Who am I?

I suppose an alternative name for June is “Identity.”

All of us ask this question, to ourselves and others, at least once in our lives. This seemingly innocuous, simplistic question is fundamental, and yet produces some of the greatest agony of our species. In fact, the very capability to ask this question, the powers to recognize ourselves objectively, place us in a “higher” echelon of the living world. Why does it cause us so much trouble? This question is often the foundation of our religious tradition. It is the point at which humanity temporarily halted the focus on the mundane world and observed a deeper universe within. But this universe is abstract and hard to describe. The physical sciences could explain what was happening around us, but the “why” soon became a sore spot, and, for some…”who.”

This is why we have divergence in religious thought. Our ancestors wrestled with the same questions we face today and very often, the ones who struggle the most develop a system of thought or faith to help explain the world. In science, these individuals are called theoreticians, and their lives are marked by intense investigation of the spiritual and physical environments.

Descartes said, “I think, therefore I am.”

More on that later.

In addition, depending on whom you ask, the answer to “Who am I,” or “Who are you,” will invariably result in a different answer.

So far this year I might answer this question differently by each month:

As a Hindu, the question of identity is very important. If I bought into the caste system or varnas, identity is associated with where I belong in society and therefore my role in the community. On a spiritual level, my identity is that of potential union with the supreme reality, Brahman.

My Baha’i perspective leads me to answer that I am a unique creation of God, made to know and worship Him and to serve both Him and the human race He created. Individually, I am his child, made in His image, purposed to reflected His qualities.

As a Zarathushti, there again are social and spiritual components to this question. The question for a Parsi becomes an ethnic one, as these people are very proud and protective of the community they constructed in India after the Islamic invasion of Iran. On a spiritual level, man is born to assist in the defeat of evil and thus help bring about frashokereti or the rejuvenation of the world to a pure state. In this way, we are partners with the Wise Lord, Ahura Mazda.

For a Jew, religious and spiritual identity are one in the same. Socially, Jews are, among other things, an ethnic group that like the Parsi, worked hard to develop their identity. This identity is founded upon the relationship established in a covenant between themselves and God at Mount Sinai after Moses led them out of Egypt. A Jew then, is an individual born among the chosen to bring the glory of God to all the Earth.

Switching to my Buddhist lens, I might answer, “Why does it matter?” or that I am simply a composite of many things, including an accumulation of karma that led to this current existence. The question of self is irrelevant because the Buddhist ideal (in general) is to wipe away our thoughts and attachments to ego and self. So, who am I as a Buddhist? The answer is that I simply am…but that is transient. With Enlightenment and eventually Nirvana, I will cease to be, and that is the reality of things, the goal.

This month, I don’t have the luxury of seeing myself through the perspective of a certain religious tradition. Now, I have to look in the mirror with my own eyes, unobstructed by the theories and speculations of others. Who is Andrew Bowen? Where did I come from? What can I learn from my past? How will these answers influence my future? Am I a created being with some purpose or am I just…here?

I would like to hear your personal thoughts on these questions as I take time this month to answer them, both for myself and with my kids, by helping them understand their heritage and asking them the big questions I listed above.

These are questions I’m sure every one of you have asked. Your conclusions, I’m sure, are as numerous and varied as the stars in our night sky. But like that sky, without the various colors, shapes, and substances there would be no appeal in looking up and, just for a moment, embracing our birthright to step outside of our instinctual existence and simply exercise our greatest gift…

To wonder.

Will I come away with an answer, or more questions? Either way, this is the journey of a lifetime–or depending on the month–lifetimes.