Identity

So if our personalities are not our true selves, what is identity all about?

In the process of getting engrossed in personality life, we take on what we see as advantageous characteristics and beliefs, or what seems natural to us, which are based upon propensities programmed by the soul. That is identification, and is essential in making sure the personality is anchored in a life.

However, at some stage, there is a dawning upon us that we don't seem to identify so strongly with who we imagined ourselves to be any more. That can be a time of confusion and uncertainty, and perhaps fears of being judged by our peers and others that we are betraying them. That is the situation for many who feel out of place in the world that once seemed so familiar. That is the test of whether we are being true to ourselves, or continue with what now seems a lie.

But, from the soul's perspective, all those things that the personality identifies with are constructs for the lessons and work for the current personality, as following lives will mix up many of those so that the soul can really understand the subtleties of creating personalities, and of the creative cycle in general.

So, does that mean that all those things our personalities identify with are meaningless and a waste of time? No, they are part of the learning, and our willingness to believe in them is essential to our doing the work that we need to in a life. Therefore, at the start and middle of a particular learning stream, being aware of the impermanence of one's beliefs regarding its obligations and activities would be a distraction, and undermine the full effects of the lesson. With that knowledge, most would say no to continuing because they know how it would likely turn out!

However, it is in the final phase, where there needs to start being a disconnection so that the personality can get some perspective upon what they have been into, that the dilemmas start. Letting go of beliefs, and even fellow believers, can be a trying time, during which several important decisions need to be made.

Some of these learning cycles can take several lives, so the final phases can be stretched out over a few, depending upon how much is to be learnt. Other cycles may just be within a life, though they can be a mini re-enactment of a larger cycle to help our thinking quickly move on from it to be ready for the real work of the current life. That will play out as trying a couple of different activities before settling upon the ones that feel right for us to mainly focus our lives upon.

Thinking as the soul as the true self is a challenge, especially in the start of the awakening process. It requires time for the personality to get used to the idea that it is just a construct, so until then, it will resist the implications as much as it can. Fortunately that process of sublimation of the personality consciousness into the soul takes place over several lives, but it speeds up over the latter lives as the personalities are built to be more attuned to the soul.

What should be obvious by this is that not all can, nor want to or should, know about the relationship of their personalities to their soul. They need to be let free to learn their lessons in their own time. However, that does not mean that they be given free rein to interfere with others' paths, which is why we are generally being given more opportunities to select how we want to exist collectively. That means that we should make political choices that allow everyone to follow their own path as much as possible, without encroaching on others being able to do the same.

That also means that for those on a path of awakening, it can be a more lonely path, the so-called less-travelled path. The consolation is that we know that our soul is taking charge, and the more that we cooperate, the better our life will turn out.