The Essential Link between Self- Identity and Greatest Potential.

The purpose of this document is to outline, fundamentally, an approach to living that is a holistic, full-embodiment of the authentic and divine version of Self. It is essentially an exploration of Identity at its core, and what it means to live life as the Being you know you can and must be to fulfill your greatest and fullest possible potential.

Potential, in fact, is the greatest focus of this dissertation, along with Identity, as we will find the two to be absolutely and inextricably linked—and not as cut and dry as we may believe. Both hold a great deal of mystery and the necessity for deep exploration and contemplation, and we will discuss these and various other methods to dive into the revelation of the bonded pair and their physical manifestation.

Firstly, I will address the question of self-identity. Who is it that you know yourself to be? With time, this becomes a question of greater and greater importance as well as mystery. We are all, of course, given an “identity” or a “self” at birth—a body, a name, date of birth, parents/family, birth place and home. As we grow into adults we of course begin to build and create a more tangible identity. Some aspects of this can include occupation, marital status or family role, friendships, financial status, interests, hobbies, passions, or simply resonance with a certain group, type, or ideal.

As one matures into adulthood, it is likely (and hopeful!) that the question begins to be asked:“Who am I?”  All great spiritual teachers, masters and sages of wisdom have encouraged the asking of this question. Yet, the answer remains strangely elusive. One realizes that all of the tangible categories (such as those listed above) do not truly, or fundamentally, depict one’s real identity—and that these are various aspects of life or versions of self that one can point to, but are, essentially, impermanent and subject to—even likely to—change.

If one wants to reach a core and fundamental identity, we need to dig a little bit deeper. This often begins a genuine journey of self-discovery. We may explore areas like personality types (Myers Briggs or other systems), astrology, numerology, human design, music tastes, or observing and analyzing our own personal patterns in the way of thinking, feeling, and acting. We begin to dive into the next layer, or sub-level of self which can be described as psyche or personality. This layer is generally about the mental-emotional level, and its preferences, moods and general demeanor.

While this is an interesting level to explore for a while, our self-discovery journey, should we continue, inevitably takes us even deeper. When we arrive at the next level, we often reach the soul level of identity/being/consciousness. When we hit the soul level, we may become fascinated with subjects such as past lives, ancient wisdom traditions, spirituality, and a general sense of soul identity. We may begin practices such as meditation and self-inquiry in order to sense or understand our soul, desiring to see it, feel it and/or experience it. Of course, the soul itself seems quite intangible at first, until one begins to dive into its essence and explore its various facets and aspects. If we go super deep here, we may even be drawn to shamanic work, such as soul retrieval, or past-life regression to understand this aspect of ourselves more deeply.

While wonderful to explore, we realize after hanging here for a while that our self-discovery journey doesn’t end there. At this point, many are drawn to pure Spirit. We each have an individual human spirit, and there is also, of course, in many traditions the Great or Holy Spirit which we can start to call on as well. If someone ends up at this deep and immaterial level of self, they may begin to be drawn deeply to religion—the concept of purity and holiness, piousness, devotion and sanctity figure strongly regardless of which religion. There is a strong desire to connect to and communicate with a Higher Power, which some call God, and so one may find themselves in churches, in prayer, in worship, in contemplation, or even deep in ceremony—a fire ceremony or perhaps an Ayahuasca ceremony in the deep jungle. The spirit itself becomes the focus, as it is seen as a pure and untouchable, unfathomable aspect of the Divine, an essential aspect of creation and Creator. This is when we begin to be “guided by Spirit,” and feel a deep inner knowing—our intuition comes fully online, activated by the discernment of the Holy Spirit.

Beyond this level, we begin to touch the aspect of self that is Universal. Multi-versal, even. As we dive into, through and beneath the spirit level, we are brought into the realm of pure consciousness, of pure Being. We begin to contact God-Source directly and immediately, without any methods, intercessors, or meditators. Identifiers of individuality actually begin to fade completely away (ie; a sense of “my spirit” versus “their spirit”) as the boundaries and divisions between self and others, self and the world, self and the rest of creation begin to disappear. At this level, we are typically drawn to silence and stillness, first and foremost. Awareness and consciousness become the highest currency, and their expansion or evolution is of utmost importance. As this grows, paradoxically, our instinctual or “animal self” begins to come more fully alive and on-line, specifically with regards to the senses. As we now understand it, we have five or maybe six senses if you include intuition. With the cultivation of this level of Self, our senses begin to heighten, expand and increase so that many more higher and refined senses are added while the six base senses are greatly enhanced. We begin to perceive inwardly as well as outwardly, as this is often when our third eye can begin to open, and the Kundalini energy can begin to awaken and rise up the spine. “Powers,” or “siddhis” as they are called, may begin to awaken here as we grow into higher and higher consciousness.

There is a level (or levels) beyond this, but it begins to move beyond human. We begin to enter divine territory, or the realm of divine identity as we pass this level. Experiences like extended samadhi, total enlightenment, and cosmic consciousness, and possibly even teleportation, levitation, out of body experiences, and time travel can begin to occur as we transcend the illusion of separation between ourselves and God/The Divine. Our Being attains union with God, or rather, recognizes itself as The Oneness, the Divine Itself. This is, for the most part, the goal of all spiritual traditions that aim for the highest.

We touch on identity first and foremost because accessing our true potential in this life is actually dependent on identity, or should we say, the transcendence of an “individual identity.” You could also say the total revolution or revelation of True Identity. As one begins to dive deeper into self-discovery, one’s potential—limitless as it is—becomes gradually unfolded and unveiled. However, it is the hypothesis here that manifesting one’s greatest potential is actually dependent on first finding and establishing one’s greatest Self. It is, of course, also possible to stumble upon it the other way around—by going for greatest potential first. However, one will always run into the obstacle of identity at a certain point if this issue has not been adequately addressed. Sure, you can try to fulfill your potential, but “Who” is it that is fulfilling the potential? This Who—or perceived sense of Who—is what is most important. As a further note, spontaneous glimpses or experiences of heightened states of identity/potential/consciousness can and are often experienced by someone who has not yet anchored or established that consciousness in day to day life. These are not prepared for, or goals that were set out to be achieved, but simply occurred spontaneously as a result of the natural and supernatural elevation of consciousness. This process is not linear in any way, and occurs differently for every individual that experiences it.

It can actually be understood that at the Highest/Deepest Level of Self-Discovery, the Ultimate Revelation of Self, that the concept of fulfilling one’s potential begins to lose merit. This is because, as this Ultimate Self, there is nothing one can do but to naturally and effortlessly manifest one’s Greatest Potential, because that is what One Is—the Ultimate Expression. Essentially, the Ultimate is revealed as total and perfect consciousness, total and perfect presence and total and perfect power—omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence. There simply is no longer a gap between who one is and who one wants to be, or what one is doing and what one wants to be doing. They collapse together, and become one and the same, and even beyond that, the doing and the doer collapse into each other as well, to become merged as one. The Creator becomes the creation, in and as the act of creating. This is because singularity has been attained, anchored and embodied, and duality totally transcended. There is no self and other, there is no past or future, there is nothing but What Is.

And What Is is All There Ever Is. And that is the end. Thank you.