What gives us our sense of identity? Some of the components of our sense of identity include:
- Personal History
- Body Image
- Familiar Sensations
- Thought Patterns
- Patterns of Reactivity
- Name
Beyond the basic need for a sense of control, we are deeply driven by our sense of identity, of who we are. ‘I’ is a capital letter, denoting the importance we place on our sense of individual self. As Descartes said, ‘I think, therefore I am.’ Many social theories are to do with creating or preserving our sense of identity. – Changing Minds
Of coures there is always the number of cards, accounts, bills, mail, and the like that are connected to our identity.
But is all of this, in part or total, who we really are? What is our fundamental identity and how does that sense of identity differ from our day-to-day sense of identity?
One of the most significant characteristics of the soul is that it can identify with the content of experience. It can take any impression, for example self-image, and make itself believe that that impression is itself. It can also take a part of the psychological structure and believe it to be the whole of itself. Identifying with an impression or the content of experience makes the self believe that it has an identity, and through this identity it then recognizes itself. Our personal history, constituted by our memories, comprises the basic content of our usual identity. This identification with the personal history provides a feeling of self-recognition, a sense of identity, or a sense of self. So in experiencing itself through the veil of memories, the soul not only loses sight of its primordial purity – its Essence – but also identifies itself through and with this veil of personal history. – A.H. Almaas
Questioning the self or identitiy is a basic practice or koan in Buddhism – Who Am I?
Don’t know? Here’s help