Carissa Daniel

The Missing Link: Knowing who we are in totality

This morning my 1 year old niece sat with my mom’s smartphone diligently touching and searching the device, almost as if she knew exactly what she was doing. She was touching and pressing icons and apps, opening and closing them while being thoroughly engaged as evidenced of her laughter and complete enchantment with the device.

Her innocent and almost comical actions drew me in instantly. It was rather obvious that my niece had no clue or idea what she was doing based on her uncoordinated finger actions but was simply mimicking the actions of the adults around her.

As adults, the way we operate and show up in the world is very similar to my niece’s. Many of us have haphazardly and in some cases recklessly prod and pressed our way through life, not necessarily because this is the only way, but mostly due to a missing link. Adults in this light, can be viewed as simply mimicking what we see, without a true appreciation and  understanding of what, how and why we are doing what we are doing. In other words we operate in an unconscious and unaware manner.

This is the pattern adopted throughout most of our lives, whereby we never truly allow ourselves to stop, observe, understand and appreciate the complete scope of the what or the why of who we are. Despite our obvious internal conflicts and numerous dissatisfying results, we continue prodding along, either because we blindlessly follow what we are told or because we think we have no other choice.

For the most part, especially in Western cultures, observing, learning about and understanding the Self is a practice that seems to usually come after we learn about everything else outside of ourselves. The search for a deeper understanding of who we are sometimes seem to be a last resort, when all else have dissatisfied and disappointed us or when we are on our way out.

How can we truly live enriched and fulfilled lives, if we don’t know who we are and what it means to be human, in its entirety. That is, our entire composition of Spirit, Mind, Emotions and Body.

If we revisit the display by my niece and for anyone who has had a similar experience of a child playing with a sophisticated device, we all know that my mom’s phone more than likely needs to be checked for any damage as a result of my niece’s innocent yet possibly harmful actions.

For all intent and purposes, a human being is very similar to a sophisticated, high tech device and dare I say, the most high tech device that exist, comprising of several parts, functions, features and uses. As we all can attest, the more we know about using devices of technology, the better they can serve us. This is also true for us.

More and more, collectively as a species, we are slowly but surely coming to the realization that a critical element is missing. The results of our ignorance of Self and the wider cosmos is more evident than ever before; complete dissatisfaction with who we are, numerous deadly diseases, tattered and unhealthy relationships, wars and environmental destruction to highlight a few.

According to Sadhguru, mystic and yogi, we are like children holding sharp knives. The issue is not the knife, the issue is the untrained and un-sturdy hand, which of course can cause immense damage and havoc not only to the child but to the things and people around them.

Thankfully, however, to a noticeable degree, due to the missing link's gross effect on the human race , we are beginning to awaken to the other dimensions of who we are and therefore tapping into this wisdom. More and more humans are seeking to answer the basic question of 'Who am I?' as evidenced by the growing popularity of spirituality vs religion, the allure of meditation and yoga, a new bias to naturalism and the major focus on personal growth and development.

The Eastern cultures and philosophies like Hinduism, Yogic Science, Buddhism and Tao are all forerunners in exploring and understanding human life and the cosmos, not only from a physical dimension but mindfully studying and tapping into the non-physical aspects of who we are. While such philosophies have been criticized and judged by the Western world as being loopy because of its non-scientific and therefore esoteric nature, it’s rise and popularity in the West is testimony to its power and influence irregardless.

Admittedly, for centuries our gaze have been focused outwards to exploring and expanding life outside of the Self. Now we are seeing the importance of returning the gaze to the inner being, where it all started anyway. By truly exploring all of life within us and understanding the various dimensions of who we are, only then can we reclaim the missing link and appropriately and skillfully utilize this high tech device for the betterment of ourselves individually and collectively.