in life which we feel confirms and honours what is known on the inside and I am learning this more and more in my choices of friends, food, music I listen to, how I spend my time, the way I exercise. Everything.
Mostly this starts in our childhood. For me it was around age nine. Questioning what we feel for the sake of the outside world, should not be done in any age.
If we were raised from very young to know and honour our feelings there would be no need for questioning them. Our feelings would be the light that shows us the way through any given situation.
I agree Ingrid, if children were raised to listen to their feelings they would not need to doubt or question, they would just know.
This is one of the greatest tragedies of life as we know it.
This belongs in an educational text book Adam. Going back to basics, before we care about whether a child knows their ABC’s lets first make sure they remain who they are and not lose themselves to the many roles and beliefs we ask them to play. Do this and we have a healthy society and decrease so much of what is out of control in this world of ours.
We want to see how smart a child is by what they do and what they know based on outside guidelines such of how quickly they walk, read, or how good their spelling is, etc. But when they are first born, we are in awe of their beauty, grace, stillness, joy and openness, and the way they instantly let us know when something isn’t right. It’s all there from birth but slowly the child learns that who they are isn’t enough, and it is what they do that matters.
Gosh, so true Adam! The juxtaposition creates confusion, and before long we begin to question what’s right and wrong, and then somehow decide that the majority rules…we then accept that…and completely leave ourselves behind in the process.
Yes Adam so true. I felt this way from a very young age and felt to disengage with the worlds reflection and hide the light I knew was there all along. The catalyst for change comes when we in turn stop and allow ourselves to be the divine souls we are. We are the change that we want to see in the world, reflected in billboard size.
Absolutely Kelly, we are way more than our flesh and bone, our essence can be felt much farther and wider than we know.
Adam I had to read what you had written twice, before I felt it in my body, I then got to feel that the deep connection that i had with myself up until the age of about 9 was trampled out of me. The process was an assault no less.
YES Adam I agree! Since I am more aware of my innately sensors I can really honor what I feel inside instead to start to question it This is really powerful as it brought back the security that I am not wrong.
So true Adam and we lose trust in the inner reference point that comes from within as it is not being confirmed.
That is so true Adam and it is good that you have mentioned it as that is something that seems to be not so obvious. If it would be known I am sure we would raise our kids differently.
‘So the world outside of me does not define who I am. It may affect me, but it does not define who I am’. – This is very powerful Toni, so often we allow the world to define who we are as a person, a mother, father, partner, colleague, manager etc. When we can feel that we are much more than the roles that get performed it offers a beautiful opportunity to really get to know the essence of who we truly are.
Yes this is an important conversation to be having and one that will take some unravelling. My feeling is that is why so many ‘newly retired’ people struggle, because they have been caught up in who they are through their jobs (as well can do) and when they are no longer that, then who am I?
I loved this line as well Katie – ‘‘So the world outside of me does not define who I am. It may affect me, but it does not define who I am’.
I still find it extremely hard to not identify what I do with my own feelings of self worth. Yet as you say Toni this is not true otherwise we would cease to exist were we to not be doing things. It is great to clock when I feel proud of an achievement and want others to know about this, because I can now use this as a guide that I am investing in something that is not really a true reflection of who I am, but instead a game I play to fit in and measure so called success.
I can so relate to what you are saying Stephen, but have to say that, even though I have been trying this my whole life, to boost my self-worth through what I do or otherwise gaining recognition or acceptance has never worked.
The only thing that truly works is if I treat myself with the preciousness that I know I am inside.
This is beautiful Judith – “The only thing that truly works is if I treat myself with the preciousness that I know I am inside.” When i keep it as simple as that, I am open to listening all that I have to share from within.
‘The only thing that truly works is if I treat myself with the preciousness that I know I am inside’. I can relate to what you say Judith. My relationship with self has much more value than seeking recognition from others.
Gorgeous Judith. Yes we are truly successful when we treat ourselves with love and preciousness. How amazing this feels to drop the fight and the push to be recognised and simply focus on caring for ourselves. So very simple but so very powerful.
Love how you wrote this Stephen. Love your honesty.
We are so much more than the game of success.
Even the term ‘game of success’ reveals that we are like pawns on a chessboard when we play life in this way. We might think we are in control, because our life appears ‘successful’ but if it isn’t based on integrity and truth the ‘success’ becomes just another distraction.
Exactly Stephen! If we stopped doing something we wouldn’t cease to exist, so who are we? We are a grand being that can be felt when we accept our inner stillness. In the world we have made it so much about doing and are excessively in motion, so much so that we can be doing something with our body and be thinking about something else completely different with our minds! how crazy is that? It can be hard to accept that we are great and amazing just for being who we are because the world rewards us with so much for what we ‘DO’ and achieve, but this has proven to be a road that leads to self-emptiness and is never fulfilling.
Well observed Stephen. I feel the same way and often find it difficult to separate what I do from who I am. It’s a work in progress of course.
The identification game is a tricky one to overcome Stephen as many of us know. I have let go of a lot of identification over the last 11 years, but I find there are always aspects of it that are still there. Allowing what one does to affect our self-worth is a guaranteed rollercoaster of ups and downs, because one’s self worth is always tied to a ‘doing’ and needs to be constantly fed.
I agree Marika, it is tricky and interesting to observe how it pops its head up every now and then. My whole life used to revolve around this as it was all I knew so to write about this makes me appreciate how far I have come in letting go of the false foundations I was using outside of myself.
Marika I can really relate to this. Just today I spoke with my husband about something I was considering to do and yet realised that there was self involved in this activity if I pursued it.
Gosh Stephen I appreciate what you have shared here and can totally relate. I think there is identifying with what we do and then celebrating what we bring. It may look the same on the outside, but it feels very different in the body. It’s exhausting identifying in what we do.
