Who Am I? Does It Even Really Matter? | Exploring The Yoga View Of The Self
Who are you? Are you a woman or a man? Mother or father? An artist or an educator? Executive? Student? Retired? American? Chinese? Christian? Buddhist? Black? White? Human? We define ourselves by our relationships, our careers, our beliefs, our age, race and nationality; but who would you be if you stripped away all of these labels?
As soon as we are born, we are given a label: boy or girl, plus a race and nationality and as we grow through life, our stack of labels grows deeper and deeper. But these labels create barriers between you and others who carry different labels. Not only do they keep us apart, barriers can stop you from realizing real freedom and happiness.
Imagine all of the labels that define your life being removed. Who would you be? Who are you? The ancient sages taught that nothing is more important than knowing who you are. Without knowing who you really are, it is impossible to know what the purpose of your life should be or where true happiness can be found.