What You Are Not

Who is the "I" when we say "I don't like this" or "I own that"? On the surface, the answer seems obvious. For me, it's "Ken". For you, it's <Your Name Here>. But is that all there is to it? Not according to one of the most famous Indian sages of the twentieth century, Ramana Maharshi, who suggested this:

The only way to find out what you are is to find out what you are not.

Hmmm. What am I not? Let's see, I used to have thick, dark brown hair and now have (ahem!) considerably less and it's mostly grey. So, I am not my hair. About 15 years ago, I went from "normal" hearing to having tinnitus. Logically, then, I am not my hearing. You can throw in my eyesight, smell, taste, and touch, which aren't what they used to be.

Am I my thoughts? They do tend to come and go like the breeze. Even thoughts that seemed very solid, like a long-held belief that musicals are terrible, eventually pulled a 180 when "I" realized some are quite enjoyable. So, looking for a solid "I" in thoughts is a dead end. What about emotions? No luck. They've changed since I started writing this 🤣

How am I not myself?
– Brad Stand, from the film "I Heart Huckabees"

So who or what is this "I"? One way to find out is by committing to a self-inquiry process like Maharshi's "Who am I?". While it's helpful to read about the Buddha's teachings on impermanence and "no self", it's something else altogether to discover it directly 💎