Thank you for your honesty, Stephen. I am with you on the measuring myself and my success based on others’ reactions and responses to what I do. I have been feeling my own self-confidence building to a place where I do not need someone else to confirm for me that I know what I am doing, but it takes time and self-care.
I have spent most of my life measuring myself and my success based on other’s reactions and I have realised that it is ok to not live like this thanks to Serge Benhayon.
Stephen, I love what you have written here and realise that I do this with so much more than the achievements in academia or work, I do it with relationships of the people around me. I am invested in being liked, in the relationship growing, rather than just being myself and accepting that if I express who I am then the outcome of the relationship does not really matter as I have been me and it is the relationship with me that I really miss.
What I realize as well is, that my need to fit in was very huge in the past. The momentum of it I can still feel today and I still have to look after myself, to make sure, that the old patterns don’t come back through the back door. I have to close all the windows, where I allowed this pattern in.
Beautifully said Stephen, whenever I am invested in something I am doing, there is an opportunity to see how I may be looking for recognition, acceptance or approval for a role I play in life.
I find it hard also Stephen not to want recognition for something I do well, and sometimes I find I am in it well before I clock what has happened. Wanting recognition and acceptance from others seems to be ingrained in everything we do to such a large extent that it seems as though it will take some time to really knock it out.
That inner dialogue is a wonderful one to start. Like you say Toni, once we begin to distinguish, we start to have the most fundamental relationship and understanding who we are.
Interestingly, without that dialogue there seems to always be a search outside of ourselves that remains endless as it can never be fulfilled by any other thing or one.
We are taught to fight who we are from a world that has made it all about ‘doing’. If we stopped fighting ourselves we would simply find the truth within, that nothing really is needed except our own presence. In this world we have literally EVERYTHING except being at ease with ourselves and being joy full from our hearts with each other.
Exactly Harrison, “we have literally EVERYTHING except being at ease with ourselves” and that is in a way special, for why is this the normal way of being for us human beings and not the other way around, as that sounds much more natural to me. Could it be that the life we have created, disconnected from that grandness that we all already are, makes us not at ease with how we are in the world as we innately know that we are that much more?
Yes it definitely could be that we disconnected from our grandness and from each other. And to justify this we keep on trying to make what we created right, ever better until we accept actually nothing can surpass that grandness aside from returning to it and co-create with it.
It sounds also much more natural for me to be more at ease with myself . . . it is time at least for me to change this game of being uneasy with myself and it helped me to know and feel that everything I am is inside of me – this is a wonderful support.
So very well said Nico. We created a life that is so false we have to create more and more falseness, craziness, to keep ourselves distracted from the falseness, the lie, we set ourselves up to live in, in the first place. And all along, the truth, the gorgeousness we actually are and can be living here and now, is right there within us. We try running and running away from ourselves.
We avoid the one thing we long for most by seeking it but not re-claiming it whenever we come across it. Seeking is doing, finding asks us to be, so we create distractions and diversions to continue the seeking although we know where to find the treasure all the time.
And that is the choice Harrison we all have – to fight or to surrender? Both bring completely different results, the first brings struggle and complication whereas the second brings support and access to the innate wisdom we all carry within. All comes back to choice!
Fight is identification with what we have created as our reality, surrender lets go of identification and allows us to return to what is before and beyond such creation. It is a profound choice indeed.
I agree Alex, surrender is a big choice which takes away the individual and the identification with what we have created. As you say we can then return to what is before, the love that we naturally are, not something that we need to attain in anyway.
And what a worldwide fight this has been Harrison, the fight with ourselves and lack of inner connection gets bigger as the ‘doing’ continues unabated. We then end up in wars against others through our frustration and differences of opinions with self-righteousness from our unseen ideals and beliefs we are laced with.
This dis-ease is constantly reflected in the lethal wars setting nation against nation under the guise of religious differences. There is no solution or quick fix to solve this dilemma – only the return to our inner connection is the true answer to restore brotherhood and joy.
“If we stopped fighting ourselves we would simply find the truth within, that nothing really is needed except our own presence. In this world we have literally EVERYTHING except being at ease with ourselves and being joy full from our hearts with each other”.
“only the return to our inner connection is the true answer to restore brotherhood and joy” – the good thing is that this is the one thing we really have the power to do, making the choice to come back to one´s innate inner nature that is equal in all of us. From there the world will change one by one.
Beautifully said Harrison White! And sadly very true, we have lost something very precious by losing the ease to be with ourselves and the exquisite feeling when our own light (of who we are) emanates out into the world.
Dear Harrison,
“In this world we have literally EVERYTHING except being at ease with ourselves and being joy full from our hearts with each other.”
These two things I am now beginning to enjoy, accepting in full my life and where I find myself has been integral for me in being at ease with myself. And from feeling this ease, a trust in myself is returning. From having this trust I am beginning again to enjoy sharing from my heart with others. This is truly an amazing feeling. The depth of love and connection with another person, whoever this person may be is immeasurable.
Leigh how true, by just accepting myself in full in every way which in turn brings about the ease within me and consequently with one another.
What you say here Harrison makes so much sense as I can certainly relate to fighting myself. It was if I was listening to the external messages telling me that I needed to be one way and not to the internal knowing of who I truly was; I just wanted to fit into a world that actually doesn’t support us to be the magnificence that we naturally are.
I can totally relate to what you have shared Ingrid – allowing myself to get confused with the never ending mixed messages coming from within and without and, at times, would feel quite lost.
Well said Harrison, from an early age we taught to disconnect from who we are, and not to listen to our bodies and the wisdom they bring, making life about what we do rather than who we are, the way back to reconnecting with ourselves is to deeply appreciate our innate inner quality’s building a foundation of self love.
