“Be different, Be yourself”, I read this advertisement recently and it reminded me of a story I once heard about a lion who had been separated from his parents at birth. He grew up in a flock of sheep, he behaved like one. He was a lion in a sheep-trance.

The story of a lion is a bit like many of our stories. We too are often in a trance. We too seem to have forgotten who we really are. And because of this mistake, we identify ourselves with different images and ideas; that is how others expect of us. We have put on masks and have actually begun to believe that we are the masks. Of course it is impossible to be happy if you are a lion and live like a sheep.

We then pretend to be who we are not. The only way to get to know this real self is through thorough research. Most people don’t have time for this. Or should I say they don’t make time for this? That’s the beauty of time: you make it.

During my own research (you can copy it), I came up with four things that are of vital importance for the self. The first is silence. The second is the relationship with my self. The third is the relationship with the Supreme and finally comes my relationship with those around me.

It is important to think of them in this order. We usually approach them the other way around. We are very concerned about the relationships we have with others; some of us think about God; a few think of their inner self and hardly anyone has a relationship with silence.

It takes time to get used to being silent and doing nothing. When I allow silence to enter my mind I come to know who I am deep down inside. With myself I can be honest, I don’t need to fool myself.

It can, however, be a bit painful to destroy the self-created images of ourselves, but believe you me; it is liberating.

Of course people around us will say; “Hang on, that’s not who you are, that’s not how I know you!” It can be painful to discover how little your friends and family really know you. But, actually, you can’t blame them. After all, it was you who had been misleading them by not showing your real self. You only showed them the mask.

Often our identity is in the clothes we wear, the jobs we have, the cars we drive, where we live and so on. Some people are different at work than from at home. Who are they misleading here? Their colleagues? Themselves or both?

What I know for sure is: We need to change our attitudes. This world needs healing (young kids as 16yrs are venturing into satanic acts).

God needs help. He needs free minds.