Time and again yogi sages have explained to us that “Personality” is false. Personality is like an outer shell that we wear and is formed based on our personal life experiences, the circumstances under which we grow and mature.
As a result, some people have an overbearing personality; some are timid, some have various quirks and mental aberrations, some walk a little hunched, and others have an open confident gait.
Self- Realization
What we need to realize is that our real self is the stable “unchanging I” that lies within us. We must realize the difference between this real self and one’s personality. We must know that our personality is false, but the true self within is essentially the same in all beings.
As we understand this, we also begin to find a connection and an appreciation of other humans. With this understanding, we actually can comprehend that in essence, all humans share the same emotions, desires, and fears. But it’s only our life’s circumstances and experiences that shape our personality and makes us express ourselves in different ways.
Whether we are speaking, writing, or talking, we need to keep questioning ourselves and gauge if it is our real self or our personality that is carrying out the actions. When we do that we will be able to distinguish between the two. This could be a very valuable exercise.
Whether we are speaking, writing, or talking, we need to keep questioning ourselves and gauge if it is our real self or our personality that is carrying out the actions. When we do that we will be able to distinguish between the two. This could be a very valuable exercise.
For example, if we’ve grown up in a household where sarcasm was used in one’s regular speech – and now as an adult, we are sarcastic at the drop of a hat. But if we were to get into analyzing ourselves then we would soon be able to catch that every time we are talking sarcastically. It’s our personality that has kicked in whereas our “true self” is actually a polite well-behaved self. By regularly Analyzing Our Actions and thoughts, we can begin to shed this false personality and become more in tune with who we truly are.
A person’s personality is unpredictable, but he/she is predictable, because the internal self of a person always stays the same. When you have relationship tensions and find it embarrassing to speak out the truth about the things that bother you, the frustration remains within you and keeps forming and shaping your personality.
When we react to a situation, we tend to lose control. Reactions like jealousy, hatred, frustration, depression, etc., bottle up inside us. And we all end up becoming a personality which is sum-total of our bottled up emotions and expressed reactions.
From a wonderful, wholesome person, we all become a false personality instead. As a personality, we are time and again prodded into various reactions.
Balancing Both Sides
It is true that meditation and contemplation that can draw us to a state of deep balance where we continue to remember and align ourselves with the whole real person that we are. Yet, we need to be conscious, on a more practical level, not to judge people because of their personalities, not to demean them, or mock them. Instead, we should train ourselves to always connect with the spirit of the person within, and be extremely yogic in our approach and behavior.
Yet, we need to be conscious, on a more practical level, not to judge people because of their personalities, not to demean them, or mock them. Instead, we should train ourselves to always connect with the spirit of the person within, and be extremely Yogic in our approach and behavior.
It is when we really begin to work on ourselves, changing our habitual ways of thinking and feeling, that anything real, phenomenal or permanent can occur in our lives.
To connect to the truth in others, we need to look beyond their quirks and see their soul from within, which is the same as the soul within us. This way, we will find a deep connection with all human-kind. Comprehending and connecting with our real self is an essential requirement for genuine change, and can only be attained with the knowledge of self through rigorous self-analysis, self-observation, meditation and a desire to be in alignment with life.
Namaskaar.