Gosh Harrison you are wise, “In this world we have literally EVERYTHING except being at ease with ourselves and being joy full from our hearts with each other.” Brilliantly expressed and explains the state of the world and why it is the way it is. With increased technology and resources, illness conditions continue to rise, you may have just answered why.
Yes, the world is, and we have made it this way… all about Doing rather than appreciating the Being.
Gorgeous Harrison – a call to express the Joy in our hearts for all to feel and see – I accept!
I have fought myself for far too long and now I am choosing acceptance instead. Acceptance of that fact that I can bring a smile to anyone’s face and share really precious moments with everyone I meet. There’s no point in fighting this anymore or denying who I am – it’s time to live it with no reserve or justification.
You are so right Harrison, we are in a world where we literally have access TO everything and HAVE everything except being at ease with ourselves with our innate and natural joy. It’s bizarre because everyone is on the search for this…how to live a more content life and yet we seek it from the wrong angle going off more and more at a tangent. All we need to do is to change tack and look inward and there we will find it all.
Love the power and clarity in your expression Harrison, you have got it in one, we do have all we ever need within except as you say the ease of being with ourselves. Yet the more we claim back this truth of who we are in the world, I feel that sense of feeling ill at ease abates as we come to know that all we ever have to be is ourselves.
Absolutely beautiful and wisely expressed Harrison, we strive for everything and manage to achieve it but we are deeply missing just being ourselves in the presence of every moment.
Hear, hear Esther and oh so true “we strive for everything and manage to achieve it but we are deeply missing just being ourselves in the presence of every moment.”
So simple and yet so powerful Tamara, we complete moments by bringing all of us to that moment and then nothing is missing.
That’s a perfect way of putting it Jenny…I wonder in total just how many of us are able to live each moment in full, complete as we are? It takes complete commitment to change from the momentum of looking out and seeking recognition in all that is done.
It is true that there is a fight setup, with most things encouraging us to do and not feel, to fit in and not be ourselves. The inner tension this creates then gets covered by anything we can find, so we don’t feel it.
I really get what you are saying here Joel. The inner tension is felt so we all cover it with anything that we can…hence all the busyness, distractions and perpetual motion….
Well said Harrison, the expectations to be someone or make something of our lives at the expense of who we are in Truth is enormous. There is no greater gift than to be at easy with our selves, which is also a gift to others at the same time.
Oh Harrison you have hit the nail on the head and stopped me in my tracks. ‘We have literally EVERYTHING except being at ease with ourselves and being joy full from our hearts with each other.’ It made me quite sad to read it because I realise I, and many, if not most of my fellow human beings have lived a life not feeling at ease with ourselves.
Harrison when you say ‘ in this world we have literally EVERYTHING except being at ease with ourselves and being joy full from our hearts with each other’ then it actually makes it very clear that in truth we have nothing.
I love what you said Harrison, and how you have said it. The way we do what do is from a fight. It may not look like fight, but when you count the cost to the being, and the sense of ease with self then it is exposed, very clearly.
We are joy full, innately and simply. That we live less than this and think it normal is an indictment on our world.
This is spot on Harrison, ‘In this world we have literally EVERYTHING except being at ease with ourselves and being joy full from our hearts with each other.’ I can feel that this is so true, more and more as I make life more about my quality and less about what I do I find that I am more at ease with myself and feel more joyful, this is very lovely and very simple compared to how I used to live which felt hard and complicated.
So true Harrison. We have more technology, gadgets and widgets for just about everything these days, and yet the level of dis-ease amongst us is growing.
Our focus on the material is frightening and the more we do that the more lost and disconnected we become from ourselves and those around us. We are focusing our attention in all the wrong places so we miss what we wish for most, knowing who we truly are.
i agree Harrison. From an early age we are groomed to value achievements, qualifications and careers, the outer trappings of success. This is how the fight begins. At no point are we taught how to appreciate who we are and our innate beauty. This sets most people into the world in search of something they already have and consequently and because we don’t find it, we then resort to all the substitute fillers, food, alochol, drugs, nicotine, caffeine. This is how we acquire ill-ness and disease
Profound Harrison, much said in few words ‘In this world we have literally EVERYTHING except being at ease with ourselves and being joy full from our hearts with each other’ When we’re at ease with ourselves we’re at ease with everyone else and the world.
And the illusion played out in the world is that we don’t have everything, and material possessions will fill the inevitable void we feel. How sad this is for humanity. Simple truths buried beneath a sea of lies and distractions.
Harrison this is so true, we are so used to fighting ourselves and the world that it is exhausting – to have that ease you speak of in our bodies as an everyday thing would definitely make a difference to how people treat each other, but ultimately we have to make that initial choice to want that for ourselves first.
Having always been very sensitive and anxious growing up there was never any mention of the body being able to have that ease as a natural way of being, so the fact that more people are living that ease within their bodies and talking about it, I am sure it will filter through to more people eventually and become our everyday way of living again.
So true Harrison. We have everything except being at ease with who we are.
So true Harrison, we fight ourselves and it is devastating to see what is happening when we continue to do so. Being more at ease with myself now since I am a student of the Livingness I can only say there is this amazing unfolding of who I am; letting go of ideals and beliefs I have been picking up along the way. And sharing my joy with all I encounter.
Well said Harrison, it does seem as though we are missing the point somewhat, as all our efforts go into proving ourselves to the outer world whilst we are dying inside due to the lack of connection to ourselves. Could the lie get any bigger, as the one thing ‘our own presence’ which we ignore the most, could actually be our salvation.
Hi Harrison, this is absolute wisdom you share. Even though it is very sad, it is very true.
Living this fight is exhausting as we know we will never win, it is a constant battle that we focus on within ourselves. It is so true that the one thing we don’t have, which is the one thing we really miss, is being at ease with ourselves and being truly connected to others.
