Is 'Being Yourself' Selfish?

[Lucky 1]

Originally Posted by The Necromancer

Yes, being 'self-made' and having a lot of money gives one the entitlement to be who they are and do whatever they want because they can always flaunt it and say "my attitude made me rich...oh look, you poor bugger...what's your attitude done for you?"

Unfortunately, I don't have that luxury.

My work ethic and drive made me successful....my attitude was not part of it...my grandmother who raised me taught me to be humble...and I try to be as much as I can...but as I said...I am who I am.....and I will admit that my personality tends to be "all go...no quit...high speed ..low drag... get it done kinda guy.
My wife calls me her little tornado!

I would not say I flaunt it...quite the opposite....I pretty much like to be left alone to do my own thing and run under the radar.

I will admit that when I was much younger...making a lot of money came from a desire to have a lot of stuff...

The desire to have a lot of stuff has diminished considerably with age and wisdom. Now it's about time and freedom to ..as I said.....go where I want to go and do what I want to do....basically to live my life on my terms as much as possible....but also a desire to be there for my family...... Success has also allowed me to give heavily to charities....

I am very family oriented and I take good care of them. .....these days, it is mostly my wife who is in charge of accumulating "stuff" Clothes...shoes....decorations for the house

[Lucky 1]

Originally Posted by The Necromancer

Then again, if you are not 'being yourself' who are you being?

Maybe the distinction should be made here between 'being yourself' and 'being true to yourself'.

For me (with a blocked Throat Chakra due to all this) it's all about freedom of being...freedom of expression, which I'm always at odds with when it comes to other people.

Yes, I can fully accept myself and love myself for who I am and it's a real shame others cannot, but whose problem is that?

Whenever I say 'that is their problem, not mine' it only reinforces my self-imposed seclusion and secular lifestyle.

I'm with Gracey....be yourself....whatever that means for you!

All you will get from conformity for the sake of fitting in is unhappy....and my feeling is that if you are not being yourself...that will show and turn people off anyway....and as Gracey said....if it is friends you want..they are out there....be yourself and you will find kindred spirits coming into your path!

[SaturninePluto]

Originally Posted by The Necromancer

Thank you! That made a lot of sense to me.

My family are exactly the same. I have also spent time in thinking those who decry 'selfish' only do so because they feel their own 'selfish' needs are being unmet, when according to the Celesine Prophecy, the whole of human existence boils down to see who can steal the most energy from everybody else.

I got over wanting to be 'liked' as I figured (going on every life-experience I've ever had) this was basically impossible, but I have settled for wanting to be acknowledged, included in conversation and not being told that I am full of excreta every 5 minutes...but I guess one has to be 'liked' to have all that not happen. lol

Then again, I am made aware that certain people were born basically unpopular to lessen their worldly attachments and make the whole process of ascending much smoother...sometimes I just get bored with creating my own little universe and all the characters within it and I long for a change.

My current situation is dire. I do not care if people think I am selfish at this time. It has come to a breaking point. I need to be selfish. I need to do what is best for myself right now, I need to be thinking about my future. And I do not care whether or how much my family does or does not like it right now.

I take much of the light-fluff- positivity spirituality with a grain of salt. Not because there is genuinely anything too wrong with it per-se. Sometimes I often admire those with a less troubling path. But I do feel it is very narrow and one sided. I am a firm believer that sometimes, it is actually quite necessary to be self serving. Especially in dire or emergency or tough situations. I have been practicing Shamanism for years. I do not sugar coat things. It isn't a path I'd advise too many to take, especially the variety I am cursed with.

I am not the healer type, at least not in the physical sense, help I offer to be honest is to hone gifts, and is probably considered quite self serving. I am practicing my own intuition. I am not rude or disrespectful to those I work with. I am not mean spirited. I do not charge a fee. I ask for feedback. That is it. I started wanting to help people, and that is what I aim to do, but I do not subscribe to a light fluffy path. I've seen too much of the spirit world to know better than to believe everything is absolute good.

If I wasn't myself I'd be lying to myself. And I refuse to lie.

If people don't like me it is fine, I'd rather them not go out of their way as an enemy but I've had a good share of that too.

I also like to be heard and acknowledged as a fellow human being. I am often not. I do not have many friends, I consider true friends. I do not even see the one's I still do.

I spend hours in internal dialogue with myself. I ask others questions they go unanswered. I am constantly offering guidance help and attempts at answers.

You can not force others to acknowledge you.

The most I myself see fit to do about it is to acknowledge those I can as I have been on the spectrum of not being acknowledged myself at times.

I wish very much so to talk of my spirituality with like minded people. There are not many practicing shamans or natives I have found willing to talk. More than quite enough of them charge for spiritual courses and what have you.

Many websites tell you to be called to shamanism one was be struck by lightening or have a near death experience and be taught by an elder Shaman.

??? The hell is this?

I never had a physical teacher- I am constantly learning by technique trial and error, I have never been struck by lightening, I have had a near death experience. That isn't enough in my opinion.

