This Week’s Quotation:
“The reason you cannot find the self is simply because you are the self. It makes no sense to look for who you are. You can only be who you are. In its purest essence, selfhood is presence. Self is a point of position with no magnitude, the purest statement of the self in English is I am. Or in Sanskrit, Aum. As you become a sun you are embodying the self that you are. Your humanity is becoming you more and more fully.”
—Becoming a Sun, p. 246
Be Yourself
It takes a bit of courage to simply be yourself. For most of us, the act of self-expression is inextricably linked to the memory of being judged. This vulnerability is amplified when we find ourselves transplanted—moving to a new city, a new school, a new job, or even a new country. In these transitions, we encounter the hidden architecture of social rules. What is a compliment in one culture, such as belching after a meal, may be a faux pas in another. Navigating these structures requires constant learning, yet many of our differences are simply the result of habits formed in a familiar environment.
There is a spiritual dimension to this diversity. If we are indeed made in the image and likeness of the Divine, then that Source must be infinitely complex and diverse. If I were to relax and allow my true selfhood to enter a room, and you were to do the same, the resulting expressions would be entirely unique. Our individual “being” is a specific facet of a much larger whole.
Knowing that our differences can lead to complementation rather than conflict is an encouraging thought. It allows us to relax into the potential and power available in any combination of people. When a group of individuals collectively decides to bring their authentic selves to the table, the “sun” of their shared humanity becomes brighter and brighter. An epicenter of that radiance is felt on Earth, and the invitation to “be yourself” becomes a palpable, transformative force.
I hope that at some point in your life, you have felt that invitation. Having felt it myself, I rely on it as I allow my own presence to be known. In turn, I extend that same invitation to the world: be yourself, and let’s see what we can create together.
What does it mean to become a sun?
Every human being is already a sun on the inside—a being of intense love and light. The difference is that some people have the vision and courage to become a sun on the outside. This difference is our human destiny.
Many thanks, to you, Jane, and to David for his BECOMING A SUN quote. I so agree with you. I used to think something that probably most people think: being your self is simply doing what you want to do including license to hurt other people and lounging around when there important work to be done and saying whatever comes naturally even if puts people down, etc. And yet I sense from your words, and from my own experience, that being myself means actualizing the spiritual potential within so that the real Self I am fully emerges. Who I really am cannot be known by just vegging and blurting. Let me be “all that i can be” by following the path that leads to true Selfhood and personhood. Big thanks, jane. Aloha from Oahu, Tom C.
You are certainly a unique self, Jane, and so am I. We each have very unique gifts to bring to the world. And when we are each engaged in bringing these gifts of Love, we come together in a most marvelous way, creating a template for the whole body of humanity and inspiring people everywhere to do the same.