Who Am I? What is The Real Answer?

“Who am I?” is the most fundamental of all questions. 

Ask yourself this question and you will find it hard to come up with a definitive answer. In the spiritual circles, the answer to this question is generally in the following lines:

• ‘You are not the body or the mind – you are the witness of all things. You are pure awareness ‘ 
• You are eternal consciousness that exists forever.
• You are an individual soul that keeps reincarnating on earth or a soul that passes through different levels of existence based on your spiritual progress.
• You are every single cell in your body and the sum total of all these cells.

But what do these answers actually mean? And are they really true? Let’s find out.

Finding the real answer to the question – Who Am I?

In my last article, I explored the ego and explained that the only way to truly understand the ego is to go back to the very beginning – to the moment of human conception.

In the same way, to answer this fundamental question of ‘Who Am I?’, we must also start from the very beginning. So let’s do that.

A human life begins when an egg cell from the female body is fertilized by a sperm cell from the male body.

It’s important to note here that the female egg cell and the male sperm cell are already alive (have a soul) and contain intelligence. 

The very fact that the sperm cell actively makes its way toward the egg cell proves that it is alive and guided by an inherent intelligence. In other words, both of these cells carry life energy or what many traditions would call the soul.

The female cell contains the following intelligence:

• Consciousness/Soul/Life energy.
• One half of the intelligence to create a human being.
• Personality traits from the mother’s side/lineage/ancestors .
• Emotional memory from the mother’s side/lineage/ancestors.

The male sperm cell likewise carries the same forms of intelligence:

• Consciousness/Soul/Life energy.
• The other half of the intelligence to create a human being.
• Personality traits from the Father’s side/lineage/ancestors .
• Emotional memory from the Father’s side/lineage/ancestors.

According to science, the sperm cell contains 23 chromosomes, and the egg cell also contains 23 chromosomes. When the sperm enters the egg, these chromosomes combine in a largely random manner, to create a unique genetic pattern.

The resulting cell, known as the fertilized cell (or zygote), contains the complete genetic blueprint required to form a new human being.

This blueprint carries a unique combination of traits – some inherited from the father’s lineage, some from the mother’s lineage, and some arising from entirely new genetic combinations. 

These form the core (or fixed) personality traits of the human being which includes inherent talents, desires, sexual orientation, interests, temperament, etc.  Even physical characteristics such as height, skin color, and many aspects of appearance are largely determined at this stage.

Of course, some of these traits can be influenced or modified by the conditions within the womb and the overall health of the mother. 

Here are the intelligences contained in this fertilized cell:

• Consciousness/Soul/Life energy.
• Complete intelligence to create a human being.
• Core/Innate/Fixed personality traits: A unique combination of personality traits from the mother’s and father’s lineage. (this forms the basis of instinct)
• Emotional memory from the father’s and mother’s side (this forms the basis of intuition).

Now the fertilized cell begins to divide from one to two, two to four and so on till after countless divisions a human baby is formed.

First, an embryo develops, containing the basic structures that will become the body’s organs. As development continues, it becomes a fetus, during which the baby grows and these structures mature further.

Among the earliest and most vital systems to develop are the primitive brain and the brain stem (which connects to and continues as the spinal cord), followed closely by the heart.

The primal (subconscious/primitive) brain contains within it the following data:

• Intelligence to run all the involuntary bodily functions (heart beating, breathing etc.)
• Emotional memory from past generations (this forms the basis of intuition)
• Core/Innate/Fixed personality traits  (this forms the basis of instinct)
• Data collected from the external environment for the purpose of survival
• Learned habits and behaviors’

The body also develops what we call the conscious brain, but this part matures more slowly. In fact, a baby does not begin to develop a clear sense of itself until many months after birth, and self-recognition typically emerges around the first year or later.

The conscious mind (primarily associated with the cerebral cortex, especially the prefrontal cortex) plays a major role in creating the sense of “I,” or Egoic Identity. It does this by interpreting and organizing information stored in the deeper, subconscious layers of the mind.

Now back to our original question – who am I?

Based on all the data we have looked at so far, 3 things are clear:

1. You are Eternal Consciousness

As we saw earlier, the fertilized cell (formed by the fusion of male and female cells) is alive (just like the male and female cells themselves) because it contains within it life energy or soul or eternal consciousness.

So at the very core, you are eternal consciousness. 

But point to note is that this consciousness is present in everything that exists. So when you think of eternal consciousness, a separate ‘you’ does not exist. It’s all just one field of energy.

Let’s say, there are 3 bulbs, one red, one yellow and one blue. A single electric current flows through all three, lighting them up. 

If you ask the red bulb, “Who are you?” it might say, “I am electricity,” because electricity is what powers it. And in one sense, that would be true.

But electricity itself is neutral. It has no identity of red, blue, or yellow.

A more precise answer would be: “I am a red bulb through which electricity flows.”

2. You are Your Core Personality Traits

The fertilized cell contains a unique genetic combination which acts as a blueprint to create the entire human body.

This unique combination contain your core personality traits – your likes, dislikes, talents, desires, nature, temperament, physical appearance, etc. And these aspects of your personality are fixed or innate. Thus, in a way, you are this fertilized cell along with the intelligence contained in this cell.

The cell continues to divide to form a complete human body and later they continue to grow and perish.  So you can also say that you are every single cell that constitutes your body, as all these cells contain the same intelligence as the fertilized cell.

3. You are the Conscious Mind

Now, it is important to note that it is the conscious mind that gives the body a sense of “I,” or egoic identity. Without the development of a conscious mind, a human being would not have a clear sense of self.

Consider an insect. Most insects do not have a highly developed conscious mind; they function primarily through instinct that comes from the primal brain. Because of this, they do not possess the same capacity for self-reflection or self-awareness that humans do.

Not only does the conscious mind create the sense of I, it also gives the body the ability to witness itself (and the world around) as a neutral observer (or as pure awareness). This is known as meta cognition or the power to think about your thoughts – to become conscious of your consciousness. 

In fact, you can say that the conscious mind is the eternal consciousness manifesting itself through your body.

So in that sense, you are the conscious mind or the “conscious witness”.

The Real Answer to the Question – “Who am I?”

So the answer to the question, “Who am I”, is threefold:

1. At the very core, you are the soul or life energy or the eternal consciousness. But at this level there is no separate egoic identity, you merge with the totality. So the separate sense of “I” does not exist,

2. You are the body – which was formed through a unique combination of chromosomes. Going a little deeper, you can say that you are the core set of traits that was formed at the time of fertilization. By the same logic, you can also say that you are every single cell that constitutes your body, as all these cells contain the same intelligence as the fertilized cell.

3. You are the Conscious Mind that gives you the ‘Sense of I’ and gives you the power to witness it all as pure awareness. In other words, you are the witness or pure awareness.

All of these three answers are accurate. 

Presence of an Individual Soul

Some traditions believe that you are an individual soul that keeps reincarnating on earth (or other planets). 

They say you as a soul carry memories from all past lifetimes. 

I do not agree with this view. The idea of a separate soul holding on to ego or personal memory does not fit with the understanding I’ve shared here.

I will write a separate article explaining this in more detail.

What is Eternal Consciousness?

It’s hard for the human brain at its current state to understand what eternal consciousness is, where it came from and why it decided to create a physical realm. 

Were we given a lower level of brain functioning so we can even find that out? In that case, are we in a simulation? And what do the people who have simulated us know about consciousness? Do they know any better or are they at our same level? 

Your thoughts are welcome, please feel free to leave a comment and let me know.