Who Are You When Identity Falls Away?

After returning from a spiritual conference in Switzerland and time with family in England, I reflect on how the guidance from my guru—"even if you win the rat race, you're still a rat"—shaped my approach to spirituality as central to all aspects of life.

• Living with spirituality as the foundation rather than an accessory
• Choosing work that serves spiritual purpose rather than being caught in the rat race
• Focusing on peace, meditation, and family time instead of status and wealth
• Questioning self-identity beyond temporary roles and labels
• Understanding consciousness as our true nature that persists beyond physical existence
• Recognizing liberation (jivan mukti) as possible in this lifetime

Thank you for listening, and I'll see you tomorrow. Namaste.

• Join our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/hnRf7wESwX 
• Visit my website: https://www.thebeardedmysticpodcast.com/
• Buy The Bearded Mystic Podcast Merch: https://thebeardedmysticpodcast.myshopify.com/
• Want a one-on-one spiritual discussion with The Bearded Mystic - book here: https://www.thebeardedmysticpodcast.com/p/spiritual-discussion/
• Subscribe to The Bearded Mystic Podcast channel: https://www.youtube.com/ @TheBeardedMysticPodcast
• Become a Patron: https://www.patreon.com/thebeardedmysticpodcast
• Rahul on Bluesky:  https://bsky.app/profile/beardedmystic.bsky.social

Transcript

Welcome Back and Holiday Reflections

Speaker 1 0:07

hello and welcome to another episode of the bearded mystic podcast , and I am your host , rahul n singh . Thank you for taking out the time today to either watch or listen to this podcast episode . Uh , as usual . You know we're on discord , uh , you know we can get some lively conversations going on there . I'm also on whatsapp and , uh , yeah , anyway , and I'm on social media sites as well , which I need to start promoting a bit more , uh and putting more videos on .

Speaker 1 0:41

But , um , today , uh , well , it's been a long time since I've done a podcast it . Obviously . I've been away . I've been on holiday , uh , I was on a vacation . Uh , first I went to switzerland where my guru held a conference , uh , for two days and uh , so I was there , I attended that . It was on being boundless and there's quite a lot that I learned there , and then I spent around , maybe , I think I want to say a good 12 days then in England . Was it 12 days ? I don't know , it was , yeah , around 12 days spent in England and just spent time with family and so on . Got to meet a lot of friends , got to attend a few satsangs , which was nice .

Speaker 1 1:47

It's always helpful for me when I attend a satsang , especially when you know you visit those that you grew up in and there's something about the close affinity and close connection that you have with those . So you know , I've been relatively very lucky from a very young age to be attending satsangs and having spirituality be part of my life . I can't think of spirituality ever being a different aspect of my life

Life Beyond the Rat Race

Speaker 1 2:20

. I've always felt like there's only spirituality and that's what life's about and everything else revolves around spirituality . My work does not revolve around Sorry , my spirituality doesn't check out what my work is doing or whether it can . It's the other way around , where my work serves my spiritual purpose , in the sense of it gives me enough to support a living where I can live a very spiritual life . That does mean keeping desires in check . It means , yes , you know , you may not want to earn as much as everybody else , so you're not in the rat race , which is good , and I think that comes from a very deep idea that was given to me .

Speaker 1 3:12

I remember in Glasgow attending a satsang in the presence of my guru at the time was Babaji , so in the presence of Babaji , and I remember him saying right , and this you know , when you're 17 years old and you hear this or 18 . I was just about to start university hearing this . It shapes the way you then view life , and maybe this wasn't beneficial for , like my parents , who wanted me to probably go and earn loads of money or whatever at the time . I don't know what they think now , but for me it was this thought really kind of kind of shaped my worldview . He said that even if you win the rat race , you're still a rat and this is no offense to rats , by the way . You know they're living their life , they're doing their thing . Um , you know they're living their life , they're doing their thing , uh , but but the meaning of the statement is you know , obviously you look at america , it's all about the rat race . You know who's got the bigger house , better car , more wealth , who's a millionaire , all this stuff , and you know , and we give people value based on that and it's . It's really idiotic when you think about it , but that's the way we see things and we think that if somebody is successful in their business , it means that they must be really good . They could earn that money through very cunning and very criminal ways even , you know , but , or going around loopholes which normal folk wouldn't do . Now , does that mean that that person should be given great respect ? I don't really think so , just because they have a few extra bucks in their pocket ? So essentially what my guru was pointing to was you know , you're still a rat even if you're in the rat race .

Speaker 1 5:21

And uh and this has been , I think , kind of my world view ever since I heard that was you know , I will enter the race , but I'm not in the rat race . You know , I'm not in the race to be at the top . If the top , if the opportunity to be at the top , comes to me , that's different and I accept it humbly . But that doesn't mean that I will strive for that or I will work for that . I will just do my work and um , do it diligently and as best as possible , and that's it . Leave the rest to um and as best as possible , and that's it . Leave the rest to , and then guard to guard to the formless .

