I am Complete
Seeking outside means of attaining completeness is impermanent.
The quote in the figure gives a superficial meaning to my statement “I am complete” but is a good starting point for many people to realize self-love. Self-love is important in the growth process of an individual and helps in making the person self-reliant. Seeking outside means of gaining happiness is an indication of incompleteness within ourselves. We try to compensate for this incompleteness through material objects, love partners, fame, etc but the happiness gained through these means will not last long.
Consciousness
We are in essence consciousness. This consciousness expresses itself in the physical plane by means of body and personality. The problem comes when we identify ourselves with body and personality and forget our true nature. Association with body and personality gives rise to a variety of fears and to compensate for the lack of bliss we formulate a variety of attachments. These attachments then give rise to further fear and the cycle continues e.g. associating our being with personality requires the need for affirmation from others. Seeking affirmation would lead us to have fear of rejection. Fear of rejection would make us accumulate wealth and power so as to be in the good books of others. Accumulation of wealth and power would give rise to fear of losing them and the cycle continues.
Look inside
Seeking outside means of gaining fulfillment shall provide temporary pleasure but it cannot lead to an everlasting state of bliss. Bliss is possible only when we look inside into the source of our being. Activities like catharsis and refinement of the inner child pave the path for us to go through the turmoil in the subconscious mind and reach a state of emptiness through meditation.
“Only when we are comfortable with ourselves is when we can look inside ourselves and reach the source of our existence”
“Seeking outside means of attaining fulfillment tries to compensate for the various fears existing in our psyche”
Example: Ram expects respect from his peers for his happiness. He tries to attain the same by working extra hours and getting good marks in the exam. His means of gaining respect from others based on outside circumstances creates a sense of fear of not doing well in exams. He gets stressed out during exams which results in a lowering of his concentration level. Eventually, he not only could not sustain getting good results but also compromised his state of happiness. If he looked inside for his happiness then the motive for him studying would have been to have an increase in creativity level. This motive would not have created stress and he would have continued to do well in the exams as well.
Give to society
One should be a part of the society not so much because he has to gain by being a part of it but because he has to give to others a sense of motive and accomplishment. Most of the founders of various religions were a part of the society to give a sense of direction to people to lead life and provide them with the path to self-fulfillment. If you are a part of society because you derive a sense of completeness to your various desires then the happiness gained through this means will not last long.
Conclusion
The source of our being is consciousness and that is pure bliss. One needs to go inside to access it. When one is in touch with his inner source then he is at the source of all beings and hence I mentioned in the beginning that the quote in the figure “Take me or leave me anyway I love me” is superficial. The quote indicates a sense of separation between us and others but in fact, the consciousness is the same within us and in all other beings. When we realize it, we will not need the outside world to complete ourselves at the same time having a sense of unity with all beings.
