How Well Do You Know Your Spiritual Self?

CEBU, Philippines – Imagine a blank piece of paper. If I were to ask you right now to write down something about yourself, I am sure that the sheet would be half-filled with words as colorful as the rainbow.

This just shows how well you know yourself. But if I were to ask you to write down how well you know your spiritual self, would you write the same amount of words? Would you fill the blank space with the same colorful words?

Knowing your spiritual self is as important as knowing your physical self. For a better understanding of the self, I am re-defining the meaning of the word “self” using a simple acronym: S for stable, sweet and simple soul; E for enthusiastic, energetic, and egoless being; L for a living, loving and life-giving spirit; and F for a fearless, fair, firm, and forgiving person.

This is the true sense of spiritual self. The self which is more than what you think it is and you often overlook. 

Whenever you lose your temper, you lose your spiritual self, whose original qualities are not hatred nor disgust – but peace, love, happiness, purity, and detachment. Anger is a false sense of self. If you thought that getting angry at your subordinates puts you on the higher pedestal than them, you are wrong. Anger is an expression of the ego at its highest state of self-centeredness, anchored by a wrong belief that you are fundamentally better than the others.

Ego is not synonymous with arrogance or interchangeable with justified pride. Ego is stronger than these two negative attitudes or behaviors, which are simply extensions of it. I would say that ego is an illusion; it is not real. It touches the heart and certainly draws you away from the spirit. This is why knowing your spiritual self is important. Here are five things to always remember:

First, you must be fully aware of your true identity as a spiritual being, as a pure, happy and peaceful soul. You must fully stop thinking and considering yourself as a human, made of matter, flesh, bones and blood because truthfully, God created you to be happy and peaceful and not to experience pain and sorrow here on Earth.

Second, you must realize that each human inhabitant of this world is also a spiritual being; a soul, exactly like you and I and God, the Supreme Father, the Supreme Soul. Therefore, your workmates and even your subordinates are spiritual beings just like you. Thus, you should treat them and relate with them as such.

Third, you must respect yourself first and do your best to be good, to gain the trust and respect of others without expecting it from them. If other people do not trust and respect you, you should not hold it against them. What you need to do is to make sure that you still honestly and sincerely trust and respect yourself because if you do, God will also surely trust and respect you.

Fourth, you must always keep in mind that if you have a high regard and respect for yourself, your self-worth will also be high, and you will not need to depend on others for it.

Lastly, if you are fully aware of your true identity and those of others, and you fully realize that we are all souls and children of the one Father, God, then your self-respect and self-esteem will be high. You will certainly have the much-needed confidence in yourself to succeed and be happy in life.

Now, you already have a lot of things to write on the blank sheet of paper if you will be asked to write down how well you know your spiritual self as much as you know your physical self. The moment you become aware of your spiritual being, your life will never be as dull as the blank sheet of paper, because it will be filled with colorful experiences and lessons as you go through your life here on Earth.