It is said we must “Know your true Self,” and, “You already are what you seek.” The following story and pointers show how to turn attention back to its source, drop false ideas, and realize unalloyed happiness. Take the first step towards Self-Realization, Enlightenment, or the Truth…
Ever miss what is right in front of you? Or “right under your nose?!” Like this…
The Sunblock Moment (and Why It Matters)
I went into the bathroom to grab the sunblock. My eyes scanned the bottles, tubes, the carousel on the counter—nothing.
Then: “What does it even look like?” The mind flashed the color and label… and instantly, there it was.
Until you know what you’re looking for, you can’t see it—even when it’s right in front of your face.
Until you know something of it, you can’t recognize it. You can’t realize that it’s right here, right now.
“But I Don’t Know My True Self…”
People hear this and say, “But I don’t know my true Self, so how can I find it?”
That objection is a thought in the mind—a strand of the veil. So stop asserting, “I don’t know myself,” because… you do know yourself.
You are never without yourself; how could you be? You’re just not what you think you are.
You’ve had countless thoughts about yourself (many not so kind!). Yet not one of them is what you are.
You simply haven’t really seen yourself as you are—because you haven’t doubted and asked yourself about it. You haven’t gotten real about it; you’ve accepted unreal thoughts about you.
What You Are Not (And Why That’s Good News)
If you try to answer “Who am I?” maybe the first thing that comes is your name. But you know that your name isn’t what you are.
You can’t say you are the body—because that leaves the mind out.
You can’t say you are the mind—because that leaves the body out.
So you can’t quite pin down what you are. You’re left in a kind of limbo: not knowing what you are—and yet knowing your being, your existence, your presence, constantly.
You know that you are, and that you are here.
Look closely at the idea “I am the body or mind,” and you’ll see you can’t be any one of those. (At age 18: different body, different thoughts—same you.)
Nor are you a “collection” of thoughts or ideas; that’s just another thought-made concept.
Saying “I don’t know myself” is more imagination, hinged on another vague error: that what you are is “a person.”
The Productive Identity Crisis
Since you can’t find yourself as thought, body, or person, you may conclude you don’t know the Self—or worse, that you can’t.
Meanwhile, certain spiritual teachings (see below) may leave you thinking the same. Good. That’s step one.
“Who are you?” cracks the concrete so you’ll doubt what you’ve never doubted and question what you’ve mistaken for real.
As the false falls away and you admit you don’t actually know who or what you are, an identity crisis may strike. However, that opens space—so that it can become clear:
The Self you already know is what everything is.
(But you imagine it’s this body or this mind—this “person” you can’t actually pinpoint as separately, independently existing, or ultimately real.)
That is the Self—your real and true nature.
From Idea to Seeing
Because I’ve shared this, you only know it intellectually; you must realize it actually. You must literally see it—see the undivided nature of the Self you already know and are.
This is the “Oneness” spiritual seekers desire.
So it’s not that you’ve lost yourself. You haven’t gone anywhere. You’ve never left, nor become apart from, yourself. You’re still here.
The catch is that you’re looking in, with, and as the mind—for you. The already-existing you is looking for you: a trick of the mind.
And this is why the mind must cease completely, because:
“What we are looking for is what is looking.” – (Commonly attributed to St. Francis of Assisi:)
Turning Attention the Right Way
You must be extreme—to abandon the mind—and reach the Supreme.
So, without the mind… Self-Realization requires sustained:
- Intensive discernment (viveka),
- Intensive introversion of attention (turning awareness back to its source),
- Intensive single-pointed interest, and
- Intensive doubt—but now turned upon “things-and-yourself.”
Learn to use reality, not the mind.
See whether the assumed duality of “me vs. not-me” actually exists. In its collapse, Self-Realization dawns—what has always been right in front of your face becomes obvious.
Thus, nothing real changes. You have always known yourself. Confusion about your true nature ends.
You were seeing mind—not reality—and not knowing it.
For you, nothing changes; for the old story of “you,” everything changes. It dies.
