Use code SUMMERPRACTICE for a 25% discount on all On Demand Courses through August 31.

Who Am I?

With Christopher Titmuss recorded on March 10, 2019.

Found our teachings useful? Help us continue our work and support your teachers with a donation. Here’s how.

“Who Am I?” is a fundamental question. You have to live the question, day in and day out. You cannot think through an answer.

The self (‘I’ and ‘my’) lands on objects, voluntarily or involuntarily. Primary objects of interest include forms, feelings, perceptions, formations of mind/speech/body and consciousness (mindfulness, awareness, concentration and meditation). The self also grasps onto people, places, goods etc. When ‘I’ and ‘my’ becomes involved in one or two areas to take up, it is not involved in other objects of interest. A whole life can be spent living under the spell of self – self-interest, self-help, self-enquiry, self-acceptance, self-compassion etc. The resolution to the deep question Who am I? never concludes with an answer starting with “I am…..” This response only expresses a view. There is a much greater depth to realize than that.

Listen to the audio version below, or click here to download the mp3.

Discussion

Leave a Reply

Discover more from the Dharma Library

  • Shaila Catherine

    Becoming Content with Emptiness and Voidness

    Shaila Catherine asks “Will nothing be enough?” as she explores how identification with our experience can create discontent with the basic fact that matter and mind is empty of self. Mindfulness will not demolish ego; instead, we mindfully recognize…

    Read More

  • How to Find Equanimity Amidst Upheaval

    We are deeply habituated to seek equanimity as if it’s a state to be found. In times of crisis, stakes are high. We try harder. The more desperate we feel, the more effort we put in. In this striving, we forget to ask: “Who is it that’s striving?” This question isn’t about finding the right…

    Read More

  • Sajja: A Practice for Everyone

    Vince writes: “In 2003 I took a one-month temporary ordination at Wat Thamkrabok, a unique monastery in central Thailand. My intention was to explore Buddhism and meditation, but what I got was not what I expected. I was given a ‘Sajja’ or a ‘truth’ to practice for 4-hours per day for the next 2-years. My…

    Read More

  • James Baraz

    The Choice is Ours: Wise Relationship to Our Experience

    These pandemic times with isolation, suffering, social and political divisiveness and an uncertain future our lives are filled with even more challenges than usual. At the same time many hearts are opening with increased compassion, connection and possibilities on the horizon. The mind can easily get contracted by the stress or grasping at hope. But…

    Read More

  • Christine Kupfer

    Daily Meditation Recordings, with Christine Kupfer – Week of July 15, 2024

    This week’s topic is “Freeing The Heart-Mind From Doubt”. Doubt is like any other mind state. But it is a tricky one and can be a sticky one. It’s questioning component is a means for liberation, but it can also suck us into a maze. Lets explore doubt and free the heart-mind this week in the light of the Buddha’s teachings, presence and meditation.

    Read More

  • Daily Meditation Recordings, with Jaya Rudgard – Week of October 3, 2022

    This week’s theme is “The Practice of Courage in Everyday Life”

    Courage is an essential quality in life and on the spiritual path and it comes in many guises. Anything that challenges our unhelpful habits requires a capacity for determination and the stretching of our comfort zones. This week’s morning meetings will reflect on some of the ways we can cultivate courage in meditation and daily life and resource ourselves to meet the challenges of living in these times.

    Read More