Your authentic self

“To become conscious and aware, we must become authentic. Authenticity is the highest form of being.” – Teal Swan

Almost everyone who is on the path to their enlightened state come across their other self. This other self is the subjective self which is more identified to our ego, past experiences, and perceptions. The more we concentrate on this other self, the more we resist to evolve or change. In our daily life, we are very much identified with the content of such subjective experience that happens from moment to moment.

According to the dictionary meaning, being ‘subjective’ is “characteristic of or belonging to reality as perceived rather than as independent of mind.” The definition essentially says that when something is subjective, it has its basis inside of a person’s mind. When that is the case, most of our subjective experiences are thus ruled by our memories, biases, and prejudices. Such experiences create self-doubt, confusion about what we want, and we feel inauthentic and disconnected. Because of this, it becomes difficult for us to know which dimension of our self we are identifying with, resulting in an inner conflict.

Your subjective experiences are coloured by your own individual preferences past experiences, and emotional sensitivity. Whereas by developing an objective interest in the self or a strong sense of authentic self, you can avoid getting lost in the subjective drama of your inner experience and you can gain clarity on who you are. Objectivity occurs outside of the mind and is related to a phenomenon in the realm of sensible experience independent of individual thought and thus removes your subjective biases. Objective awareness improves self-esteem, creates a sense of purpose and helps you to cultivate better relationships.

‘Self’ & ‘Ego’

According to research, our authentic self has been suggested to be a core mechanism of stability in a world of continuous change. A clearly conceived ‘self’ can be used to guide behavior in consistent, personally meaningful, and fulfilling ways.” And to achieve enlightenment is to know the fundamental distinction in the nature and expression of our ‘self’. Evolution of your own consciousness occurs in the manifestation of dimension of self. And in this manifestation, there is a part of you that wants to evolve, and there is a part of you that definitely does not want to and puts up a fierce resistance to change. This part forces your mind to come up with reasons that uphold its feelings and demands.

Many people who are interested in evolving their consciousness don’t actually change is because unknowingly, they identify more with the dimension of self that doesn’t want to evolve. Your ‘ego’ is the part that doesn’t want to evolve where as your authentic self is the one that wants to. ‘Self‘ and the ‘ego‘ are two completely different dimensions of who you are, and like parallel lines, they never meet. This is the reason most of us live in a deeply divided and conflicted state.

To consciously evolve,

you need to become one with your ‘authentic self’. This can be achieved in the long run only by being in meditative state. Mindful people have a stronger sense of their authentic self. But you eventually fall back into the personal world that the ego creates. And through all this you get confused and are just aware of the rise and fall of different emotional states. Being aware of the important distinctions between the different dimensions of your own self, one moment to another, is an important part of gaining conscious awareness. While you are meditating, if you experience resistance to change, there is no need to be disturbed or frustrated. you need to understand that this is the inertia of your own ego. Try and restrain yourself from expressing the negative in your actions, feelings and thoughts. Strive to nurture the reciprocal positive within yourself.

When you learn to be awake to each dimension of your own self as it is arising,

• You develop an objective view of your authentic self. Then you no longer get lost in the subjective fluctuations of your own experiences.

• You achieve mindful awareness and respond to your thoughts and feelings in deliberate, non-reactive, and non-judgmental ways.

• You will gain clarity of your self-concept by developing stable, clear, and un-conflicted view of yourself.

• You achieve a state of well-being through self-acceptance, independence and control over your environment, relationships, your experience of personal growth and purpose in life.

By developing objective awareness, you may increase the likelihood of accepting self, which may increase your willingness of being mindful to explore and examine the self. As a result, we tend to become more familiar or friendly with ourselves and may be more willing to take a clear look in the mirror. 

“You attract the right things when you have a sense of who you are.”– Amy Poehler

To Do

• Sit in silence and focus your attention within to find the manifestation of dimension of self. Bring your conscious objective awareness to your every thought and feeling. Recognise how they arise, duration, and dissolution. Observe the changes that take place in your mind and observe which dimension of your self you are identifying with. Do not turn your mind to a battlefield by judging or suppressing your unruly thoughts. Accept yourself with all positives and negatives. Slowly your negative dimension of self will recede, as it will not get nourishment. Enjoy the constant fluctuations of the dimensions of self instead of resisting, when you do that, you can disconnect with your egoic self that doesn’t want to evolve and can become one with your authentic self.