In today's video I am sharing with you a very powerful analogy given to me by the Beings of Light when I asked the question, "Who Am I?" This analogy can help us to become aware of "Who We Truly Are" and to understand the concept of Oneness.
“To know that that I am, it is important to start from being aware of that that I am not.” - Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
Once I learned a very powerful Zen teaching in which a Japanese master named Nan-in (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen.
Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor's cup full, and then kept on pouring. The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself and said, "It is overfull. No more will go in!"
"Like this cup," Nan-in said, "You are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?"
Sometimes by using different practices, such as positive thinking and affirmations, we are able to clear ourselves from many of the belief systems that have been keeping us dormant and diluted, making the substance in the cup become clear as water. Although, this is a very good start, we would not be able to go beyond until we empty the cup completely, even if at the beginning we only manage to almost empty it for a fraction of a second. The more we empty the cup, the more we become self-aware of our essence and we would also realize that all the other cups around us are being surrounded and filled by the same space or essence. No matter how full of substance the other cups are, we in essence are all the same.
Conversations with the Beings of Light:
“What is our True Self?”
A friend of mine named Santiago once asked me.
At that moment, I remembered that the answer to that question had come to me about a year before, after I saw a movie on television about a person with amnesia. Feeling puzzled, I had asked the Beings of Light, “What would happen if I completely lost the memory of me, including my name? What would I become? Who would I be then? What would be left of me?”
“Your True Self,” they answered.
I told Santiago about the movie and asked him the same questions. Looking baffled he answered, “I don’t know.”
“Think of yourself as an onion,” I said. “An onion is made up of many layers, which is like the personality we have created after all these years of gathering experiences. The core of the onion is our beginning, a little baby who is pure and innocent. It is your True Self, totally naked and completely free from any conditions. But to get back to the heart of the onion, we need to first peel off all these outer layers. In total amnesia, you might go all the way to the beginning of the Self by accident. But what if you could consciously peel off all the layers? Instead of finding only an innocent and pure baby, you will find that you are also an all-knowing and wise baby.”
“But, how do we do that?” he asked.
“You’ve already started,” I answered. “Quieting your mind through meditation is the beginning. The quieter you become, the more aware you will be of your ego. That awareness will open the path for you to connect with your True Self and to learn the difference between It and the ego.”
“So is the ego the enemy?”
“There is no enemy,” I replied. Then I shared with Santiago more of what I had learned from the Beings of Light:
“The ego is but a tool that gives us the possibility to have an identity while we are in this world. This identity is not permanent because it can be changed and molded, while the True Self is our core essence, which remains permanent and unchanged. Just as the chameleon changes colors in order to blend with the environment, when I joined college I was able to change my personality in order to fit in. But no matter how many times the chameleon changes colors it remains the same chameleon. The important thing is to be aware and to always be clear that the ego is the tool and not the master. There is only one true master: Self.
"On the other hand, how could you know your True Self without the contrast of the ego? How could you know and appreciate health if you had never been sick? There is no enemy in the eyes of one who knows that everyone and everything has a loving purpose.”
From the time I was a little girl I always felt as if I was an observer. In young adulthood I was able to ask, “What is that that I am observing?” “All of life,” the Beings of Light answered, then after a pause they added, “through your personal experience.”
This helped me understand the unique importance of my existence. I know that although we are one with the Whole, each of us is a unique emanation of the One, or God, or Whole. This is why the Beings of Light always referred to each one of us as special. Nothing in the universe lacks purpose. Every one of us is special because of the unique way in which we experience and perceive life. We are part of the universal flow of infinite creation always reinventing itself, manifesting, and eternally expanding.
To see a list of the most frequent questions and answers about my near-death experience, the Beings of Light and much more visit my website at frequently-asked-questions
Thanks so much for all your support.
Tons of Love, Light and Blessings,
Ingrid