What Am I?: An Existential Conundrum

By Anusha Krishnaswamy

About the Book...

Even as the title, “What am I?” – An Existential Conundrum, sounds cosmological, there is a lot more to this as we tend to develop so many characters out of ourselves. Some inherent and some imposed. As we do so, we get surrounded by layers of personalities, most often leading to loss of the core, and eventually we spiral out. While searching for an Identity is very human and natural, are we really being ourselves? Does our Identity lie in the Past, Present or Future? All of us are into the process of ‘Identity Search’, knowingly or unknowingly. Let us see if our paths cross in the process ...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Anusha Krishnaswamy
• Release date: Feb 21, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463277379

Anusha Krishnaswamy

A dentist by training, Anusha Krishnaswamy always makes opportunities to hone her creative capabilities. She is presently working as a content creator, and she is a fervent writer. Her other areas of interests include painting and photography.

Book preview

Anusha Krishnaswamy

Copyright © 2019 Anusha Krishnaswamy

All rights reserved.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

Thank you for downloading this e-book. This book remains the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be redistributed to others for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy from their favorite authorized retailer. Thank you for your support.

About the book

Connect with Anusha Krishnaswamy

*****

Contents

1.WHO AM I?

2.INTRODUCTION

3.THE I TRIAD

4.THE BORN IDENTITY

5.ROOTS OF ORIGIN

6.CREATION STORIES

7.PAST PERFECT PERILOUS PRESENT

8.WHAT IS G-O-D?

9.THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS

10.THE INNER MASTER

11.CORRUPTED CONSCIENCE

12.DEAL WITH THE DEMONS

13.RIPPLE EFFECT

14.SUCCESS STORY vs HAPPINESS QUOTIENT

15.KARNA YOGA

16.HUMAN TRANSCENDENCE

17.LITTLE BIG CHALLENGE

18.LOVE IS NOT ENOUGH!

19.BEHAVIOUR CONDITIONING

20.PERCEPTUAL THINKING

21.DECISION MAKING

22.SELF PARENTING

23.BEST OF BOTH WORLDS

1.WHO AM I?

Who Am I? – The

Question that lingers,

In all our Minds,

The answer we could never Find,

We put ourselves in a Bind;

Making us Blind!

I have always been Around,

Sharing all your Joy and Sorrow;

That none could ever Borrow!

Wiping away your tears;

Making the Path Clear!

Alas! What a Fair-weather friend you are!

Seeking Me Only when you Fear!

Conventional wisdom demands Prosperity;

Goes off the boil, when you focus upon Eternity!

Conflicts of Facts and Fictions – Yet

You had the Courage of Convictions!

Often, I had to pick a bone;

Haven’t Set that in Stone;

For the Endurance you had;

Blissful Ignorance I Bestowed!

Impeccable I am – Yet

Inseparable We Are!

Believers claim my Benevolence;

Critics believe I am Extinct;

Science calls me Instinct;

I reside in your Conscience – Together

We could make Better Sense!

Not an Awful Lot you know – Yet

‘I’ Speak to you through many ways…

Grateful I feel – For

You made me realize…

This is ME

And this is All … ME!!!

Digital collage – Who am ‘I’?

Life takes us through various channels, and finally tells us who we are. I have just tried to collate a few such channels to create this collage.

Back to Contents

*****

2.INTRODUCTION

"We know what we are, but not what we may be." –

- William Shakespeare

‘Who am I?’

This is a seemingly simple yet complex question. The complexity in part is attributable to its simplicity. Maybe it depends on the way it is put across. Many a time, we tend to overlook this owing to our spatial and temporal connections. In simple terms, when we are asked to say about ourselves, what comes in our minds first? Our name may be? biological origin? Religion? Gender? Profession? The list is endless. There are various dimensions to define ourselves. But is that all?

Have we ever thought it through? Indeed! A few intellectuals would say that we are all great beings, the Humans, Indigenous, epitomizing the hierarchy of evolution. But what are we actually made of? A scientist would say we are a collection of positives and negatives, constantly changing polarity, perhaps that means Innovation? Or Intelligence? Materialistic world would say we are recognized through our possessions and we call it Identity? A few others would simply attribute it to the inside factors and they call it an Inward journey. And a few others…

That being said, how else can we define who we are? Are we how we appear? Are we how we exist? Are we what we transfer across generations? If Nomenclature attributes to biological status, then are we not dynamic entities in terms of time and space? Perhaps! Because these points of references are not stationary.

The simplest of the simple definitions can be ‘we are all humans, superior to all other life forms. Even as the Sixth Sense, as we call it, imparts the superiority, honestly, are we there yet? Almost all of us would have encountered this array of conflicts amidst our daily drama. Whether the conflicts take a base from outside, through a bunch of fellow beings, or inside, emanating from a bunch of brain cells, conscious or subconscious, it is simply the process of defining ourselves. This happens at various levels at various perspectives.

Back to Contents

*****

3.THE I TRIAD

I know that I exist; the question is, what is this 'I' that 'I' know. - Rene Descartes

Given that humans are superior to all other life forms and nature, it can be said that there is something innate in humans that defines their superiority. What is that which distinguishes humans from other living beings? Perhaps a highly evolved brain? Aristotle therefore calls humans, rational animals. What do the humans possess that make them rational? Ability to think and speak? Potential to lead their species to future through their instinctive understanding? Their capacity to adapt to the dynamic living space - the entire universe?