“A world that has made it all about doing” .. This is definitely a set up from the start to prompt the internal fight within us because we are quite simply not just a “doing” but rather a “being”. Hence thank God for the teachings of Universal Medicine and Serge Benhayon for showing us all for a fact that we can be the “being” in the world of the “doing” by living from our inner most
Beautiful expressed Harrison. It costs so much energy to fight against me and it doesn’t make sense at all. And I’m pretty close to breaking the pattern of doing. The doing is so ingrained in my body, I lived it for a very long time. But I’m getting better and better, to surrender. I know now, that I don’t have to do something to be worthy.
Thank you Harrison, a beautful reminder of the importance of ‘being’ before ‘doing’.
Harrison, this is gold – ‘If we stopped fighting ourselves we would simply find the truth within, that nothing really is needed except our own presence.’
Yes, that quality that lives within is who we are. It is quite a revelation for me to see that that quality is most of what I am or even all of what or who I am. The rest is that quality expressing itself or not expressing itself.
Beautifully said Christoph, the quality inside just IS and in my day I can choose to express that or not. I would love to be more present in my day to always express that quality. The exquisiteness of who I am in expression is beyond words.
Beautiful Katinka – I love what you have expressed, being more of you so that you can be that for others. Now that is true brotherhood and responsibility. What a world it will be when others choose to live the same way.
‘The exquisiteness of who I am in expression is beyond words’. Gorgeous Katinka, I will second this.
‘The exquisiteness of who I am in expression is beyond words.’ That is absolutely gorgeous Katinka, why would we want to choose anything else?
Indeed Katinka, as I develop more presence I can naturally express that quality that is who I truly am. When I hold that back, I am not expressing that quality and allow other things to come through me.
I like how you express this Christoph – that it’s the quality of who we are that is the focus, and that everything we do is a reflection of that quality expressing itself…
Yes I agree Angela, the way in which Christoph expresses it is quite exquisite, it shows the true simplicity and beauty of who we are. We are the quality we hold within and ‘everything we do is a reflection of that quality expressing itself…’ just gorgeous!
Me too Angela, this is something very powerful to take from reading this blog. I find there is always more understanding to deepen with this.
So true Angela and Christoph and it makes a beautiful quote :), ‘It’s the quality of who we are that is the focus, and everything we do is a reflection of that quality expressing itself’
I liked it too Angela, it hit me in the right spot. I had to read it again. It felt mathematical spherical as you have expanded on it here. Your expression comes back to yourself – a point of truth for you to see and feel in each moment.
Very succinctly put and crystal clear – the true quality we are within is either expressed or not expressed and that makes for the ups and downs and all the variations when what is within does not ever change.
‘I am that I am’
It is really that simple, we either express from and with that quality or not; either way the quality is always there.
How true Gabriele, and we have a choice in every moment to express our love..or not.
Thank you Gabriele, it is that simple.
I love this too Christoph ‘that quality that lives within is who we are’ it really is that simple! We are expressing all the time, our inner quality determines the truth of that expression.
Yes truly a revelation Christoph that we are and have always been equipped with and in fact are made of gold so to speak and yet we have lived and expressed most of the time like we are made of clay whilst the gold waits for the re discovery. This ‘Eureka moment’ must occur if we are to find and live the truth of who we are.
I love this line Christoph – ‘that quality that lives within is who we are’
Thank you Toni. The process of unfoldment that you speak of here is indeed an amazing one. I am constantly shown the ways we are supported to connect to our innermost and live from what we know, rather than relying on the external world to provide us with the knowledge to base our decisions upon. Yes we need to be and interact in the world, but as you say this does not define who we are or where our true choices come from. We pick up so many ideals and beliefs from the external world along the way, it is a beautiful process to discard them as we choose to live more from our inner knowing and less from their constrictive impulse.
Something that struck me reading your comment Amelia is that everyone understands we carry beliefs and ideals. It is instilled into every culture. We say it so freely “I believe in this or that”. but what strikes me is until the work of Serge Benhayon I for one never questioned that belief, just because “I” believe it it must be true. Yet we have people killing in the name of God because they believe that is what God wants and we have people who believe there is a difference between people with different skin colours. Breaking this down and looking at all the beliefs and ideals and the way they impact on us and the all really is the way to go – this is what we should be learning and doing at school.
As you say Laura – for the most part we are blinded from seeing the truth by the massive amount of ideals and beliefs that we carry.
Very Tamara and Laura, the images and pictures we have about how we think life should be or look like can be very hindering towards seeing truth. It is like we put blinkers on ignoring everything that does not fit in or pertain to the vision we have.
Yes James and these images/pictures stay well over their use-by date causing huge harm until seen for what they truly are – a massive hindrance to our evolution.
Yes James, it is like a cocoon we have put ourselves in , made of ideals and pictures of how we should be, instead of the living love that resides in our hearts. That is all of who we are , no picture can match that (good so).
Yes James, we see what we are programmed to see until we can see beyond the program.
Yes Tamara, we can carry around so many pictures or images of how we think things should be – ourselves, others and the world – that we are in fact blinded to the simple truth right in front of us as it does not fit with the images we’ve created. So we spend our lives searching, trying to get everything to fit an image and miss out on enjoying the real deal that was there all along!
Very true Hannah, even just reading this blog I had the image literally come into my mind about what being naturally ‘loving and caring’ is – to be soft, pandering, kind and polite to people. What a big fat lie because being polite at all costs can hold me back from expressing what could truly support someone or myself, such as addressing too hard a hug or ignoring when someone is not ‘fine’ when they say ‘I am fine’.
Excellent point Tamara and to consider how instead of bringing us to truth, our ideals and beliefs often push us further away from seeing it.
