Who You Actually Are Underneath Everything

[00:00:00]talk about the self beyond mind.

[00:00:02]So, this is kind of weird, but cuz it's experiential, but let's understand a couple things. So, who are you?

[00:00:10]That has been a question I've been asking myself every meditation.

[00:00:13]>> Okay, [laughter] so let's just answer simply. Like, don't answer >> What I used to say is I'm Charlie, I'm a YouTuber, I, you know, live here.

[00:00:20]>> Perfect, right?

[00:00:21]>> Yeah.

[00:00:21]>> So, you're a Charlie, you're a YouTuber.

[00:00:24]Were you Have you been a YouTuber your whole life?

[00:00:27]>> No.

[00:00:27]>> Have you been you your whole life?

[00:00:29]>> Yes.

[00:00:30]>> Okay. So, now this is interesting, right? So, like let's say I identify as a doctor, I identify as a dad. Um so, I'll ask you a question. Would you identify as successful?

[00:00:42]>> I would probably identify as successful.

[00:00:45]>> In the past, would you identify as unsuccessful?

[00:00:49]>> Yes.

[00:00:49]>> Okay. So, if you look at >> I fear in the future that I may identify as such?

[00:00:53]>> Sure.

[00:00:54]>> [laughter] >> So, so this is the And this is why I love the yogis because we can get into this. The way that they understand the mind is different from the West.

[00:01:02]But, um and I think it's much more helpful for a person, like from a subjective perspective. But, so if we look at who you are, >> Mhm.

[00:01:10]>> I identify with certain characteristics.

[00:01:13]I'm a man, I'm a dad, I'm a doctor.

[00:01:16]But, I was me long before I was a dad, or I was a doctor, or even before I knew I was a man, right? Maybe I identified as a boy, and even before that I I'm always me.

[00:01:27]>> Yeah.

[00:01:28]>> So, this is where in the East, there's this concept of ahankara, which is loosely translated in in into ego, but the technical translation is the sense of I.

[00:01:38]So, if you say I am {dot} {dot} {dot}, and you write down all of those qualities, all of those are a part of your ahankara. I am rich, I am poor, I am ugly, I am healthy, I am unhealthy.

[00:01:50]You All of those states can change.

[00:01:53]>> Yeah.

[00:01:54]>> So, but if you really look at it, you've always been you. You were you before you even knew your name was Charlie.

[00:02:00]You were you after you were Charlie, you were you when you were successful, you were you when you were unsuccessful.

[00:02:05]>> And would you contend that if I had bumped my head and had amnesia that the the me would persist like is this memory is required for this or no?

[00:02:12]>> Not at all.

[00:02:13]>> Okay.

[00:02:13]>> So so this is where and so all of the attributes that we identify with >> Even our even our memories, even our yeah.

[00:02:20]>> Sure, even our memories, right? So and this is where it's super cool stuff, but I you know, I had some interesting experiences in meditation with past lives. I've even done psychotherapy with people around past lives, which really changes the game of like understanding who you are because they have an experience or a memory or a trauma that is actually not of this life. So then it's like well, hold on a second. What does that even mean?

[00:02:42]>> Well, it's I definitely want to come back to that, [laughter] yeah.

[00:02:45]>> But so if we sort of look at it, the attributes of Charlie, the qualities of Charlie can change over time, but you've always been you. There's something that's that's always you, no matter whether you're successful or unsuccessful. And that is the true self.

[00:02:59]And that is sort of like the part that experiences everything else.

[00:03:03]So the a good analogy is if you look at like let's say I'm watching a movie, all kinds of things can change on the screen, but the person who's watching stays the same. Whether it's raining or shining or whether people are happy or unhappy, whether you experience emotions, sadness, unhappiness, happiness, elatement, all of those things are fluctuations within the mind, but the experiencer stays the same. So you were the one who was successful, you were the one who was unsuccessful, you were the one who's ugly, you're the one who's happy.

[00:03:34]>> And I have the capacity for any and everything as well, it sounds.

[00:03:37]>> Absolutely. And so the the cool thing about for people who are kind of lost here, you know, it's that it's the part of you that actually doesn't change at all throughout the whole course of your life.

[00:03:50]>> So that okay. And I know that it this I know that the answer to this really depends on how far out we zoom and how cuz cuz that's been my experience at least when you zoom out, it's all one.

[00:03:58]It's very simple. And then you zoom into varying degrees and you go, well, okay, there's separation at this level. But do you when you think of that true self as you sort of described it, is there an essence other than spaciousness and potential? Is there it like what I have found and maybe this is a different level down that as I sink into trust and I let go of the shoulds, I find love. I find genuinely inspired, not calculated, unconditional love.

[00:04:34]And I don't live there, certainly, but I've I've touched it and I've seen it and I'm trying to I I it's a nice place to be and I and I try to bring it more into my life. If you want to go deeper on this, more confidence, more charisma, and how to show up in a way that has presence in every area of your life, we've built a program that will help you do exactly that. Here's what one student had to say. I went from this very weird person who missed social cues to this guy that could keep a conversation going and make people laugh. The course is called Charisma University. It's had tens of thousands of students go through it. 30 days long, fully guaranteed. If you don't think it was worth it, you get a refund right from inside the program.

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