Is it possible that sometimes you confuse your own identity? Confuse it with your belongings? Or your “social status?” It’s an unsettling notion, but do you really know…YOU?

Dig deep, past the jackets and shoes in your closet. Toss out your photographs and destroy the car. And now what are you left with?

You.

But what exactly is YOU?

Well, I imagine right now you’re picturing your body. And maybe your mind and also your personality.
But, what if that’s actually not the full picture? What if there’s something deeper than all of that? The real You.

There is. And it’s called your consciousness. That’s the You, the driver in the front seat of life.

“But my body IS me,” perhaps you’re thinking. Well, you’re right, but not really.

Our cars, bodies, intellects, and passions are all (loosely) aspects of Us, they’re the clothing that our consciousness wears. But, they’re still below the actual spirit that is You.

To clarify, a few quick hypotheticals:
-A person who decides to change genders.
-If your body was crippled in an accident.
-If you had been born with different traits and talents.

Now, what’s the one thing that doesn’t change in those examples? You.

See, despite any changes to your body, persona, or emotional hardware, ultimately You are still the same soul, your consciousness is unchanged. Actually, it’s invulnerable; your spirit literally cannot change, even if you were to undergo gender transformation. You’re always You. A consciousness and spirit ultimately above even your own emotions.

But, why is that worth discussing? Or, is this just one of those philosophical tongue twisters?

Well, in terms of one’s state of well being, it’s incredibly important. Largely, because it’s a profound liberator of emotional suffering.

For instance, despite the fact that the bodies we wear grow old or sometimes just don’t function properly, or the fact that jobs come and go as economies expand or deflate, if you remind yourself that You are not these things but a deeper consciousness (that’s literally invulnerable), it makes life much easier to weather (and it happens to be true).

You (thank god) are above the chaos of life based on Earth. You are ultimately above even your own thoughts. Now granted, some emotions and circumstances are so crippling that they destroy this connection with our consciousnesses for a time, such as experiencing chronic pain.

But the more frequently you hold onto this connection, the easier it will be to stay liberated and free emotionally from the more trying circumstances of life. This sense of freedom is what Buddhists broadly coin as “Enlightenment.”

The implications of You as a consciousness are endless, so I’ll stop here. Perhaps though a part II is due.