On Identity

Under the delusion of the discrete and separate self, we see our relationships as extrinsic to who we are on the deepest level; we see relationships as associations of discrete individuals. But in fact, our relationships—with other people and all life—define who we are, and by impoverishing these relationships we diminish ourselves. We are our rela

Deliberately exposing the connections and associations can act as a catalyst for this ‘new kind of power’. And when we look back to answer the question, ‘how does one become who one is?’, we can be liberated from the limitations of isolated representations. Let the in-betweens, associations, and the whole web of complexity and connections do the ta

The piles result in five different aspects of life that we tend to cling to as our fixed identity or misidentity: the body itself, the sense impression or feeling tones of the body, the mind or objects of the thinking mind (which include thoughts and the roots of emotions),

The content of someone’s identity depends on the broader group in which they grew up, and particularly on dominant communal notions, the ‘narrative’ shared by the group. Those notions are invariably moral in nature, consisting largely of norms and values that determine the way we view ourselves and others. They are reflected in mores or ethics and,