Absolutely true. We are buried in ideals and beliefs that start being heaped on top of us from the day we are born. The healing process I have learned from Universal Medicine is to bit by bit release myself from the web of my ideals and beliefs and to unravel and heal the hurts they have caused along the way. And still I only glimpse the beauty of me and who I am.
Wouldn’t it be a gift to humanity to free us all from ideals and beliefs and return to the truth that we are all equal in essence, all from the same source, and that each one’s expression is unique and yet equally divine.
I welcome that day when we are all free of the ideals, beliefs, pictures and images, and have no hurts. How glorious we are in our essence will become apparent to all.
This is true Tamara and further more we only see what we want to see rather than what is there to be seen.
Love it Amina, very well said and so true. We do only want to see what we want rather than truth, often as it keeps us in a place of comfort rather than exposing the mess the world is in and taking responsibility for our part in that.
We get caught in the ideas and beliefs that we are brought up with and then the desire and illusion take over as we get caught in the rat race of life. I see many people around so caught in this way of living and are in so much of indulgence they cannot see beyond. It does take true responsibility to break through these layers.
Great points you are making here Laura B, a belief that it is ok to kill another in the name of God is in fact beyond belief. I am very thankful to have had the opportunity to examine my beliefs and find them come up wanting when love, truth and common sense were applied to the equation. The wonderful work of Serge Benhayon is a great ‘waker- upper’ in this regard and has changed my life, I am much more open, loving and accepting of myself and others as a result.
Great comment Jeanette.
Beautifully said Jeannette. I too have let go of so many ideas about myself, others and the world since coming to the work of Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine – which has been, as you shared, absolutely life-changing. The ideas and pictures we hang onto really to keep us closed of to the world – and to our true selves and it is incredibly liberating to let them go.
Agreed Hannah, this has been my experience also. Serge Benhayon presents a true and living philosophy that offers a tremendous opportunity to drop the pictures we have of who we think we are/should be/have been told and educated ‘to be’… like no other I know.
Yes Jeanette, Serge Benhayon has awoken me from my sleep – it was as if I was lost in a dream in the field of poppies from the Wizard of Oz before then, though that dream was often more like a nightmare and full of yearning to understand and validate myself.
Yes, we are ready to do amazing things, including amazingly bad things, when we believe something deeply enough. It is our choice and we eventually have to face the consequences of such choices.
Well said Christoph. The fact that we can do bad things in the name of ‘good’, with good intentions even, is sobering. No one is immune to this happening, thus the need to solidly know who we are in truth and constantly make choices from that place of truth, without deviation.
This is very true Christoph, believing in something that is not from the truth of us causes harm in varying degrees, it’s critical that we have awareness around misled ideals and beliefs.
It actually feels so very arrogant and deeply separative to hold this notion that what I believe to be true must be true because I believe it so. In this we are not understanding that there are 7 billion+ other views and perspectives other than our own
Joshua it is absolutely a deep level or arrogance to be caught in the notion of what I believe to be true is true. What we believe is just one view or perspective out of billions test are there, we need to be open to other views and perspective to truly be able to evolve and drop the self arrogance.
Yet when all arrogance is dropped there is only one truth and that is Love, it works for everyone equally.
Well said Amita. Pure truth is energetic and absolute and is true for all, yet when we dilute this or taint it with our own individual perceptions it can appear as though we live in a realm with many different truths.
We all have our unique view of the universe and we need to be open what every other soul can see before we have the full picture. We are one divine constellation trying to ignore the fact by living our lives as separated individuals.
When we let go of all these false perceptions and arrogance we are left with the truth, surely that is what we all crave.
Absolutely to believe that our own personal beliefs are ‘better’ or ‘right’ or hold more power over others is extremely arrogant and also exposes just how very lost we are in the first place to do this.
Yes Joshua, beliefs and truth are two very different things – one does not equate to the other.
Indeed it is Joshua. Yet we have all been hoodwinked at one time or another. It is so important to only choose Love & Truth knowing that it serves all equally. Therefore we have to live in a way that is loving and truthful so that those qualities are known and felt with every breath, to the best of our ability.
Yes Laura, I was just pondering about beliefs yesterday and how constricting they are; pitting people against each other from spouses to nations! They are but a defence and protection. They come from a lack of acceptance of others and ourselves. Feels to me like our expression has be suppressed due to judgement and control and then we hide behind our bastion of beliefs. All a game really!
Well said Bernadette, a game that keeps us from being intimate with one another and getting to really know who we and others are.
I agree Sally and Bernadette, it’s a silly game we all play as deep down we all crave love, intimacy and connection with each other.
True Bernadette, and when we allow the feeling of love we feel inside, out and express with no delay or water it down, it supports you to feel who you are.
“Pitting people against each other from spouses to nations!” Bernadette I love how your comment connected that conflict in the world is reflected with conflict in the home. We use our beliefs to blame other people so that we don’t have to look at how our actions are contributing to the mess the world is in.
Well said Bernard and Bernadette. How rigidly we hold onto what we deem to be true, so often based on mental constructs that indeed hold us in our own safely constructed fortress, as you say Bernadette.
We are, so much more than this. To live responsibly, is to be open to shedding beliefs that we may have long held, and reconnect to a truth that is unifying and steps us out of conflict altogether. It takes diligence, dedication and work, but we are all worth it.
Wow Laura, imagine classes in the deconstruction of ideals and beliefs? I love this.
Children would have an opportunity to take a look at what they were being taught by society and decide themselves what they feel to be true. 🙂
That’s beautiful to read, Susan.
That’s amazing Susan. Giving children the understanding to look at the media in this way will give them the tools to discern what is true and what is not in every part of life around them. That’s true education.
Yes, sounds awesome Kathryn! I know a school like this ‘The school of The Livingness’.
That’s awesome Susan. Absolutely wonderful to read.
