Who we are is very simple. We are the Supreme Reality. Everything comes from that and is a reflection of that. We are really like the sun and our lives that we’re experiencing right now are like the dewdrops that are reflecting the sun. Another way to look at it is to see life as a dream. We are dreaming this life. We are the dreamer of our lives. Our lives are being dreamed. Life is really just an extended dream and we are the dreamer, which is the supreme reality.
Who we are is pure beingness. We can experience this beingness by merely witnessing all that happens to us. We can simply be right now in the moment. It’s the same as dreaming a lucid dream. We are very aware that we’re dreaming, but we don’t identify with the dreamed characters. We watch and witness them, but we don’t take on their egoic identities. When we do that in this extended dream of life, we wake up to the reality and truth of who we are. We realize that we are the Supreme Reality.
But a challenge arises, one that our minds are constantly fighting against. Our egos want us to believe that all this is real – that we’re real, that everyone else is real, and that it’s not just part of who we are but rather a separate identity. This causes us to suffer.
When we wake up to the dream of who we are, the suffering comes to an end. It’s a lot like having a thorn in our foot. In order to remove the thorn, we need another thorn to pluck it out, throw it away and then the pain goes away. This second thorn that we’re going to use today is a mantra which I consider to be the most powerful mantra in the universe.
The ultimate goal is going to be to discard this mantra, to rid ourselves of it, so that we can live in pure beingness and awareness. But the mind is constantly fighting against us. So, to help us counteract the effects of the mind, we can use this mantra throughout the day. We can use it when we’re meditating, when we’re driving, when we’re washing the dishes; we can play it on our CD players, iPods, and our phones. If it’s in the background all the time it will bring us back to who we are.
The mantra is very simple. It is simply “I am the Supreme Reality.” Again, it’s a thorn that we ultimately need to throw away so that we do not hold onto mental concepts, but this thorn is effective at plucking out the egoic thorn of who we think we are.
This mantra is incredibly powerful and I encourage you to listen to it throughout your day. What you’ll find is that the egoic mind will lose its grip on you and you will awaken to who you are.
Dr. Robert Puff, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist, author, international speaker, and meditation expert who has been counseling individuals, families, nonprofits, and businesses for over twenty years. A contributing writer to Psychology Today, he has authored numerous books, including Spiritual Enlightenment: Awakening to the Supreme Reality and creates a weekly podcasts and articles on enlightenment, spiritual enlightenment, nonduality, Advaita Vedanta at: http://www.EnlightenmentPodcast.com