Is Personality Development A Good Idea
Nowadays, the idea of personality development has taken the world by storm, wherein one is suggested to have a strong personality, develop it, and polish it. We are introduced to concepts like self-love, self-respect, self-worth and so on, and are told to highly hold our self-image. However, have these concepts really helped us, or are more like a trap?
Nowadays, as it is evident, problems like stress, anxiety, and compulsive thinking has sky rocketed like never before. In fact, these problems are not just limited to adults, but have started to impact young generation as well. So where are we going wrong? Has this all to do something with personality and our self-obsession? To understand that, we need to understand what is personality, and its connection to information and thoughts.
Information Bound Personality
To begin understanding this topic, first let us understand the connection between personality, and information. Do you know that our personality is simply collection of information? Yes, our persona, our sense of “I,” is simply a collection of information coming from various sources like genes, DNA, our five senses and so on.
This is why, without information, we cannot even define ourselves. This information patterns, act like a blue print and give us a well=defined physical and psychological personality. These memory patterns, completely control everything about us, from how we think, act, and so on. In short, these memory patterns are like strings that control us like a puppet and make us dance to the tunes of it.
Now that we have understood the connection between personality and information, let us jump to the next segment and understand what are thoughts, followed by their connection to our personality.
Thoughts = Information
We talk a lot about freedom of thought, positive thinking, think right, and so on, however, have we ever tried to understand what are thoughts? Thoughts are simply, a by-product of information. Yes, what we gather through our five senses, and because of our genetic and DNA memory, we are able to think, because we need data to think.
However, the question remains, why the world struggles with their thought and emotion? Why people suffer from stress, worry and other negative emotions? You would be surprised to know the cause behind all our mental turmoil: our thought bound identity. Yes, are personality, or identity is thought bound, because without thinking, who are we? We just established above that personality + information, and thought = information, which means personality = thought, hence the famous saying: “I think therefore I’m.”
Now that we have established some amazing facts, let us understand that what creates so much negativity within us?
Thought Identity
Tell me, have you tried gratitude, positive affirmations, journaling, but have realized that they are just temporary fixes? Have you ever wondered that why we cannot stop our stress, worry, and so on? This is because of our thought bound identity: once our identity becomes thought, then obviously we cannot stop thinking.
The truth is, there is nothing like stress, anxiety, negativity or positivity, but only compulsive and conscious thinking. Yes, what we call negative is actually a compulsive thought process happening within us wherein we lose our power to choose. On the contrary, positive thinking is actually a conscious happening, wherein we think as per our choice. But how to do so? Dis-identification from personality is the key.
Beyond Personality
We have just established that our personality is thought bound, and once we create our identity with it, then we just cannot stop thinking. Because, in our experience, we have become a thought! Isn’t that strange? So what is the way out? The way out is not through personality development, but through personality dissolution.
When we begin to disconnect from our personality, then we also lose all information patterns, hence thoughts, which takes us to a serene state of nothingness. In that state, there is no “I,” no thought, just pure bliss. This is what meditation is: the art of being devoid of oneself. When we are able to stay in this zone of “no person,” then we transition from a compulsive to a conscious life.
Conclusion
It is true that countless methods are employed by people, to manage their inner environment. Be it through gratitude, journaling, or positive affirmations, but we surely do a lot to change our inner chemistry. However, the truth is that we all seek consolation, and not a solution.
We want to hear hopeful things, but it takes immense courage to realize and admit that our self-centric “I” thought is the root of all negative tendencies. Be it negative thinking, addictions, stress or anything else, but all this is a result of losing our free-will.
The one and only and permanent way out from such problems, is only and only self-dissolution. Through the spiritual path, when we are able to disconnect from our physical self, we are able to experience ourselves as an unsullied by information awareness. The moment this happens, we stop energizing our thought through identification, and they lose all their power. So let us come together, and put an end to all our inner turmoil, not through consolation, but through solution. Self-dissolution is the only solution!