Thank you for sharing this about a teacher Susan. So powerful with her not holding back in speaking this to her class and the parents. A great future role model for the children too.
Wow Susan, beautiful to read that there are teachers teaching in this way and in doing so offering our children true support.
Wow, bring it on! Teacher’s play an important role in expanding the world view of the young so it is important that we support teachers in this role.
That is so rare and so significant Susan. And the fact that she did not hold back because the parents were there means the teacher knows the harm being caused by the media and can educate people about it with the authority of love.
I absolutely agree Laura B, instead of accepting what we hear and learn as truth we should be taught to break down these beliefs and ideals and feel what is true. Because we all have the ability to feel what is true and what is not true. And because we do not honor this ability we start to doubt ourselves and start looking outside.
I like what Toni offers about things in her body feeling amiss sometimes. Those messages from the body are loud and clear, the trick is listening and responding to them and knowing the wisdom that the body has.
Yes it keep us in check if we choose to listen to them. And when we don’t. it keeps sending them a little louder each time until we get it.
True Heather, and if we don’t listen, inevitably our body turns up the volume.
Trusting that a loving gesture towards myself is equally as powerful as a loving gesture towards another is allowing me to deal with the ‘lack of self worth’ I have been choosing to live with.
Yes Heather, I have had some loud messages come my way from my body as I obviously chose to miss or ignore the smaller ones.
As you say, Heather, the trick is ‘listening and responding, instead of interpreting the messages to suit oneself, which I used to be so good at doing
I agree Heather, it is amazing quite how loud and clear the body can be at telling us when things are not quite right. The more we listen to our body the clearer the messages become. And conversely the more we ignore our body the louder and more shocking the messages need to be to get us to stop and listen to them!
That is so important, Heather, and yet it is something that we are not taught to honour, especially as adults. It may be paid more attention when we are children, but as we grow up it gets replaced by a drive for achievement and recognition for what we do, overriding the clear wisdom of the body.
That’s a great point Heather, I think many of us hear those messages from our bodies but don’t actually action them, which is the absolutely vital part!
I agree Heather, I was on a body awareness program for three days recently – this was simply being aware of how I sat down, drove the car, walked, chopped vegetables etc – the amount of clarity and wisdom this immediately allowed to be felt and come through my body was immense, there was no questioning, debating or thinking about anything involved what so ever, everything was there when it was needed. For example in conversations words would come to me to be said or to be felt to bring more understanding of what was being said, and at work when I had to do something and wondered do I have the time to get something before class, a teacher said the time as I walked past her class.
It is the greatest gift I have – to feel what is true and what is not.
Isn’t it just Rik, to start to feel what is true and what is not, makes life more spherical.
and makes life very very simple – it’s either love or not.
Very true Laura – beliefs are born out of separation from the truth that we innately know and the extent to which we will defend these has led to horrendous conflict and war being a constant feature in the history of humanity. What will it take for this separation to be seen and the primary focus of our true education?
Michael we will probably see major things happening in our bodies if we continue to ignore the gorgeousness of who we all are.
We are definitely blinded by that what we believe, it is very freeing to be aware of this, and take the opportunity to let go, which will have a great impact on all we do in life.
We are so blinded aren’t we Benkt van Haastrecht, and when I choose to see a belief for what it is, I am amazed that I ever held onto that in the first place.
Yes I agree Julie and Benkt, what always strikes me is why was I holding onto a belief that when exposed seems quite silly and unbelievable, along with why haven’t I clocked it sooner?
Yes Benkt, it is incredibly freeing to walk in the world as ourselves, not restricted by ideas and beliefs.
This would be a fascinating curriculum subject Laura. Children have a love of going deeper with life’s questions and are open to understanding what is going on and feeling the truth behind all things. It is we, as adults, who become entrenched in our beliefs, which are used to shield our hurts. By dealing with our hurts the beliefs we used to prop us up fall away and we are left with truth we felt when we were Children.
Hmm yes I agree entirely with you Rachel, for sure it would make a fantastic, and I’d even say – ‘national’ curriculum subject, in other words, compulsory education. Of course such education can really only truly be taught when what is taught is being lived by the teaching person, and so I guess then it must lie at first with self-education as mature adults to ensure that we untangle things/our hurts as best as we can to make life along the universal principles of love, to be a Teacher of Love for our kids.
That’s true Laura, ideals and beliefs are killing us.
Yes Rik, that statement “ideals and beliefs are killing us” seems pretty strong at first but it is absolutely true. Humans kill other humans over conflicting ideals and beliefs, and we cause huge harm to ourselves, trying to live up to, fit in with or obtain a myriad of pictures of how we should be.
Totally agree Laura, before i met Serge Benhayon I had not questioned that these beliefs were not actually part of the package that was me. The gentle breath meditation was a huge key in re-opening a relationship with my innermost – for i began to recognise that this inner voice was with me often but i had been suppressing it for years. It was only as i honoured this inner calling with greater consistency that i began to identify behaviours and patterns that adhered to a consciousness i had espoused to, be it manners and etiquette, intimacy, etc. What is so apparent is that these consciousness are deeply imbedded in my body, my muscle memory, and although it maybe easy to mentally cast them out, breaking them down within the body is an exercise in relearning to move.
So true what you share Lucinda, one of the greatest learnings i have understood over time through Universal Medicine teachings (and it’s taken ‘time’ because of what you say about rooted muscle memory….), is that’s it’s very easy to mentally get something and go ‘aha’, but unless it’s actually (and honoured to be) felt in the body (and when the head/mind reduces its embedded dominance), it cannot ever be fully understood, lived or embodied. It is then to develop ‘an honest body’ – a body that is indeed as you say Lucinda, an exercise in re-learning to move. Understanding expression is about the movement, of one’s body and being and together aligned just as a clock might strike it’s hour, with such precision, is what it’s all about.
