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you are here: > Self
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| What is it you feel? What is it you think? What is it you know about yourself? What is it you think about yourself? What do you want? Why do you feel the way you feel? What is the purpose of your life? What happens when you die? | ||
| At some time or other you like every other human being has thought about one or more of these questions. This is because this list of questions represents some of the most fundamental questions all of us have about ourselves- our "self". | ||
| Finding answers to fundamental questions about self | ||
| So where do we find answers to such vital and fundamental questions about self? We find them from global traditional belief systems such as religion and science. We find answers in our society and cultural traditions. We find answers from our family and relationships, especially our immediate family members. We also find answers sometimes ourselves on reflection at some important moment in our lives. | ||
| Do the anwers to the key questions of self satisfy our needs | ||
| The question then is whether the answers and beliefs you have in response to these key life questions satisfy you? Do you feel comfortable with what you know about yourself and why are why you are? Are you happy with the level of answers and understanding you have gained from different systems of thought as to why you feel the way you feel, what will happen when you die? | ||
| For a lucky few, the answer is yes. You are entirely happy with your knowledge of self. In that case, your choice to continue reading is probably more out of curiosity. | ||
| But for many of us the answer to this question is that "no" after all the answers we have heard and read so far we are still not satisfied with the complete knowledge of your self and why you are why you are. If this is the case, then the Journey of Self is likely to be very useful. | ||
| Looking for a 'little bit of happiness | ||
| Maybe most of us are seeking some kind of happiness, some kind of peace; in a world that is ridden with turmoil, wars, contention, strife, we want a refuge where there can be some peace. | ||
| This is probably what most of us want. So it is we go from one diet to another, from one guru to another, from one self-help theory to another, from one possession to another, from one fad to another. | ||
| Now, it is that we are seeking happiness, or is it that we are seeking gratification of some kind from which we hope to derive happiness? There is a difference. Gratification is a fleeting moment of pleasure- a 'high' we get when we have achieved the goal of our desires. Our modern world is a finely tuned marketing machine geared to pump out as many watts of gratification as you can consume, so long as you have the money and don't die in the process. | ||
| Never in the history of humanity has there been such a situation that literally tens of millions of human beings in developed countries are "eating themselves" to death. The stories of great feasts of gluttony and waste during the Roman Empire was reserved for a priviledged handful. But in countries such as the United States, obesity is now finally rated as a national health alert. | ||
We seem to have no problem in finding ways to instantly gratify our wants, but struggle to find the elusive key to long term happiness. |
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| Unravelling the influences of self | ||
| Understanding why we can't seem to find happiness and peace has a lot to do with the complexities of our human selves. The modern mind is a sophisticated and complex world. We have work lives and hobby/friend lives and education lives and home lives. Our minds have to jump from different challenges, environments and problems every day. | ||
| It means that any simple "one-line" answer is never going to give the full picture. You can't just focus on one thing and say "hey, this is why I feel the way i feel, or behave the way I behave..." Each of us are faced with a number of mind balancing calculations every day that are influenced by a number of factors. | ||
| The journey of self | ||
| This is then the purpose of the Journey of Self- to understand the influences on self and ultimately the most effective answers to the key questions of self. | ||
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