Identification
Identification
is the chief obstacle to the third state of consciousness. Identification means, “the process of losing oneself;
becoming one with a particular thought, emotion, impulse, outside object,
situation etc.; and in that moment not having ability to keep the sense of Self
separate and detached from that thought, emotion, impulse, outside object,
situation, etc.” When one is identified
he becomes entangled into, lost into the thing he is doing in that moment. Identification
is opposite of consciousness.
For
instance, when we are watching live World Cup Final Match, at critical moments
of such match how much identified (lost) we become! Or when two people are arguing heatedly over
something or trying to prove something vehemently, how much identified they become with their words,
opinions or arguments!
Work on identification
When one
understands the reasons and causes behind one’s identification, a way may open
up for him to work on it. When one studies the interests and passions of the emotional
parts of one’s four Lower Centers, one will come to know about one’s
identifications. Interests and fascinations of the emotional parts of Centers
are very intense, and when they are active it produces a strong identification
in one. Another reason for identification lies in one’s Chief Feature. The
Chief Feature is made up of one’s emotional attitude towards oneself. One is so
much one with the Chief Feature that,
sub-consciously one takes it as one’s self, and this is one of the chief root
causes of one’s identification.
So, if one
studies one’s fascinations coming from the emotional part of the Lower Centers
and can verify one’s Chief Feature, and try to understand one’s identification
in that connection by comparing one’s inner state in the moments of intense
identification with normal moments when identification is comparatively less,
one will be able to understand identification practically by taste, and then,
one can bring in the effort of Self-Remembering, and try to be separate from
the emotions that keeps one identified.
The effort
of separation means observing one’s emotion in the very moment of its
occurrence, and understanding that it is just an emotion and not the reality
and it is not mandatory for me to be swayed by it, and trying to keep one’s
sense of self separate from it. So, in short, recognizing one’s identification in
the moment, the effort of Self-Remembering (trying to be more awake in the
moment), observing and separating from one’s emotions; all these four efforts
together, constitute the practical work on identification.