That is “ego death”—the death of the false knowledge that was the basis for the illusion of the imaginary separate self.
This is not as easy as a thought, like “There is no-one, or no self.” It takes intensive work to crack the shell of ego.
Ignorance, Teachers, and Fire
It’s through imagination (false knowlege) that we ignore, and so don’t see, our true Self.
That’s “ignorance.” So the problem isn’t that you don’t know yourself; it’s that you ignore truth in favor of the false. You have made the false look real, and the real look false, or completely unknown to you.
This is why true teachers don’t teach, but repeatedly and continually remove false knowledge (ignorance), until the truth dawns on you.
One of my favorite teachings was…
“You are not what you take yourself to be. Find out who you are.”— Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
That points out you exist, and there is false and true knowledge. It’s repeated here:
“It is through ignorance that you, the Supreme Self, find yourself under the bondage of the non-Self; and the fire of knowledge, kindled by discrimination, burns that ignorance with its roots.”— Vivekacūḍāmaṇi, v.47
That’s what “satsang” means, to associate with the truth that destroys the false veiling “knowledge.”
That’s what we do in our community webinars. By using the five powers you already possess, we burn through the false. You only need the willingness to doubt and question yourself.
And beleive me, it’s worth it.
In Realizing your true Self, all you have to lose is pain and fear.
— Cindy
What actually is Self-Realization? Read this.
Gentle Invitation
If this stirred something, come sit with us. Explore “Who am I?” in lived reality, not just in thought. The way into our community and webinars is through our Inner Peace Now training (free), see the link below.
Free Training: Claim Inner Peace
Sticking Points on the Path
- You think you exist separately, individually.
- You think you don’t exist (that self or consciousness is a biological illusion created by the brain).
- You think you exist as a spiritual being having a human experience, or “as energy.”
Note: Each assumes separation. The truth of yourself is non-dual—what people vaguely intuit and call “Oneness.”
Why You May Think You Don’t Know Yourself (Pointers)
- Early Buddhism (Pāli Canon). Deconstructing “self” can, if unfinished, leave the idea that you don’t know it. “This is not mine; this I am not; this is not my self.” (Anattalakkhaṇa Sutta, SN 22.59)
- Greek / Delphic Maxim. “Know thyself”—a command implies a lack, meant to provoke the search.
- Sufi Aphorism. “He who knows himself knows his Lord.” (Often quoted; authenticity debated.)
- Christian (Augustine). “Noverim me, noverim te — Let me know myself, let me know Thee.”
Proof You Do Know Yourself (Ramana Maharshi)
- “The Self is known to everyone, but not clearly. You always exist. The Being is the Self. ‘I am’ is the name of God.”
- “Is there anyone who is not realising the Self? Does anyone deny his own existence? … Once we admit our existence, how is it that we do not know our Self?”
- “There is no reaching the Self… You are the Self; you are already That.”
- “The Self is always directly perceived… To be the Self is the same as seeing the Self.”
- “Everyone has experience of the Self every moment…”
Advaita Vedānta
- “Through ignorance, you—the Supreme Self—find yourself under bondage of the non-Self.” (Vivekacūḍāmaṇi 47)
- “The Self is an ever-present Reality; yet because of ignorance it is not realized. When ignorance is destroyed, the Self is realized—like finding the necklace that was always on one’s own neck.” (Ātma-bodha, v.44, common gloss)
Warning
One danger in “self-inquiry” without guidance is stopping at a mental conclusion like “I don’t exist.” That overlooks the you who says so. You are still here. You can’t find yourself as an object, but you can directly know the Self. The only reason there is not the duality of “you-and-others” is because both appearances are the same thing. (Like two sides of the same coin being not two.) If you’ve been stuck there, get your breakthrough here.
Remember
“The Self is always present, yet hidden by ignorance.” (Ātma-bodha, v.44, common gloss)
“One must realize the Self to open the store of unalloyed happiness.”— Sri Ramana Maharshi
Cindy Teevens — Spiritual Facilitator, who keeps it real
Tired of stressful thoughts? Free training: ClaimInnerPeace.com