Who Do You Think You Are vs Who You Are
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work in progressIt is obvious that a thought about your mother is not your mother ( I borrowed this line from a wonderful Dharma talk by Howard Cohn). But somehow it is less obvious to us that "who we think we are", is not who we are. In a way this is related the "the straight jacket of insecurity" that I wrote about here because who we think we are is mostly less than we really are. Cohn talks about this "personality view" that we have of ourselves and how it tends to be slightly (or not so slightly) on the mean side.
Think about it for a minute. Think about how you normally see yourself. Do you see yourself as a clutz, a poor public speaker, slightly lazy, not very focused,! depress ed? Chances are the picture we generally snap of ourselves tends to be on the negative side. It encompasses things others have said to us, what we've implied from looks and comments, our judgements of ourselves when things don't go the way we want and a multitude of things.
We are in fact much more than we could ever see from our vantage point. We are like shadows standing in our own light. We encompass both wholesome and unwholesome qualities which create a much larger picture than we ever focus on.
Since our "personality view" is likely flawed, and small, like a tight, slightly wart covered halloween costume, maybe we should just give it up, let it go. Since we like to wrap things in little packages and have been doing this forever and a lifetime, it may not fly off instantly into the stratosphere. But maybe, just maybe we should lighten up a bit and give it a little help. Perhaps every time we think we know who we are and how we operate, maybe we could just let that float away like a kid's lost balloon. Maybe after we have filled up the stratosphere with lost balloons about ourselves we will be free to be whoever we authentically are in the moment.
It's not about getting newer and shinier balloons, that say we're stellar, it's about letting our real self just be, that interesting, quirky, human self. We don't need to be anyone. We don't need to be any way. What our soul really longs for is to be free, free from who we think we are. 
ZenDotStudioBuddhism & Art...if I had to pick two words that give an overview of what I get up to in this world those would be my choices. Buddhism is the ground upon which I rest all else. I like to think it brings me some sanity. It helps me think in some logical way about what I am doing and look at it as deeply as possible. What did I just do? Why ? What's that all about? ...To try and look at my life without sliding over things or fooling myself...To be present for life, not rejecting or preferring one experience over another. Buddhist practice makes my life full and rich, sometimes filled with joy and sometimes with a deep experience of the suffering present in this world. After all those words does it seem odd to say that it is the simplicity of Zen that appeals to me? This inclination to simplicity pulls me to try and integrate my practice and work, to paint Buddhas, to observe my process as I work.I am drawn to mixed media, integrating script and words with images and colour.View my complete profile![]()
Bits of zen flotsam & jetsam from the daily practice of a zen fool with shards of modern Buddhist art from my studio. Sometimes cranky, sometimes inspiring, mostly entertaining.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Who Do You Think You Are vs Who You Are
work in progressIt is obvious that a thought about your mother is not your mother ( I borrowed this line from a wonderful Dharma talk by Howard Cohn). But somehow it is less obvious to us that "who we think we are", is not who we are. In a way this is related the "the straight jacket of insecurity" that I wrote about here because who we think we are is mostly less than we really are. Cohn talks about this "personality view" that we have of ourselves and how it tends to be slightly (or not so slightly) on the mean side. Think about it for a minute. Think about how you normally see yourself. Do you see yourself as a clutz, a poor public speaker, slightly lazy, not very focused,! depress ed? Chances are the picture we generally snap of ourselves tends to be on the negative side. It encompasses things others have said to us, what we've implied from looks and comments, our judgements of ourselves when things don't go the way we want and a multitude of things.
We are in fact much more than we could ever see from our vantage point. We are like shadows standing in our own light. We encompass both wholesome and unwholesome qualities which create a much larger picture than we ever focus on.
Since our "personality view" is likely flawed, and small, like a tight, slightly wart covered halloween costume, maybe we should just give it up, let it go. Since we like to wrap things in little packages and have been doing this forever and a lifetime, it may not fly off instantly into the stratosphere. But maybe, just maybe we should lighten up a bit and give it a little help. Perhaps every time we think we know who we are and how we operate, maybe we could just let that float away like a kid's lost balloon. Maybe after we have filled up the stratosphere with lost balloons about ourselves we will be free to be whoever we authentically are in the moment.
It's not about getting newer and shinier balloons, that say we're stellar, it's about letting our real self just be, that interesting, quirky, human self. We don't need to be anyone. We don't need to be any way. What our soul really longs for is to be free, free from who we think we are.
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ZenDotStudioBuddhism & Art...if I had to pick two words that give an overview of what I get up to in this world those would be my choices. Buddhism is the ground upon which I rest all else. I like to think it brings me some sanity. It helps me think in some logical way about what I am doing and look at it as deeply as possible. What did I just do? Why ? What's that all about? ...To try and look at my life without sliding over things or fooling myself...To be present for life, not rejecting or preferring one experience over another. Buddhist practice makes my life full and rich, sometimes filled with joy and sometimes with a deep experience of the suffering present in this world. After all those words does it seem odd to say that it is the simplicity of Zen that appeals to me? This inclination to simplicity pulls me to try and integrate my practice and work, to paint Buddhas, to observe my process as I work.I am drawn to mixed media, integrating script and words with images and colour.View my complete profileBlog Archive
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