When you renounce everything you think you are, then you will become what you have always been
Published on: April 17, 2025
This mystical Eastern wisdom delves deeply into the essence of identity and self-knowledge. It suggests that our true nature is overshadowed and hidden by the multitude of ideas, beliefs, and labels we have accumulated about ourselves throughout life. These "thoughts of what we are" include our roles (parent, professional, friend), our achievements and failures, our beliefs and fears – everything we identify with on a superficial level.
The wisdom challenges us to renounce this constructed identity, to free ourselves from these mental shackles. This renunciation is not an act of self-denial or a rejection of our individuality in the worldly sense. Rather, it is about moving beyond superficial definitions to reach a deeper and more enduring level of existence.
The process of "renouncing" can be long and filled with inner struggles. It requires self-observation, meditation, and reflection to recognize which of our thoughts about ourselves are true and which are simply learned or adopted from external sources. It is a journey into inner silence, where the voice of the ego gradually subsides and allows deeper intuition and inner knowing to manifest.
"What you have always been" refers to our authentic essence, which is beyond the transient aspects of our physical and mental existence. In various spiritual traditions, this is called the Soul, Consciousness, True Self, or Divine spark. It is unchanging, eternal, and at the core of our entire being.
When we free ourselves from the illusions of who we think we are, we open ourselves to understanding our true nature, which is connected to all that exists. Then we can experience a sense of unity, inner peace, and a deep understanding of the meaning of life.
This wisdom is an invitation to an inner journey, to remove the layers of illusion that separate us from our true essence. It reminds us that the answer to the question "Who am I?" does not lie in the external world or in our achievements, but in the depths of our own consciousness, after we have renounced everything we think we are. This is the path to enlightenment and the realization of our eternal and unchanging nature.
