Why is it so difficult to define oneself... are we incapable of defining ourselves or are we simply unwilling?

I am unwilling. I think it would be limiting to place a definition or label on who or what we are. I also believe that in reality we are not capable, we could not be accurate, but many try anyway.

Blessings!

Define Oneself

It is NOT that we are incapable or unwilling, it is IMPOSSIBLE to define oneself in the truest sense. Awareness of being the observer is the goal.

The conditioned defensive identity however, has a rigid sense of identity - fears and attachments, compulsive thought patterns, automatic emotional/electro-chemical reactions and an inability to perceive anything accurately. All this stemming from embedded beliefs that are learned from the limited environment of other limited dysfunctional egos during early development.

Giving up the attempt to limit and 'define' self is the only way out of the delusional hologram the ego projects.

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RE:

Why is it so difficult to define oneself... are we incapable of defining ourselves or are we simply unwilling?

. "How do WE define ourselves"? Generally people define their selves and others through perceptions of their life. How I "define" myself is that I simply 'am'. This being is soul experiencing through form of human being. All persons are enlightened. The awareness of that varies for each person. The clarity a person has of their enlightenment...I Love them no matter the awareness or not, belief or not. To "bless or blame" any I encounter in everyday life? All are precious. Some I enjoy the company of more than others, no matter if moment, days, or years, yet all are precious just the same. We are collectively all one. In that when I look at others I see Love. Love in different forms, emotions, etc....yet all is Love none the less. Where do we go from here? Nowhere. We're already here. Some persons "view" of that has more or less "veils" around. We're all One...all Love. .

Well it can be both but here's the catch...In my opinion man is incapable of defining himself. And it is all because man is continously growing, and it's just like a math equation, when it just goes on and on we may guess the answer time by time but we will never reach the answer until it has an end. So we can also conclude that an "end" such as death defines a man however it will be the others who can define you by this point BUT remember, no matter how much the world knows about you there are always things that only you know. And if there is life after death, then you haven't stopped growing at all because when we exist, we continue to grow and change, and if it is possible to exist without growth or change, then we are simply aren't humans at all.

Maybe a supreme being can but I'm an atheist ^^

Those who approach defining themselves candidly, already know that this task is fraught with difficulties. A honest approach to self definition requires that one be objective. Yet, objectivity only makes sense when one can be detached from the subject matter at hand. Unfortunately it is almost impossible to be detached from yourself, unless of course a state like the Buddhist version of Nirvana makes sense and is possible.

Hence, any assessment at describing yourself will either be bogged down by unmerited praise, or criticism that is harsher than what is warranted by reality. Hence, defining oneself is an impossible task if one seeks to do it accurately.

we know so many different sides to ourselves - we know every choice that we made - every option that we thought about for eternities before rejecting.

Whereas the others only know what choice we made in the end.

Which is, as Dumbledore says, what counts. So they find it easier to define us than we do - because we get caught among the thoughts we had to go through before making the decision - which is as much defining, really, as the choices we made.

We are incapable of defining ourselves because no single individual can be a constant in all his characteristics - everything is subject to time and place - and we know that.

And everything is relative. So how much we think we would now only if w knew ow much other people think which we don' and since thoughts are our most intimate connection with ourselves - we cannot define ourselves.

Whereas to define someone else else you'd just have to compare his choices with other people's.

Firstly, understanding the self is important which is so much more difficult ..... more so because we have deaf ears to what our critics have to say about us and have a prejudiced and biased attitude towards the peers' opinions. Caught in between the above two we hardly spare enough time to listen to our inner voice to give a proper identity, repairs or even existence to the image of the self. What incapacitates us from defining ourselves adequately is our ignorance of our true identity for we hardly know the true colours of the self. In a way this also forms a sort of state of helplessness and makes us unwilling to take up this task.

What BAD SANTA has penned is a remarkable piece of factual representation for the possible and probable possibilities for defining the self... as one can see what a mammoth task it would be to collect, amalgamate and present such a huge analytical data and then try and analyse the same to come to some conclusive result.

That is why it is easier to define oneself to others simply by what the other person means to you in your life and how you would prefer to be looked at yourself by the others not forgetting the fact that "It is simple to be difficult and yet it is difficult to be simple"

Its true, its lack of tools. Understand symbolism is flawed, o wait your a TC in philosophy you better darn well know that. But its pretty much that, that the symbol for definition, oneself all that is beyond our ability to relate. You know how the mind works, we feel, thoughts are our way of controlling those feelings, well to certain degrees, its a complex mess, but the fact remains we exist in the realm of feelings, its the thoughts that try to define that, which is beyond its ability to define which in alot of ways shows how truly intense, magical, powerful, life is. No matter what pictures we draw, what words we use, what songs we sing, what stories we tell, the truth is beyond description. Such as what your messing with here. So yea, incapable because we lack that ability to relate that which is beyond relating. Our feelings...... if not, I wouldn't be here doing my TC'in......

is it becasue we are looking for a definite answer when the answer is wider than that and evolves just like we do?

is it becasue it's a difficult task and we 'prefer the path of least resistance'?

is it because when we start looking we don't like what we find?

is it because 'everyone's a legend in their own mind' and the truth falls short of our projected self image?

is there too much "sound and fury signifying nothing" clouding the issue?

are we confused by being told from an early age that we can be anything?

do we possess no framework with which to know ourselves?

is objectivity ( which helps greatly ) too hard to achieve?

I still surprise myself at how i act sometimes, so the answer cannot ever be complete because the answer has to be able to descibe an 'event' not yet complete.

I think the sinlgemost useful tool towards the understanding I possess of myself was quitting my job i was dissatisfied with and living amongst other cultures. understanding your own culture in a relevant fashion helps you see what's environmental and thus what's personal - thankfully a lot more poeple are now taking the opportuntiy to 'go travelling'

I do not think the task impossible for anyone, and i think the world short on self knowledge and responsibility but maybe that's the "sound and fury" getting in the way and i need to look with better eyes than that, - I'd like it to be true that the quality is hidden and there's few fools but they're loud enough to be responsible for the majority of the 'noise'!

TE

Buff. ( no sarcasm this time )