I Am Nothing

 “When I died, I realised that I was neither my thoughts nor my feelings, neither my breath nor my body, neither my ego nor my mind, neither my spirit nor my soul, neither my emotions nor my actions, neither my children nor my possessions, and neither my desires nor my achievements: I was no-thing.  To be no-thing, I recognised, was also to be every-thing, but whilst I am being human, I am contained within space and time: I am finite within the infinite.  Nature’s immutable laws create the conditions that allow us to be human, which is to desire to be separate, to forget where we came from and why we are here, to go out on a journey of self-discovery and get lost in our possessions, to become lonely and need love, to wake up to our pain and suffering, and finally, to let go of everything we thought we were and come back to who we truly are.”

– John S Anderson – The Art of Being Human

I  Am Nothing   * Egoless self  =  Still waters....SILENT STATE OF MIND            

  In the world every thing that is created and maintained will die.  This cycle and understanding this world as it is is a never ending journey.  I journey begins but never ends until we have understanding. I am nothing.  When we remove all masks at  that exact same moment  we see everlasting light within.

Ancient Sage Shri Bhartuhari explains eternal truth.  The seeker of truth must have detachment and sacrifice.  {VAIRAGYA and TYAAG}, then and only then, one becomes fearless when one transforms their ego to universal ID.  The old self falls of  like dead tree leaves.  We are all journeymen and we must be vigilent every moment because the path we travel is slippery.  Our own mind (ego), will deceive us!  Never give up hope, eventually all of our mask will vanish .  Brahma Sutra states,  AHAM BRAHAMMASMSMI - mind, speech, and our intellect stops here. always love navin.                                                                    

Hindu sage shri Nisargadatta Maharaj explains : The unchangeble can only be realizeed in silence.once realised , it will deeply affect the changeable.  It self remaining unaffected. this attitude of silent observation is the very foundation of yoga. you see the picture but you are not the picture.                                                                                                                                                                          

 'i am' nothing. 'i' am nothing. 'i am nothing.' 

three different ways of looking at the sentence and they mean different things to me. When 'i' is nothing and the meaning associated with who I am is also nothing, it can truly be freeing sensation. Interestingly, I felt that when I am nothing, I am everything as well. By letting go of limited 'i' unlimited 'i' begins to operate and instead of I being in control, I act and observe with no attachment.

For a long time, I played tennis -- 25+ years. There are times I feel that I am stuck -- hit a wall and don't see any progress. The more I play, more I try to improve, even more frustration i experienced. And some times, I just let go of my experience, expectations and the whole stand as a tennis player and just observe while acting. That is when I played my best tennis.

It is not just tennis but also in Carroms. Not just in games but also in class room. Not just in teaching, but also in learning. When expectations, guilt, pride, shame and the identification is let go, I become nothing but beginners mind kicks in and some other door seems to open.

have you tried to consciously let go of your identity and become nothing?

I would like to share how I help teens apply this.  Labeling is a way for preteens and teens to try to make sense of what is happening around and within them.  It is a survival skill, based on a notion that if the world and everyone and everything in it can be placed in logical containers, it becomes manageable.  Based on this assumption, statements arise within thought and/or deed.  She’s smart, he’s athletic, my teacher doesn’t like me, my stepmom doesn’t understand me, I’m fat, I’m not interested, I don’t matter, it doesn’t matter, we don’t matter, I can’t change, I can’t affect anything, I am a nobody, I’m different, no one cares…and, since all these things are true then, I don’t have to interact; I don’t have to excel; I don’t have to be held accountable or take responsibility; I can be left alone; as long as I am gossiping and talking, I don’t need to know about the other side of the story; since you exist in this little container labeled ‘loser’, ‘queer’, ‘stupid’, ‘jock’, ‘math whiz’, ‘science geek’, ‘hick’, ‘health nut’, ‘gangster’, ‘gay’, ‘goth’, ‘weak’, ‘white’, ‘black’, ‘brown’, ‘red’, ‘yellow’, ‘rich’, ‘poor’, ‘slow’, ‘gutless’, ‘homely’, ‘homeless’, ‘filthy’, ‘smelly’, ‘blind’, ‘deaf’, ‘smoker’, or ‘freak’,  I don’t have to relate to you…

The idea that we are separate and therefore unaffected by others usually compounds teen depression and anxiety, especially when they come to realize that deep down, others carry wounds of words and labels too.  Sometimes they pick up a label insensitively hurled in their direction and justify carrying this burden because they are insecure along their personal journey, and the label helps define their experience at that moment-scarring them for life even. 

