Have you noticed how we can spend entire days or sleepless nights ruminating, thinking and trying to figure out the answer to a problem, without ever finding the solution? It seems that the more desperately we try, the more muddled the thinking becomes.
When we eventually decide to set the problem aside, to go for a walk or take a shower - in other words, when we direct our attention away from the frantic thinking, onto something else - the answer often just pops into our head. Seemingly out of the blue, the solution we were looking for is right there, as if it had been waiting for us all along. In some ways it actually was waiting for us - behind the covering of the thinking process, at the back of all the agitation, the answer already existed and it was patiently waiting for us to pay attention.
As human beings we are lead to believe that our ability to think is what makes us powerful. It is certainly true that thinking allows us to navigate our days. The ability to use the mind to efficiently organise our lives is important and not to be underestimated. In fact, the thinking mechanism is the perfect instrument to copy, store and process information to our best advantage. It is how we learn to understand the meaning of words, which then allows us to develop the ability to talk and communicate.
The power to think is obviously a valuable tool in one's life. It is important however, to remember that it is the one using a tool who has the power, not the tool itself. Therefore, if we confuse the tool of thinking with the one using it, then we start to believe that thoughts appearing in our head are me. That is how we become convinced that "I am good or bad", "I am successful or a failure", I am beautiful or ugly". These presumed attributes are nothing more than overlays of thoughts that we have accepted to put on, just as we slip into a set of clothes. They may influence our appearance, but they don't define our identity.
Our true identity is in no way dependent on the thinking mechanism. It exists whether we are thinking or not and its Existence is ever-present and unchanging. Our true identity is the current of Life itself. It is the power that gives rise to the body, the mind and the ability to think. When we look for answers, that is where we will find them: in the space of our true identity, the Self.
Meditation is the most direct way to reconnect with our true identity, to learn to recognise it and to re-claim it as our own.
If you want to learn about Meditation and the science of Oneness that describes the nature of our true identity, join our monthly Online Satsang or contact Sampriya for a free half hour consult of personal Online Meditation Mentoring.