Great point Zofia. There is an incredible precision that our body requires. The way we sit in a chair, for example, can have a huge impact on how we feel, what we are thinking and also what we choose next. Do we sit with a body that is open and aligned, or do we find ways to sit (which is still a movement) to block that?
We may never question until a certain point perhaps, but deep deep down it is always known i.e. that the way life is, is not as true as it could be where the handicap of ideals and beliefs are passed down and ingested from generation to generation. And so, really before school, the education begins with the way of the parents and how they are at home, that it is with love to then encourage their child/family of this way, rather than the alternative that creates all the disharmony for later adult years. In short open dialogue, free expression together with respect and understanding leads the way with love in a family.
This can be one of the biggest challenges to a family, and indeed all relationships also Zofia. Yet, without the open dialogue, we set ourselves up to remain in ruts that have existed for centuries (if not millennia…). Any rigidity in beliefs, that does not come from a depth of love that truly unifies, are going to be ‘challenged’ at times, when we make our lives about love as the bottom line. This can be a test for our relationships, but from all that I’ve experienced, it is worth the exploration – not just for ‘ourselves’, but for all. For have the conflicts and clashes of belief that have plagued our world for so long truly changed? I would say no… We have such a long and dedicated way yet to go.
I pondered on your comment Laura and I realized how ideals and believes justify my existence, the way I am and what I do. When I am without them, who am I then? To allow to see through the ignorance and arrogance supports me to become the vulnerable and open being I am from my innate nature.
My ideals and believes are as a box in a box, in a box, a very clear structure to feel safe and secure in and with, although it seemed that it is safe and secure it is not actually it is the foundation of a live lived with fear and anxiety. Since I have met Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine this box ( with all the small boxes inside) are one by one falling apart and who I am, my innate nature is coming back and the box feels tight and restricted, it is time to let go of living in and with the boxes.
Yes Laura, no drama, just looking at whatever we say we believe and questioning if it is our belief or one we have taken on. Even if it is our belief, do we still hold it as such when we look at it from a loving perspective? I had so many beliefs and it wasn’t until I heard myself say the word and just stopped for a moment to check if it was really what I wanted to say, that I realised how opinionated I was and could see I also had judgements about situations that were unfounded. It was such an important experiment.
Developing a curiosity about life helps. Simply asking ourselves, ‘could there be another way?’ can open our eyes to another way of doing things. I know I never questioned the way things were until I started attending Serge Benhayon’s workshops. Life has changed so much for me now that I am open to seeing how imprisoning ideals and belief can be.
That is what I have really embraced and enjoyed doing over the last few years. Breaking down those ideals and beliefs that I picked up and took on without even realising. The more we get out of the constraints of the pictures that we have created, the more room there is to be and live from our inner-most and let ourselves shine.
So true Rosie- freeing ourselves of the constraints that ideals and beliefs have on us is so power-full and liberating. We can then give ourselves permission to be ourselves from our innermost. Truly empowering and awesome. I am deeply appreciative of Serge Benhayon who has shown so many thousands of people all over the world how to reconnect to our inner heart and soul, and live life being impulsed from here and not from an outside source.
I agree Loretta, and so much of what is shown in this article and comments demonstrates the simple fact that we have so much to appreciate and that living in a way that allows us to get to know ourselves on a deep level is a very important part of life.
I agree Amina, the more we live who we are the more there is and should be appreciated. Appreciation is a part of life.
How true Rosie, the breaking down of the ideals and beliefs, things we have have taken on without the full realization of who we truly are!
Yes Mary. It is such a step by step process to break these down as there are ideals and beliefs so ingrained that we have no idea they are there until we start to butt up against them. Fortunately they have their way of revealing themselves and then the choice is ours. To let them go or to hang on and dig our heels in.
Well put Vicky, this is a great example of how everything is a choice and we are the makers of our own destiny.
Yes Vicky, when I think about all those ideas of how the world is and how we should be in it that we carry around, I get the image of a big old suitcase that we lug around on our backs – it’s exhausting, uncomfortable yet we are afraid to let go because somewhere along the line we got to thinking that the contents of the suitcase (all those ideas) would keep us safe in the world. In actual fact they just give us something to focus on, a massive distraction – and life is so much simpler and so much lighter when you let them go.
Absolutely Hannah, what complication we have chosen to carry around, for many letting them go means there is simply nothing left – but as more and more people reclaim themselves & release this baggage, the simplicity and lightness of their walk will be an inspiration to many, as Serge Benhayon has been to them.
This is exactly how it is Vicky, a gradual releasing of these beliefs and images as we become aware of them, or choose to remain under their dominance.
This is a really amazing thing to do, letting go of all the beliefs we clog ourselves up with. But until I met Serge Benhayon this was never an option so blinded was I by the belief that without beliefs at best I wouldn’t be able to function, at worst I’d be crazy mad.
Even at Uni where the course was about deconstructing belief systems and critiquing them, the underlying belief was you had to have them else you wouldn’t have purpose, meaning, identity, and life would become pointless to the point of despair. So it’s really something to break free from them and discover they are bonds not arm bands and we shine brightly without them.
My experience with ideals and belief is like Laura mentioned, they are very ingrained. I thought I could solve them by reading books about them, doing special programs in order to get rid of them. In truth the only thing that happend is that I thought I had got rid of them but my feelings about myself stayed, they did not change. Only when I learned to know Serge Benhayon in a workshop I was attending I slowly got and still get aware, I cannot get rid of any belief or ideal unless I allow love into my life which starts to alter how I am with myself and how I move my body. Slowly getting more awareness of these qualities I find that my ideals start to get more exposed and step by step I can let them go.
