Short story: Being who you are, is being not who you are not
@innertalks (22847)
Australia
April 21, 2025 10:01pm CST
"Awakening is not changing who you are, but discarding who you are not."
This quote is from the author, Deepak Chopra.
John was at a question, and answer, session with his local Rabbi, Rabbi Chekov Rustevvly, and he asked him about the above statement, by a well-known spiritual guru, and author.
The Rabbi, thought for a long minute, before replying:
"This is obviously rubbish, as where did we get the things we are not from, and how, and if we are perfect as we are already, what is the point of our life here then?"
"No, we need to grow past who we are to a greater being of love, truth knowing, and wisdom, and life living experiences help us to do that."
"We are never who we are not, as this is just double-talk."
"We are always who we are, and nothing should be discarded, but more examined, to see the reason for this type of a person being a part of who we are right now."
"When you are living a life of not totalness of loving, and compassionateness of thought, the reasons you live like this is because you are neglecting the energy of love, to live from a lesser energy of life, instead, that tries to move you in its direction, by your thinking for yourself of your wants, and needs, so rather than being a loving person, you become a person wanting to love more, and more, acquisitions instead."
"To be who you are, be who you are, and forget about who you are not, as otherwise, you become too attached to your being a person other than who you are, by your thinking that you are not who you really are already."
"You are always who you are, and you have to grow forwards from that starting point, not stay frozen to the starting point, because you magically think that this person does not need to grow, and is just for parading itself as itself, without changing, and becoming better, in every way."
"Be who you are, and then grow from there, to all you can be too."
"This is living a life that produces good fruit for the world to partake of, rather than remaining just a tree, without providing its benefits to anyone. It lives in the darkness of itself, so does not even provide its shade to others."
"We must live from our light, and keep letting it shine even brighter, as we feed it with more light from God, the source of light, as we live."
Photo Credit: The photo used in this article was sourced from the free media site, pixabay.com
Live from your light, not from your darkness, but do not discard the darkness, more examine yourself, to see why it is there.
4 people like this
3 responses
@innertalks (22847)
• Australia
22 Apr
I am not so sure about that, as somebody like Donald Trump would be better of not being himself, with all of his pomposity, but be more humbly, the self that God gave him to be, instead, of the false self, that he thinks that he needs to be instead.
We should only be ourself, when it is the self that God has given to us to be, as otherwise, we are dancing to the tune of ourself only, instead of to the tune of God instead, in ourself.
@Shiva49 (27290)
• Singapore
22 Apr
@innertalks Trump is one a kind and he wants a third term whatever it takes and the constitution roadblock.
Nothing succeeds like success - is how the world reacts.
2 people like this
@innertalks (22847)
• Australia
22 Apr
@Shiva49 That two term restriction has been in place, since 1951, a long time, and maybe it was set up so that people like the Putins, and Trumps, of this world cannot rule for too long a period.
@Deepizzaguy (110555)
• Lake Charles, Louisiana
22 Apr
Great advice on how to be happy in life being ourselves and someone who is more famous than the average person.
2 people like this
@innertalks (22847)
• Australia
22 Apr
Yes, we can all aspire to be happy in our being of ourselves, when we are true to ourself first, and live our life, not from a grandiose bombasity, of ego, and an inflated mindblown sense of self, but from the humility of a humble heart, aligned to God, and to truth, too.
@Shiva49 (27290)
• Singapore
22 Apr
It depends on the interpretation, I feel, of what Deepak Chopra said.
We need to reinvent ourselves all the time by eschewing those that peg us down and move on to those that are more true to our innate calling and talents.
The connection to God should be felt and taken on board so that our life is on a sound wicket and not mired on a sticky one!
And Pope Francis did his might to move ahead with the times though he did face bottlenecks.
1 person likes this
@innertalks (22847)
• Australia
22 Apr
Carl Gustav Jung, the renowned psychologist, said something sounding a little similar to Deepak Chopra.
"In order to know the light, we must first experience the darkness." and, "One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious."
And yet, I am sure that God would not agree with this, as he does not want us to get into bed with the Devil, to better know God.
It is not a matter of experiencing the darkness, more about our shining our light on it, to rid ourselves of it, altogether.
I am sure Pope Francis, wouldn't advocate gambling, or killing, or stealing, just to experience the dark side of life, before the good side is embraced. The good side does not need the bad side to stand on its own two feet.
@Shiva49 (27290)
• Singapore
23 Apr
@innertalks It is not easy to pull people out of darkness as some even accused Pope Francis of heresy as he wanted a more inclusive society.
Pope Francis used to talk about the devil often as the latter's influence reflected in the way hypocrisy cast its long shadow over society.
Another irony is we talk of a few being enlightened without us experiencing what it means!
1 person likes this
@innertalks (22847)
• Australia
23 Apr
@Shiva49 Enlightenment does not seem to be something, that the Pope's of this world aspire too, as it is more limited to Eastern ideas.
The Christian religion more seems to dwell on the idea that we are born in sin, and have the tendency to sin in us, and we should ask God to help us to remove this tendency to drop into sin.
"Grace is not part of consciousness; it is the amount of light in our souls, not knowledge nor reason."
Pope Francis did say this, though, so he must have thought that we can increase the amount of light in our souls, and perhaps, the amount of love in our hearts too, and that we could not get to heaven by knowledge, or reason, alone.
1 person likes this
