Who am I?
This is one of the great existential questions. Mystics and philosophers have struggled with it for centuries. Let us contemplate some of their teachings.
Day 57
The nature of mind is restlessness. It cannot be at peace. To find peace, look within your own heart.
Do not strive for peace of mind. The mind exists in many states. It desires pleasure and happiness. It avoids pain and sorrow. Progress is seen as moving from the unpleasant to the pleasant. You cannot find peace in a constantly changing mind. You may come to feel peace of mind, but it always ends. Peace of heart is your natural state in consciousness. It overcomes suffering by releasing joy.
Peace of heart is real. It reveals itself when you are ready. Once revealed it pervades all unendingly. Peace of heart is timeless and unchanging. It is the joy that is your true nature.
The me of the body is not the permanence of joy. It is imagination within consciousness. You are a victim of ignorance in believing that you are the me of the body, with its restless mind, and not joy.
As a person, you are a thought reflected in consciousness. As joy, you are consciousness. A unicorn is a thought reflected in mind. It is a mental picture. Neither unicorn nor mind is real. The me of the body with its churn of thoughts and emotions is a mental construct in consciousness.
You, as the me of the body, are a reflection on the waters of reality. The reflection is disturbed by the restless mind. It is calmed by holding peace of heart in all situations. To know peace of heart always is to know joy as your true nature.