Yes Kirsten we cant just talk ourselves out of an old behaviour. No quick fix here, which is what we are used to in this fast paced life we live. We have to change how we move and think and live. This is a slow process, but step-by-step it is possible to make these loving changes that can become our new way.
You bring up a very absurd truth about university in your comment. At university you are taught to believe you are learning to think for yourself, yet in a simple example of writing an essay you are not allowed to introduce an idea that can not be referenced to already exist?????
Ha ha so true!!! I must mention that when next asked!
If they are teaching that at Uni Karin, it shows how even our education system is pushing having ideals and beliefs as being important so that we feel we have a purpose. No wonder we find it so difficult to free ourselves from their constraints, when our highest places of learning are promoting them in this way.
Definitely the way to go Rosie!
And the more we re-connect to our inner -most and express from here the more the pictures we have been trapped in are revealed and we can free our self from their constraints. We can continue a rhythm of connecting and letting go of all that we have taken on that is not who we naturally are.
‘Continue a rhythm of connecting and letting go’ the amazing changes that start to come about by this new pattern. (way of living) – not allowing more ‘pictures’ to lead us astray and take us off the course of living life in full.
The pictures are such a huge part of what we live with and by, and replacing them with more pictures without realising this is something that happens regularly, choosing to be very aware of this and not investing in any picture whatsoever takes an amazing understanding of oneself.
Great point Mary-Louise the learning never ceases it is a consistent process of un-learning and re-learning how to move and express from our truth.
This is something I feel I very much still need to do (break down ill ideals and beliefs). I agree with what Laura has shared but it should be taught everywhere not just in schools. This is why Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine are an absolute blessing as this is what they are tirelessly doing and bringing .. and much more.
Yes Rosie, me too, realising that I had taken them (ideas and beliefs) on as my own when they were someone else’s to begin with – accepting this has not always been easy but always leads to more of me to be felt again, a gorgeous process once I allowed it!
It’s this freedom, that makes us truly enjoy life.
Rosie that has been my experience too, to break down the ideals and beliefs I grew up in, which where very limiting, now as I have been letting them go over the years the freer I feel and more space I have created for me to live from my true essence and my inner connection. I no longer feel suffocated and constraint.
Love it Rosie. Since coming to the work of Universal Medicine, so much of what I had clung to by way of beliefs and ideals – how I thought life ‘was’ and ‘had to be’ – has broken down, and this process has been absolutely amazing, the inner growth and indeed ‘flowering’ in my life transformational beyond measure.
We are designed to shine, absolutely, and it is this shedding of all that we are ‘not’ in truth, that allows our light to be all that it is – gloriously so!
Beautiful comment Amelia, I am inspired, I too am finding the unfoldment process amazing. Sometimes not easy, but each time I shed another layer of what is not me, based on what I can feel deep within is me, it is so worth it. I will never stop until I have nothing but my essence once again.
I agree Amelia and don’t our attempts to assemble who we are from bits and pieces that we’ve strung together from the outside feel so incredibly shonky compared to the beauty of what we all have awaiting us on the inside.
Love your expression here Alexis ‘don’t our attempts to assemble who we are from bits and pieces that we’ve strung together from the outside feel so incredibly shonky’ This perfectly sums up the DYI barrier of beliefs we erect that we hide behind when all we need is right here inside us. Our true expression It needs the space to emerge and how magnificent it already is…. not a belief in sight!
Yes Alexis, it’s like patching together a costume that we feel will keep us safe in the world – and in doing so cover over the immense beauty that we naturally are.
And it is a costume that never really fits, feels somewhat uncomfortable and made in a quality we know doesn’t reflect what we are truly worth.
Love this Alexis, I know exactly when I feel shonky and it is not a pinch on feeling the beauty that I already am.
So true Alexis, many have spent years refining this shonkiness so it looks pretty smooth and well managed but the beauty of the inside and for many the hardest part it that it requires no management or control – just an absolute commitment to discern the energy we live from and that surrounds us.
Absolutely well said Amelia, life from our inner knowing – which is love and wisdom- more then anything else. Everything that is not that will indeed stand out. Better gift or marker we can not give ourselves – other then the impulse to come back to ourselves. Thank you Toni.
Amelia I agree what you say about ideals and beliefs: ‘it is a beautiful process to discard them as we choose to live more from our inner knowing and less from their constrictive impulse’. To walk with steadiness and an inner sense of knowing means we are not torn and pulled this way and that by the external world. This simplifies life.
The way you have stepped through the layers in the quest for an answer to who you truly are is inspirational Toni, because it is so honest and your lived experience. There is no need for endless therapy or personal growth workshops, just a commitment to feeling and discerning what this quality is inside us all.
“We pick up so many ideals and beliefs from the external world along the way, it is a beautiful process to discard them as we choose to live more from our inner knowing and less from their constrictive impulse.” Yes it is beautiful to discard what is not us, and bring fourth the true impulse we are. We are all beautiful loving Souls, and letting go of these external ideals and beliefs will bring us back to our true essence.
It is also the most natural and joyful thing to do, and way to be. Life really makes so much sense and becomes o full and rich when we let this unfoldment take its place, and let the inner depth of who we are being to pour forth.
Beautifully expressed and true Amelia. We take on so many ideals and beliefs from outside of us- our family, friends, TV, media , and think we need to conform to these to be accepted and loved, or recognised as being successful. But we are not what we do. And indeed I have also found it an amazing and beautiful process discarding ideals or beliefs that no longer feel true, leaving my body feeling more spacious and light, for more love to be embraced.
I love what you write here Amelia, thank you. The outside world does not define who we are. There is a living essence within all of us that is connected to something much grander and when we live from that, we live with a greater understanding and love for ourselves and for our fellow brothers and sisters.
Beautifully expressed Amelia – living from my inner knowing is something I learn more about every day.