| “Who am I?” Perhaps you remember getting deeply involved in conversation about this question with your college friends after a particularly provocative lecture. Or you attended a retreat, and had the opportunity for deeper reflection than usual. Maybe you just looked up at the vast night skies on a crystal clear night, and contemplated your existence in the Universe. Maybe you had a baby. Maybe someone close died.
How do we begin to fathom such a big question? Certainly each of us has a “sense of self” –an image of who we are. While we might be able to describe our life through occupation, family roles, geography, ethnicity, race, age or personal qualities, there is an intangible sense of self that pervades our whole approach to life. The way that we orient to life, and thus, to ourselves, is like the air we breathe–it is invisible and we are hardly ever aware of it.
What is nearly universal about this sense of self is that it miniscule compared to the truth of who we really are. Some part of us knows this because we are reminded every time our world slows down enough for our hearts to be deeply touched. You do know what I mean. And it is heartbreakingly easy to forget.
I recently attended a stunning lecture by Brian Swimme, the well-known mathematical cosmologist and author of numerous books including The Universe Story, who reminded the audience that we are part of a Universe that is 13..8 billion years old. As we viewed photos of galaxies millions of lightyears away, I couldn’t help but be in exquisite awe of the beauty of our Universe and ultimately, of our role as evolving humans in the continually unfolding of the Universe. One of Brian’s messages was that we do count–each one of us counts more than we know. We are each a part of the great story of the Universe.
The Enneagram, a Universal system, also teaches us that we are so much more magnificent than what the small ego would have us believe. The ego keeps us small by keeping our attention focused on the internal and external distractions of life and by keeping a distance from an intimate experience of what it means to be the real “me.”
How does one translate this vast, mind-exploding Universal perspective into daily life so that it has value? In truth, we must begin to incorporate this view into our lives if we and the world are to thrive. Here are three suggestions:
1) Commit to take time on a daily basis to stop, look up from your usual focus of attention, and breathe. Use this time to calm the busyness of your mind, emotions and body, even if it feels unfamiliar to do so. It may help if you can step outside for even 10 minutes. You may recognize that you are not your busyness, and that there is far more to you than any feelings you may be having in the moment.
This is not an add-on to your life, but a short break in the hectic pace. You are giving yourself the message that you are in choice and that this practice and you matter.
2) Notice the ways in which you are making a contribution. For example, pay attention to how you are contributing your ideas, your energy, your caring, the bright light of your spirit, your intelligence, your skills, your wisdom, your calmness, your courage, your love, your commitment, whatever it is that you naturally offer. You may never know what the impact of your contributions really are. We seldom do.
Parallel to this, begin to identify what others are contributing to your life. Notice the smallest actions that make a difference to you.
A Universal lesson is that life requires both an unconditional offering of our gifts, and humbly receiving the gifts of others. Both are necessary and will help you have a more direct experience of the interconnectedness you have with all of life.
3) Know yourself. There is no more robust system for increasing consciousness and gaining important self-knowledge than through the Enneagram. I often hear clients or students exclaim that “At last, I have hope”…hope that ‘this’ is not all there is in life. Students of the Enneagram report that in addition to hope, that they experience a greater degree of freedom, compassion for themselves and others, an inner peace, and a more creative response to life. It is possible.
Indeed, we are all being asked to be radically honest with ourselves as we courageously step into the amazing inquiry of “Who am I?” If not now, when?
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