Conditioned Since Childhood

Continued from yesterday…

Our identification with the ego began when we were children. We were born into a family with a last name, we were given a first name, then placed in a race and gender category, and distinguished by height, hair and eye color, and a plethora of other distinguishable physical features.

We were later grouped according to age, appearance, athleticism, creativity, intelligence, ethnicity, religion, and even the socioeconomic status of our parents. The sum of all these concepts turned into a mental construct of who we are. We began to identify with our thoughts, which we linked together to form the subconscious beliefs that shaped how we view the world and what we do with the life we have.

Embryonic to this conscious mental construct of ourselves is an underlying unconscious fearful feeling that we are not enough the way we are. When I—the independent and separated self—became a concept in our young minds, it also ignited a craving for love. The oneness of love that initially pervaded our consciousness faded as we gained a mental idea of self. Love is no longer associated with the union that we participate in and that makes up our true self. Instead, love has become an egoic pursuit that I have to earn or deserve.

To be continued tomorrow…

Adapted from Section 2 of Awakening To I Am Love by David Youngren