Discovering Who You Are

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Transcript

Discovering Who You Are

shaykh ibrahim ansari

The process of learning who you really are requires several tools. 

0: The intention of knowing yourself,

1: a Guide who has been there and back, 

2: Knowing how to stop your brain from over-functioning 

3: Patience

4: Understanding that this is a life long process (not a destination)

5: Learning to trust your inner and outer guides.

Your inner world is unique and has its own territory, language, symbols, and people. When you first start on this exploration, you are in an unknown land. Much of what you will encounter is confusing, strange and yet it is all yours. The first foray into this New World will be unprecedented and idiosyncratic. You will need to come here many times to begin to assemble and create the map that is necessary to explore this bewildering landscape.

Even though it will be baffling, you need to find a way to accept what you see and experience as it is. What's going on is that you are learning who you are through connecting with your heart, also known as your true self, also known as the Tao or the Divine or Allah. 

So you are learning and mapping an extraordinary territory. Now you can wander around, of course, for as long as you want, but until you hire a trustworthy guide, you really cannot move past the inevitable blockade which prohibits you from entering the hidden garden. You’ve got to beat the boss.You cannot do this without preparation and help.

We are trying to unify all of the various trillions of cells that make up you. There are millions of sensors, pre-wired responses from your upbringing, family, school, friends, culture. 

We are opening the hood (bonnet) of our vehicle to see what  and how it runs. Much to our surprise we find crossed wires, fried fuses, the fuel is wrong and the controls don’t work properly. It’s quite a miracle it even runs at all. The realization whacks you over the head: the whole bloody thing needs repair. Inside and outside, it requires an entire overhaul.

You will need to examine each of these elements to figure out what part of it is you and what part of it is not you. To begin this process the first thing you need to learn is how to stop your mind. It is probably working in high gear, meaning that you are dealing with all of the aspects of living in this world of education, support, relationships, and trying to remain patient and content. That won't happen given that you are so wrapped up in appearances and expectations that you have forgotten how to be happy with what is happening right now.

You have trained your brain to figure out how to survive the best you can. But: garbage in and garbage out. The brain only knows what it's been fed. No one has taught you how to filter the unnecessary because you don't know what is the real you.

Stopping the brain from overpowering the heart is common. In many of the workshops I’ve lead, I have learned that it takes about three days before anyone stops from their ongoing stressful world energy and distractions.The purpose of stopping is to make it easier to hear the quiet voice of the heart. It will never argue, it will not defend. It speaks softly and will not insist unless there is a powerful need.

As you get to know your inner lands from dreams, reflections and experiences, along with the continuing journaling and discussions with your Shaykh or counselor, the patterns become consistent and more understandable. You are learning your heart’s language. You begin to ask it more and more what is it that it wants you to do, or see, or hear, or touch.

You are learning also that you can trust your inner guide to gently show you the way. You will always be safe and protected when you work with your heart. It knows more than the brain. It has connections beyond form and appearances. There is a profound entanglement with the universe, Allah, creation.

The process will take you through identifying what you imagine are your identities and personality. You will come to recognize their source as being embedded from your family, religion and culture. 

You will come across decisions you made in the past that are no longer valid and necessary. However, unlearning these old patterns requires a little more effort and time, so a sense of humor is needed to keep you from going under and wallowing in self pity and depression.

The most important thing behind all of this is to stay positive. Because of the millions of years of evolution, our brain is wired to examine microscopically our mistakes and errors. This tends to put a negative spin on any activity. Therefore, it requires a continuous positive reinforcement to just stay balanced.

Balance is the key. It is the key to staying clearheaded on the path towards understanding yourself. It is very easy to become over-weighted in self criticism, self blame, anything to do with yourself. That is why we practice Service.

When we focus on serving others, we're not thinking about ourselves anymore. That is very useful. It is why we also do Zikr or affirmations or prayer. In our thinking process, the default is always to resolve to this ‘me and my situation’, viewpoint, opinion and concerns. We need the tools that help us stop thinking about ourselves all the time, because the goal is to get out of the way and let the heart manage things.

The process of learning to trust your heart/inner guide is to not let the brain return to its default program of ‘me-ing’. Your responsibility is to stay on top of it, and have a solid strategy of what you are going to do when you fall back into the ‘it’s all about me’ problem.

You will also begin to notice that the lessons that come to you are specifically designed just for you. When you shift your focus to being observant to what is really happening, you will then graduate to the next level. There is no final destination. Allah is infinite. Learning has no end.

What a remarkable moment to be alive and aware of the love that makes this so.