The power of words, and the tenacity with which we cling to these words, results at times in a lonely and suffering existence.  Sometimes we believe our own negative self-talk and insist on labeling ourselves with our thought patterns.  The writer’s conclusion of ‘I am nothing’ is quite powerful.  Frankly, we are at the same time nothing and everything, small and not small, empty and expansive, experientially finite and infinite.  As teacher, I get to help my students, these teens, realize this and begin to reach out and connect to others in the most significant and life changing ways.  To help them negotiate through these years with ease and empathetic understanding is my extreme privilege and honor.  This is how I too let go of the labels pushed on me.  And I love it. 

Thanks for sharing this wonderful passage. It got me thinking about the times when I reflect inwards - what do I think then, am I nothing or I am what I am and accepting that and working towards a change that I want to be, a change in myself that I want to see. Somehow thinking of myself as nothing leaves me even more confused (for the lack of better word). I really like what Bill and Smita shared, echoing my thought off them as well :). Sometimes external factors and sometimes internal stimulus make me want to change certain things about what makes me, me - I used to try and incorporate changes in myself in an attempt to live up to all those expectations whether I agreed or not, I have grown since then. Being afraid, insecure, wanting attention and care, too young, too old are only blocks we've set ourselves up for. In that scenario I would like to apply the philosophy of I am complete: I have enough love and care and attention and I am in the right state of physical wellbeing and mental aptitude. It is an ever growing process :) Thanks for reading.

There are two ways to interpret the concept of “nothing” in this context - and I think we often confuse them in the West. “Nothing” can mean “the absence of anything” or it can be read as “no thing” - i.e., a phenomenon that cannot be limited, narrowed down to, or identified with any particular subset.

As applied to the self, I like the latter interpretation because it’s expansive, opening up a range of greater possibility. I dislike the former because it basically negates one’s own existence. I don’t think that is what we were put here for. In spiritual circles however, people sometimes fall into a mindset that denigrating the self is somehow the “holy” thing to do.

And there is a mathematical precedent for the above! One formal definition the number zero is not “the absence of anything” but “the sum of all positive and negative integers”. In other words, zero is not nothing or a particular thing, but essentially everything.

That’s how I like to view the human spirit.

I found this to be very enlightening. Thank you for the opportunity to respond.

My first thought is from Shunryo Suzuki , who said : "not one not two", meaning I am not one and not two. That sounds much like I am nothing. I believe I am more connected than disconnected to everyone and everything but the connection is not perfect. I think only nothing is perfect. This implies to me that everything is perfect as it is. Being no one going, nowhere is the same as being everyone, going everywhere. Some of my friends see me as pushy and aggressive and that probably is true. If I were closer to nothing, I expect I would be less pushy and aggressive.  Less pushy and less aggressive would make me kinder and I can't think of anything more important than that. Warm and kind regards to everyone. Is the universe speaking as nonone says the things?

I love Smita's and mailman's comments. Warma and kind regards to everyone/the unity of no separate one.

Byron Katie says that if she had a prayer, it would be: "God, spare me from the desire for love, approval, or appreciation. Amen."  Hearing this sometimes makes me laugh uncontrollably!  I find that life is so much more fun when it doesn't matter to me whether someone likes me / hates me, approves of me / disapproves of me, thinks I'm great / thinks I'm nasty.  I cheat myself *big time* when my attention is on these issues.

My dear brother Samir and I were talking this morning and we both agreed that it is so much more interesting when our attention is on our inner experience rather than on what's going on outside.

I'm actually starting to enjoy the experience of people "not liking me"--it's a good reminder to draw my attention inward, and to really experience that who I am is independent from what anyone thinks about me (whether other people pay me compliments or regrets).  And *that* frees up so much energy to enjoy life!