I asked God to give me a sign to whether I should undertake the path or not. I asked God (Mentally) to let me know then and there whether I was called or not. I made it clear I was serious.

I got the image of a certain feather (belongs to a certain type of bird) and the distinct thought that if I opened my medicine bag it would be there. I opened my medicine bag- the feather was there. I consider the type of bird to be my power animal. That is too strong an indication of a person's type of medicine to ignore.

I've had no peace and quiet ever since.

Just honestly wanted to converse with you Necromancer.

I do not mind your arrogance too much either, it simply doesn't bother me.

Main point is, sometimes we do need to be selfish, sometimes it is for our own good. Whether others take kindly to it or not.

Blessings.

[Shivani Devi]

Originally Posted by knightoflenity

For me this is totally appropriate since this is a thread of your making

I will ask this question & please don't take offence - it is the crux of my issue with how you present statements at times .. ready ..

If you are channelling God - how can you ever be wrong?

If they are Gods words how can they be refuted by another without putting them in the "non believer section?"

That to me is the lovely necro having the final word - via God.

I don't deny your journey or your faith, knowledge:
but the question of if a necro post channelling God can indeed be incorrect or one sided?

It doesn't mean I don't have love for you yer-silly-old-chook

.

I am indeed deeply touched by the sentiment.

I'm also very happy to see our differences appreciated and resolved through this thread here.

That being said, please forgive me for not understanding what you mean about the whole 'God channeling' thing as I am still failing to grok it.

Is it Necro having the final word? or is it God just adding his 10 cents into the conversation?

This is also hard to explain for me, but whenever that happens, 'Necro' just isn't there anymore. Of course I could ask Him to please type it all up on Microsoft Word instead, wait until I resume my normal countenance and then have me decide if I wish to edit it and/or post it...but do you understand it?

It isn't a question of God being right or wrong because it just is what it is.

Most times he will come through to explain things to me that many others have tried and failed to do so because they just don't understand 'necrospeak' and he does! There was a beautiful, glorious example of this the other day in the non-duality forum....ready...

Please read from post #47 - post #52 inclusive
http://www.spiritualforums.com/vb/sh...=115502&page=5
http://www.spiritualforums.com/vb/sh...=115502&page=6

Of course the teal writing is him, not me.

Who do you think taught me all this stuff to begin with? It wasn't just from books!

Maybe now you may begin to understand this and if it ain't 'God' it's some great deva (mahadeva) with an immaculate knowledge of Sanskrit, Hinduism, Yoga, Ayurveda, Tantra and the Vedas who just radiates and oozes pure love, pure energy, pure wisdom and pure consciousness, totally personified...and I mean who else but Shiva himself fits that bill? but whether you believe that Shiva = God is another matter entirely. ;)

This is the very reason why I say what I do about it.

I shall also reply to more posts as soon as the server becomes more conducive to it. =/

[markings]

I think 'be yourself' is basically an oxymoron because people, except for an infinitesimally small number, do not know who they are.

The only time when you can 'be yourself' is when there is no self, which shows how silly the saying is.

[Shivani Devi]

Originally Posted by markings

I think 'be yourself' is basically an oxymoron because people, except for an infinitesimally small number, do not know who they are.

The only time when you can 'be yourself' is when there is no self, which shows how silly the saying is.

Totally playing the Advaita 'devil's advocate' here, but if there is no self, how can people know who they are?

I'm just asking for it, aren't I?

Originally Posted by markings

I think 'be yourself' is basically an oxymoron because people, except for an infinitesimally small number, do not know who they are.

The only time when you can 'be yourself' is when there is no self, which shows how silly the saying is.

Yes!!

By being what you think self is, then you start identifying what isn't self.
and then you start the process of finding self.

This is the reason most guru's ask disciples seeking guidance "who are you"

I've heard a plethora of stories of spiritual teachers leading disciples to enlightenment by just posing one question. "tell me who you are and i will set you free"

PS: All of life is an oxymoron to me!

Originally Posted by The Necromancer

Totally playing the Advaita 'devil's advocate' here, but if there is no self, how can people know who they are?

I'm just asking for it, aren't I?

I'll stay subscribed for as long as i can

[Shivani Devi]

Hey guys! guys!!

I fully realise that I am Brahman, okay?

However, I still have to somehow exist in this world in the whole knowledge and experience of it, which also means I must somehow play the game even in the awareness that it's all just Maya, which makes it even more difficult. lol

[Shivani Devi]

Originally Posted by Badcopyinc

Yes!!

By being what you think self is, then you start identifying what isn't self.
and then you start the process of finding self.

This is the reason most guru's ask disciples seeking guidance "who are you"

I've heard a plethora of stories of spiritual teachers leading disciples to enlightenment by just posing one question. "tell me who you are and i will set you free"

PS: All of life is an oxymoron to me!

Oh my dear...if a guru ever asked me that question, they're gonna be sorry they ever did! :p

I'll just go all Adi Shankaracharya on them with Nirvana Shatakam in Sanskrit:

http://greenmesg.org/mantras_slokas/...a_shatakam.php

Then I'll go...yup, so what's next?