Who Am I In Reality
I Think Therefore I Know I Am
“I think therefore I am.” This is the famous quote by Rene Descartes. It is often written in Latin “Cogito ergo sum”. The proposition is that the very act of thinking is proof of a thinking entity; that is “self”. The “I” in me. Then who am I in reality? To me there is no answer. We really cannot fathom what this “I” is. This article has a new twist to the riddle of “I”. We cannot identify this entity called “I” but we can perceive the different types of “I”. “I” is the person in us.There are different ways to classify different types of people. A few examples; "loveable, pitiful,detestable", "good, harmless, bad", "kind, ordinary, evil" and "intelligent, average, stupid".
According to one scriptural analysis, there are four types of persons in this world. This article is to discuss the stakes of these four types of persons.
There Are Four Types Of Persons In This World
These are the four:
- One in darkness who is headed for darkness.
- One in darkness who is headed for brightness.
- One in brightness who is headed for darkness.
- One in brightness who is headed for brightness.
These four types of persons are categorized specifically. In real life there is always the grey areas of a mixture through the process of life. Let us describe these four types of persons separately.
1 . One in darkness who is headed for darkness. This type of person is born under very strenuous conditions with little good in favor of him. Life is not kind to him. His life is full of miseries, often suffering in different ways, physically, mentally, and besets with problems in the family and the society. Life dishes out all the miserable and unfortunate incidences for him which in return as foolish reactions he further generates more anger, resentment and hatred towards others. There is lack of intelligence and or wisdom in his mindset. Thus generating a self-fulfilling prophecy of bad-luck and sorrow; a vicious cycle of anger, ill will, resentment, and hatred of everything within his miserable experience in life. His existence is doomed from the onset he is born and he perishes likewise. A very pitiful scenario.
Many in this group of unfortunate humans are doomed from the onset leaving no opportunity whatsoever for redemption due to no fault of theirs. In some instances, even if these people tried to do something good, the negative forces would even block them from doing so. Haven’t we seen enough of such pitiful humans? However, there is one consolation; deep inside each individual, there lies latent the seed of goodness which will one day germinate when the time and condition are right.
2 . One in darkness who is headed for brightness. This person begins life like the type 1 person with all the sorrowful events befalling upon him. Life takes a turn for this person because in him is hidden a latent seed of wisdom. The wisdom to act against the odds. From this latent seed of wisdom, he is able to maneuver himself through his bouts of misfortune and suffering to gradually build up his character and behavior through right thoughts and actions to counter the dark energies that are perpetually lurking at the corners ever ready to strike at him. From his own effort and resilience through wise responses to difficult experiences, he gradually paves a path of brightness in his progressive stages in life, culminating in eliminating the darkness in his life, and allowing light to brighten up his path.
Now this type of person is indeed a very fortunate person. Why? He is one who lives through hardship and difficulties, having tasted the miseries of life, he takes steps to improve himself by sheer resilience and hard work to beat the odds. Having won the battle for himself, he proceeds further to help others to improve their lives. He contributes to the wellness of the society. In this manner his own life is being enriched and he enjoys the fruits of right effort, resilience and honest hard work. This is one who in darkness progresses into a path of brightness.
3 . One in brightness who is headed for darkness. This type of person is perhaps the most disliked person. He is born with a silver spoon in his mouth, with brightness all around him. Everything we dream of is there for him; great material wealth, good health, and prestige, power and status in his society. In a way, to be born rich and powerful often comes with a terrible price to pay if this person lacks the moral foundation of goodwill and compassion. Due to ever exposure to the good life, he becomes arrogant, self-centered, and careless towards others. In the process, he loses all the little wisdom he has, and misuses his power and status, mistreating people and causing miseries to others. He transgresses into evil deeds and further depleting his good fortune in the process and degenerates into the path of darkness. Sounds very familiar, isn’t it? We have tons of them in this world.
4 . One in brightness who is headed for brightness. This is life “made in heaven”. The most fortunate one is in this category. He is born in a most favourable condition, and lives throughout his life experiencing joy and happiness while at the same time helping others in every way. He enjoys good health, with much material wealth to live in comfort. He has great influence over people’s lives and always contributes to the welfare of the society, thus bringing happiness to all around him. He comes into this world with brightness, share his brightness with the society, and culminates in brightness.
The Fifth Type?
The above classification is based on a scriptural text. From my personal experience and observation, I think there is yet another type of people. This type of people is the most prevalent. Shall I call it “One in square one and is stuck in square one”? Most people simply exist, exist, exist, and then exit. They live a “normal” life, performing their duties as fathers and mothers, workers and consumers, lovers and haters. They survive through the journey of life, not achieving anything outstanding and also not committing any serious misdeeds. Would you consider this type of people a mediocre one or a blessed lot? Would they have made more effort to achieve more in their lives, rather than let opportunities pass by their lives?
We Are What We Are
Some say, “We are what we were, and we will be what are.” We come to this world with a storehouse of personality traits. Some say it is a storehouse of our kamma, while others say God makes us such. While there are others who simply resigned to the fact that they don’t really know; which to me is acceptably logical. From our observation, the above classification can be seen and experienced; so there should not be any controversy. Now the question is this. As thinking human beings, which category should we strive to belong? The decision is yours. Or do we really have the power to decide which type of persons we want to be?
There is this Chinese saying that one’s destiny is “30% fate and 70% effort”. My belief is we come here with a baggage, but throughout our lives we have the power to decide what we want to discard and what we want to put inside our baggage. This is the “free choice” that each one of us is being given.
We may have no choice at all on what sort of beginning we may have in life. But we have ahead of us the freedom to direct our lives to a great extent. This means we are able to direct our lives towards which type of persons we choose to be. We can weave a pattern of life that we choose to be. What it takes is discipline, commitment, and making a concerted effort to achieve that goal.
All The World’s A Stage
“All the world’s a stage.” This is the famous Shakespearean quote from the play “As You Like It”. Shakespeare pointed out that our lives are played out in stages like stage dramas. We cannot be stereotyped into a fixed category at all times. During different stages of our life’s journey we perform different roles, sometimes good, sometimes bad, sometimes neutral. It is the sum of all our acts that will cast a final verdict on our life’s destiny. So at different points in our lives, we act out our different roles as heroes, saviours, spoilers and villains! When we are near our climax, we can take stalk of what we have done that far, and before our time runs out, the final analysis is which category we want to arrive at.
Remember, the final choice is yours. Then you will have realised “Who Am I In Reality”.
What about this for real?
One business tycoon in China passed away. His widow, was left with $1.9 billion in the bank, and later she married her late husband's chauffeur.
The grateful chauffeur said, "All this while, I thought I was working for my boss. It is only now, that I realise that my boss was all the time working and planning for me. I am forever grateful to my "boss" for being such a generous person. He not only worked so hard saving all this money for me, but also had the foresight to chose a young and pretty wife for me !!!"
What about these 4 types of people?
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