When we are born we are given a name, an identity is born, and from that moment on, it is like a coat peg that we and others hang coats on. The coats are how we see or others see us, the role that we play and it is the start of our ego that we and others contribute to. Our identity is constantly being shaped and formed by the mind and the comments of others.
So begins the suffering that our mind and all its stories create for us within. It shapes all that we do.
We build up all these ‘Walter Mitty’ style characters that we are going to act out in our mind or in reality. In turn, these are all part of that mental angst that not being our true self creates.
The thing is all these coats on the peg weigh heavy on us and they hide our soul and true essence from the world. The weight becomes too much to bear sometimes.
Naming us is the start of creating the story of ‘Mary’ or ‘John’ or ‘Maria’ or ‘Philip’.
However, if we step away from the mind and its stories, if we stop seeing ourselves as the mind and its ego, if we no longer see ourselves as the name and its story, then the coats start to fall off the peg until our true self is revealed to the world. Our soul can shine, free from all the coats on the peg that hide it.
Philip Dodson 