lies, half truths, and absolute truths

[roger]

I had what I would consider to be a very great insight and clarification as I was thinking about my post in which I said that we are content, not form.

 

My perspective was that my "true identity" is ONLY divine nature and pure consciousness, but not form (such as martial artist, musician, etc.).

 

ACIM says that an idea can be wholly false, partially true, or wholly true.

 

The clarification I had is that it is partially true that we are only content, and also partially true that we are both content and form.

 

It's partially true that Bruce Lee's actual identity was both divine nature and martial artist.

 

And it's also partially true that his true identity was only divine nature, but not martial artist.

[Karl]

I think you have discovered what most of us discover as we get older, that you aren't what you do. When we are younger we get a career and hobbies that are part of a lifestyle. We don't really think about who we are because life is chock full of distractions and pace. Around the age of 40 (for men)can begin a time of introspection-we start to slow down-and realise we have an identity outside of the one which we have created for ourselves. We wonder what this new 'us' is because it seems radically different. It is an identity we had not guessed at and it begins to flower in much the same way as we experienced puberty. It's a confusing time as we try and wrestle to get comfortable in a new skin.

 

This started for me at 40 and by 45 I had made a radical career move away from a very lucrative position in the hope of finding the truth about who I was. It didn't really stop until 10 years later when the swirl of it finally settled into middle age. At that point the need for the kind of false me needed to build a family and home life had vanished. I think this is really what they call a mid life crisis, but it isn't really that. It's just another stage of maturity.

 

On this forum we have a mix of the old and young. Many of the young are in the prior stage. For them, the practices, martial arts, philosophy a more part of the pre 40 s careerist phase where what they practice is part of their character. Later on this will change as they discover an uneasiness with that sense of previous self.

 

It seems to me that this is quite a dangerous time for men and one which most of us end up struggling through without any kind of support. We live far longer now than we once did and still actively well into 70s/80s for many. Coping with the physical and mental change of aging is a great challenge.

Edited April 17, 2016 by Karl

[steve]

I think the OP is describing a realization of the two truths in Buddhism - relative and absolute truth - an important realization.

 

For many of us on the spiritual path, a core question is who am I?

 

This who takes many different forms and can be many different things simultaneously to ourselves and others.

Who we are is basically an amalgam of  identities:

Mother, son, athlete, martial artist, sculptor, boss, man, woman, homosexual, philanthropist, our name, our race, liar, healer.... the list is endless.

 

In trying to look at who we are it can be very instructive to watch how we react to situations and people. 

When we feel strong emotion of any type, we can see how that arises through over-identification with one of those roles and the associated expectations we and others have. 

As we get more adept at seeing that, the over-identification and attachments lessen and the associated challenges and suffering eases. 

 

Once that takes place, we no longer define ourselves by these identities and yet we can embrace them and be much more effective in any role because we don't over-identify and because we may develop a connection with the deeper experience of who.