Teresa: Can you speak to identity?
Erich: That is one of the coolest questions around. Is there more to the question?
Teresa: Well, from a personal standpoint, it seems like the last six months I've been going through an identity crisis. So I'm curious to see that through a different lens.
Erich: Excellent. That is the perfect mindset to be in when you're at a crisis. And the interesting thing about crises... The tendency is to think that everything is going wrong. But, actually, what it means is you are at the limit of a current level of understanding or self-appreciation. It's as though the sense of identity that has held you up until now is now at its bursting point. It feels like a crisis, but it is actually a growth moment to a more expansive, all-embracing sense of identity. Therefore, the mindset that you are consciously at now, being willing to see things in a new way, is exactly what will allow what seems like a "crisis" to morph into a smoother transition.
It's as though you are in a field and there is a big fence around your field, but you don't know it, and you are exploring your territory, and you get to the outer the edge of your territory and you are suddenly at a fence. It's like, "Huh??" But all it means is that you are at the furthest edge of your current understanding, and that you are primed for breakthrough, new understanding.
So, identity, I think, is one of the crucial issues to get clear on. "Who am I, really? Who are you, really? What's really going on, really?"
And every once in a while, you will have insight into the fact — and I say this a lot — that you only exist because The All is being Itself as you. The crisis point is actually, "Oh, I'm starting to understand that in a clearer way."
You only exist because God, The All, is being Itself as you. Any smaller definition will feel like your pants are too small! You know? It will feel like your shoes are too small. They were good up until now, but now that definition just isn't working.
Things are not going wrong. Things are going really right. Don't run away from the experience. Do not run away from the crisis feeling of it. Try to accept it, relax with it, and then be curious, "What is the Truth here, really?" Because the insight is that the truest Truth is that The All is being you. God is being you."What is the Truth here, really? It feels like things are reaching a crisis point. What is the Truth here, really?"
And to the best of your ability, without making up an answer in advance, just relax. When you relax, then the fence around the territory of "you" will soften, and a bigger sense of identity can begin to infill you. It will not be overwhelming. It will actually feel embracing and nourishing. Try not to tense up against the change. Try to soften into the change.
Feel the Truth of what you are. Do Yoga more. Meditate more. Pause more. Shut up more. "What is the Truth here, really?" Wonder that, more. Because the I AM that you are is the Infinite I AM in specific Self-expression. And that is not a bummer. That is the awesome good news. Yoga is about getting a clearer sense of that, and believing it more, and more, and more. You will still be you. You will still look like you. No one else will know anything drastic is going on, except suddenly you will be softer. You will be glowing more, and you will start feeling loved, rather than traumatized.
I think this is crucial. I think this is really a big question, important. Try to meditate a little more frequently than normal, even if that just means pause for five seconds between emails. Before you do the next text, just pause... and then do what you have to do. And then pause again... Not huge, just short, but frequently, a lot.
Increasingly the insight is there is Omnipresence, Only. There is The All, God, being all. There is the one and only not finite I AM Presence, infinitely individuated. And that is what you are.
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