Who am I?

Who am I? Sounds like a serious philosophical question? Hard to understand? Sure it is. I am not trying to scare you with some heavy religious stuff. Let me try to explain this in an 'easy-to-understand' manner.

1. The Situation: Every person yearns to be happy. No question about it. But the world in which we live today revolves around the dollar (or Rupees, whatever), and the other ingredient called power. There are the disturbing evils of corruption, cheating, fraud, extortion, sickness and so on. An average person is not happy in such a challenging situation. Even those privileged people who have the best of health, wealth and power seem to be outwardly happy but they too have their personal issues. The rich may buy the most expensive luxury beds in the world but they still cannot guarantee getting sound sleep and joy. If you explore further, many people are torn apart searching for a true sense of themselves and real happiness.

2. The Truth: Before we explore the self, we should be aware of some fundamental truths. Realize that the happiness that we get from external objects is temporary. Experience has proved that something that exists now is gone in the next moment. Take the examples of natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunami, and heavy rains. We have very little control over such events. See what happened to those pillars of power in several countries such as Egypt, Italy, Libya, Iraq and others. We also see that wealth is not stationery as the rich become poor and the poor become rich. As our ancient scriptures tell us, the perceived world seems to be an illusion or "Maaya"in which nothing seems to be permanent.

3. The Universe: We all are part of that dynamic universe created by the Almighty. The universe is ever-changing. New things get discovered, old beliefs get shattered, communications improve, and innovations grow. Try as we might, we cannot understand why some things happen. The least we can do is to play our role as good human beings and pursue the real happiness. To do so, we must first understand ourselves - our qualities, our desires and our potential.

4. Self-introspection: It, therefore, makes perfect sense to ask the question: Who am I? It helps to seek a deeper sense of self and to be aware of our thoughts, feelings, hopes and fears. This self-introspection is not to become tense and pass any judgments on yourself but to feel light and provide you a sense of direction. It will provide a key to the pursuit of real happiness. To some, it may lead them on to the path of meditation, prayers and religion. To others it could be through music, service, or even nurturing plants. Essentially, you will avoid hurt to others.

Finally, do not worry too much trying to assess yourself. Relax! Just try and focus on what would make you feel 'a better you,' no matter how distressing the external environment is. There awaits for you a new road to self-discovery!