Speaker 1 6:04

And that's been the way I viewed life . It's helped me in a lot of ways , because it means I'm more at peace , I'm more calm . Things come to me rather than I'm chasing them . So I think I save a lot of energy and I get to sleep beautifully at night , you know , and I get to read , I get to meditate , I get to think about the divine , I get to write poetry . I get to do so much in my spiritual life . I get to spend time with my son , my wife . These things are valuable to me and they hold more value than anything else .

Speaker 1 6:45

So , sorry , I'm also unwell . I'm just recovering from A mild sickness that I got on this trip On the latter part of it , which was also the annoying thing , but that's the body right . So , essentially , I think , the whole point of just , you know , coming back to America and coming back home , you know , I just realized that the choices that I've made since I've moved to America and choosing not to be part of the rat race , choosing to just be to work on my spirituality , has been the right one

Choosing Peace Over Cultural Debates

Speaker 1 7:34

. To not get invested into , um , the , the silly conversations that happen in america , like and this is happening now weirdly globally , but and because I I heard moments of this conversation even in england but like people are worried about how many genders there are , sexual identity , all this type of stuff , and I'm just not for it . I'm just like you know what , I do not care how many genders there are . I do not care what sexual orientation someone is . I don't care if someone is transgender . I just want people to live harmoniously . I don't care if someone is transgender , I just want people to live harmoniously , with love and respect , and let people identify with whatever they want to identify with .

Speaker 1 8:17

Because , as a spiritual person , we understand that any identity that's formed becomes the ahamkara . It creates more of the I . So essentially , we have to let go of these labels and these identities . But if somebody holds dear to it , because right now they feel that they're trying to master themselves , then let them do that and there will be a time when they will let go of the identity . And unfortunately , what happens is the more you tell people not to identify something , they're going to identify with it more , because you're then putting who they are on the line and that's what they feel and and that's what people don't understand . So you know , you get all these fools that will blow up on social media saying you know there's only two genders . But essentially you're causing more harm than you're proving , than anything else . And also , from a hindu perspective , there's not just two genders .

Speaker 1 9:27

So , just saying so , any hindus that follow that particular line of thinking you , you need to , like , read the scriptures a bit more uh , so , uh , yeah , anyway , um , and who are we ? Essentially ? This is the point that I'm coming to , that I'm alluding to , and this is why desiring things doesn't make any sense , and that's why having detachment makes more sense , and that is that , yes , you have your body , your mind , and you have that . You see the world through that . Yes , you function your life through that . Yes , but who are you ? You know , have we ever asked that question ? Who am I ? And essentially , until we ask that question of who am I , we're not going to go further in our spiritual journey .

Who Am I? Questioning Identity

Speaker 1 10:32

For me , it was important for me to know who am I ? Okay , am I the father role that I have ? Am I the husband ? Am I the fiance ? Am I the boyfriend ? Am I the son ? Am I the brother ? Am I the friend ? Am I the brother ? Am I the friend ? Am I a male ? Are these things going to last ?

Speaker 1 11:02

So , when I die , is it called a male body or a female body ? Actually , it's just called the body . The body will be cremated or turn into ashes . So that can't be me , because once I'm ashes , how is anyone going to identify me , as you know , it's not going to be . Those ashes will become part of the earth . You know , obviously my ashes will be thrown in the river . So um are poured into the river and you'll enter into the ocean . Very , look at the metaphor .

Speaker 1 11:45

So if death proves that I am not any of the identities that I cling on to today , then who am I ? What makes me me , what makes me feel like me ? I've gone through all these changes . I'm a witness that witness consciousness that is . I'm a witness that witness consciousness that , even like I know that physically and mentally I won't , there will not be the limitation of consciousness in those things . I can recognize that . Yet I recognize also that consciousness seems to go beyond that .

Speaker 1 12:37

And so if consciousness is what I am , as the scriptures tell me , that I'm formless , boundless , beyond form , beyond image , beyond color , beyond definition , beyond quality , then can I experience that right now ? And yes , you can . You see , the body and mind does not inhibit you from doing so . The idea that we think that the body and mind is the biggest obstacle . It's only there because we make it the obstacle Really . It can be used to make us feel what we really are . It can be used to make us feel what we really

Consciousness Beyond Body and Mind

Speaker 1 13:20

are . Once you're able to feel it , then you're able to then go into that feeling and then seek is it actually a feeling that comes and goes , or is it something that's actually present , that you're now just being aware of ? The feeling that you are awareness , that you're consciousness ? But actually the consciousness and awareness is your every moment experience and , ultimately , that is jivan mukti , that is liberation whilst you're alive . That's what the scriptures point us towards .

Speaker 1 13:55

I'm not going to speak for much longer Because my throat will give in . I'm happy that I've been able to speak For so long , but it's been really great To get back to recording , to being here , and I'll see you tomorrow for sure , but , like I said , remember who you are , and that has to be be the most important thing . Okay , thank you , and I'll see you tomorrow , namaste .