Awareness that remains

Who am I? What is my role in life? We have all mulled over these questions. Socrates' 'know thyself' says that the self "is nothing other than the soul". Nietzsche asserts that we must build and create our identity throughout life.

Sartre opines that existence precedes essence or self, and the self is defined by our choices. Who we are is different from who we think we are. We can tell ourselves that we are so and so, but we are what we are and what we do.

Yuval Noah Harari, in '21 Lessons for the 21st Century', says that one popular story is that we are all part of an eternal cycle that connects all beings. "Each being has a distinctive function to fulfil in the cycle. To understand the meaning of life means to understand your unique function, and to live a good life means to accomplish that function."


'Tat tvam asi' - That Thou Art from Chandogya Upanishad posits that the essence of life and universe is the same. Ramana Maharshi says, 'I' am not the body or the cognitive five senses or the mind or nescience. After negating the body, five senses, mind, and neutral unawareness, "that Awareness which alone remains - that I am."

Perhaps we conclude that 'I' is the trinity of awareness of self, goodness and divinity, and we must forge the 'I' to make a meaningful contribution in all that we do?