The Image of Who You Are
Asil
Every day, you see in the mirror the person that you are. Every day, you wake up remembering your name and who you are, at least with all the factors, with the image that you have constructed for yourself, the world has constructed for you, of you.
Yet rarely do we take a moment of a brief pause to think about: who are we? We're defined by so many elements of characteristics and personality,
adjectives, and the ways others define us, and we have learned to define ourselves. This is our self-image. Now, the image that we hold within ourselves is, of course, different than the image that others hold within them of us. And yet somehow the conglomeration of the many images that are projected onto us defines us, at least shapes us.
What Remains Beneath the Layers?
Asil
So who are you?
If you dive deeper into this idea of what you are and who you are, and how you have been shaped by time, by your upbringing, by your education, by your parents, by your siblings, by your family, by society, and if we were to take all of these layers of shaping and influence away, what remains? What is the core essential piece of who you are?
What is the part of your soul that wants to shine through, yet cannot with all the layers of definition, of limitation, of characteristic personality and ego?
What is the purest, the most essential, deepest core of your being?
Of course, this could be a lifelong inquiry. And maybe we don't even want to go there, as it may be scary to take all these layers off to find that we are actually defined to a great degree by everything around us, not necessarily by what we have decided for ourselves.
And in some ways, it may feel disempowering that we have been influenced so deeply and so strongly by everything around us. How much of life and how much of ourselves is then actually predetermined? Or is truly free will and choice if we don't even have choice and free will of who we want to be?
The Freedom to Redefine Yourself
Asil
The truth is, you always have free will and choice. You always have the ability to determine who you are at any given moment. Yet the elements of your being that have been determined through time, through life experiences, through the collective projections onto ourselves, through our projection onto ourselves, the beliefs that we have constructed, truly are elements that can be dismantled with time, with presence, and with patience.
Judgment and Outside Expectations
Asil
Now, at first, we may look in the mirror and we may have judgments about ourselves.
You may not like the way you look, you may not like the way you act, or you may not like the way you think or the way you feel.
And this is how it starts. We judge the ways that we are, certain aspects of our being not to be the way we want them to be.
And to some degree, that is reflected to us by our outside, by our relationships, by society. "Oh, you should be this way." "Oh, you should be that way." "Can you be a little bit more like this rather than this?" Judgments and corrections to shape you into a form that is more pleasing and comfortable to the outside world, for you to fit into a construct of life and relational dynamics.
The Desire to Become More Aligned
Asil
Yet maybe there is something desiring to emerge within you that, even with the greatest effort, could not possibly fit into the structures and the dynamics that you are in. Something within you desires to change, not just based on what others say or what is demanded of you, yet a true desire from within to find a deeper peace, a deeper alignment, maybe a deeper understanding of who you are.
Yet first, we must explore who we are and how we have been shaped to be who we are. All the characteristics, the personality aspects of our being.
And how much of this, that which is defined, is truly set for life? Or are you willing to be open to the idea that you can change at your deepest core to become the most aligned, the most free, the most happy version of yourself?
A Guided Exploration of Being
Asil
Well, if you are open to that idea, then let's explore.
For a brief moment, take a deep breath.
For a brief moment, you just exist.
And all of the ideas of who you are exist with you in this moment.
All beliefs that have been formed.
All characteristics of your being, all the things you have done and you have not done, have defined who you are right now.
With every action, with every choice, with every thought, that which you are is redefined and reinforced, validated into manifestation.
Freedom in the Undefined Space
Asil
In this present moment, we are leaving this manifestation away.
In this present moment, you're allowed to even forget your name. Just briefly, just temporarily. The only thing that remains is your breath and the sound of my voice.
Every breath in shapes you into being as the purest vessel that you are.
Every breath out clears the path for the next moment.
In this undefined space, you are free. You are liberated.
In this undefined space, you are malleable to become whoever you want to be.
In this space, you can truly let go of those aspects of the past or complete the learning and realization of the past.
In this moment, you are free.
The Purest Image of You
Asil
In this moment, no one's idea of you matters.
A greater idea of you is present: the purest idea of you, the purest image of you.
Project it into reality.
From this love of creation, from this source of energy, every second you are brought into reality. Every cell, every atom of your being.
No belief is required. No thought.
No imagination, no effort.
This reality, this universe does what it is here to do: to serve you into life.
In this purest image, in this moment of purity, allow yourself to be held, without effort, without resistance.
The Seed of Transformation
Asil
And slowly allow yourself to return to the person that you are, to the personality you have assumed, the name, the human, the life that you live.
Without jumping into judgments and evaluations of who you are, you may feel that seed that is within you and that love that moves through you just a little bit more than before.
And that is the seed that is planted for transformation. That is the awareness that now becomes the ever-evolving transformation from within.
All the layers of definition, all the layers of projection from the outside will now slowly be dismantled from the seed that grows from within. The seed of the purest image that is held of you by the universe, by creation. The seed that lights you up from inside and slowly deconstructs the many layers upon which an unsustainable, a misaligned, a challenging existence has been developed.
Transforming Your Life and the World
Asil
And it is truly for your benefit. It is truly for your life, for your evolution, for your happiness, for a new form of beauty to emerge in your life, expressing itself through all your relations, expressing itself in your thoughts, the purity of your thoughts of yourself and of others, expressing itself in your judgments of the life and of the reality you witness, you experience, expressing itself in your actions in the world.
How does this newly defined version of you choose to live life, choose to act in this life, choose to interact with all of the players of this human experience, of this earthly experience?
And this transformation you bring, this change you bring, well, it has the potential to change not just every aspect of your life, but truly the life of everyone else around you. Humanity at large has the potential to change as a result of your choice of transformation.