‘I’ and 'My’

 


It has been proclaimed over and over again from ages that the only hindrance in the real inner human freedom, love and enjoyment of life by man as on today is our own fault of confining ourselves in a self drawn invisible limitation of a self image. This usually contains what we record in our mind about name, education, position, religion, sect, nationality, status, achievements, and abilities etc etc of our selves …….. the list may go on, but other things being equal the basic structure under all these is the same human body with very little differences from each other say at the most of color, height, gender and a slight degree in capacity to think or knowledge. This process of individuation i.e. separating ourselves from others and thinking that we are unique starts during our learning stages when our parents, teachers, religion, leaders, political leaders, friends, spouses etc. play an important role to make us to go about in a limited way and forget the relatedness with others. This limitedness makes us different from others in the way of religion and nationality on a larger scale and in way of prescribed mannerisms and few customs on the individual scale. Each one of us gets confined to our own tales, our own beliefs, thinking and feelings which contains only ‘I’ and the way ‘I am’, which in other words limits us in many ways and think that ‘I’ am a unique identity, including me, I am no exemption. I too often found myself saying I am so and so, I am from such and such place, I was so and so by profession, I believe in so and so, and I detest such and such activity ………. it can go on and on. You may say what is the harm in that, in fact there is no harm if it stays just like that, but when I think that my uniqueness is better than some body else’s unique ness then the problem arises as my ego would not allow me to accept some body else too on par with myself, which may lead to a conflict or disagreement. Is it not so that these factors are very temporary and confined to just this physical body which is limited in every way and has no guarantee whether it would breathe next second or not, because I would be addressed as Maalolan or my being a retired Govt Servant shall be only till my this form exists, who knows my next life could be of a beggar on the street which would be no more Maalolan, so would you think that they are sufficient grounds for me to get into logger heads with an opposite person who has a different ‘I’ in him and develop enmity with him. Because primarily I am in no way different than what the person sitting beside me is, I do also enjoy/suffer the basic traits like he does viz, hunger, thirst, fear, ill health, love, passions, physical needs, Then is it right to say that these minor differences stated above make sufficient ground for me to kill another fellow being. I don’t think any faith teaches to speak lies, to harm another soul, to be inhuman or to accumulate and deprive other of his basic needs. Why do we forget that an action begets reaction? If I slap one unnecessarily he is bound to feel insulted and slap me back and probably the chain would continue on and on. And this is what many are doing today. Then why not we erase the boundaries of self image among ourselves and go by the basic grouping of nature as a mammal that is gifted with a thinking power and the one who can feel the joys and sorrows and the one who has the capability of sympathizing when others are suffering, and thus is distinct and different from other species of nature i.e. Trees, Birds, Fishes and Reptiles. I just fail to understand who this ‘I’ is ….  could you guide me.

Tags: hindrance, freedom, self image, individuation, limitedness, unique

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