CENTER POINT THE CENTER FOR SELF-CHANGE NEWSLETTER
Vol. 4, No. 1- January, 2010
THE ONE YOU SEE IS NOT THE ONE YOU ARE
J. Kingston Cowart "The Change Maker"
It's January now and our annual three months of costumes, masks, and masquerades have come and gone.
First there were the wee ghosties of October knocking at our doors on Halloween. They were followed by Thanksgiving programs and pageants with Pilgrims and Indians in November. Then came December, with Santa Claus and his elves and all of his helpers everywhere; as well as the many figures of the Christmas story.
Did you take any of them for real—or did you know them for what they really were?
Perhaps you went to a costume party or two. Was that really a witch or a vampire over there?
You may even have caught your own costumed reflection in a mirror. Did you mistake that image for your true identity?
Of course not. Who would make a mistake like that?
Actually, we all do—all the time. We look at ourselves in the morning mirror and never question what we see.
We see ourselves reflected in the eyes of others and we either like their vision of us or we don't. If we feel misunderstood, we say it is because they don't see us as who we really are.
That's quite right. They don't. They can't.
And neither can we. We all know that the eye cannot see itself. Neither can the "I."
All I can see is my image of myself—but I dare not think it is who I really am. It is a grave error to identify with my own self-image. Whenever I do that I am likely to conclude that I am my body or my mind or both, or a set of characteristics I think of as being "me"; meaning myself, as in "my self"—the self that I somehow possess.
That would be to err again—since I do not have a self.
I am a self and that self has both the body and the mind. Together they have characteristics that combine to form a personality—which generates a self image.
To identify with that self-image is to make the same mistake as people who identify with their cars.
These days I need a car to get around in, so that I can operate effectively in the world. I need a self-image in the same way—to operate effectively in the world. Still, I am not my self-image any more than I am my car .
There is, of course, nothing wrong with having the best car I can for the needs that it can meet. Similarly, the best possible self-image can also be an asset in my daily life.
But if I identify with either my car or my self-image then I am lost to my true Self.
What is that true Self?
The world's great religions are filled with answers to that question. In general, they emphasize that our essential nature is spirit. They all have stories about what that means.
One which I really like is the second creation story in the Book of Genesis. Did you know there are two different accounts there? Gen. 1:27 simply says that God made man in his own image. Gen. 2:7 tells how: "God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." *
The word for spirit in most of the major languages of the world is the same as the word for breath.
Therefore, whether literally true or not, this story tells us (as do many others) that the life we are is spirit itself.
It inspirits us. It is the very breath of life in us.
We cannot see that spirit—just as the eye cannot see itself—because at the very heart of our being it is who we truly are.
The Bible and other great scriptures say that it is like the wind. Only its effects can be seen.
Although we cannot see it, we can still nonetheless flow with it like the eagle or the butterfly (depending on the moment).
That is an image of our existential embodiment being supported by our essential nature.
I think it is a very good one.
Your own conclusions are entirely up to you.
Nonetheless, it is certainly worth having some long thoughts about.
For who can say how high or how far we may soar once we drop the limitations of attachment to self-image—the everyday masks and masquerades of the unexamined life?
* King James Version.
J. Kingston Cowart
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JOIN THE CENTER CIRCLE
It's easy. Every Wednesday for a few minutes between 10:00 and Noon sit down and turn inward - through prayer, meditation, self-hypnosis or any modality you choose - and send out good thoughts to everyone else in the circle.
I'll be there. How about you?
J. Kingston Cowart 619.561.9012 Post Office Box 19005 San Diego CA 92159 jkcowart@self-change.com
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