WHO AM I ?

 WHO AM  I ?

Photo: Michael

This is not my own-article.When I was at Kantkaw Education Centre (www.kantkaw.com), Teacher Jeff asked all of student to write about this topic in Philosophy Class. During that time, the idea of my class mate,Tha Peng Cung who wrote this article was cool for me, that's why I would like to share you it.

 

The answers for this question would be the name of the person or the position or rank of the person for almost everyone. The reason is nobody knows who I am exactly including me. We do not know all about ourselves, but mistakenly believe we do. In order to answer the question, the title question, I would like to discuss in three sections in which the first is the question and the remaining parts are the answers. The first section is the question of what I am, and then the second and the third are the answers for I am what my mind is and I am where my mind is respectively. 

As the question, what you are, pop up suddenly from somebody else, almost everyone answer it in two separate ways. The body, with its various muscle groups, organ systems and the mind which is abstract and all pervading. According to the research of Dr. Vijay Agrawal, most people see themselves as a body that is made up of bones, flesh and blood; with its five sense organs through which we learn about our world and our immediate environment. See through our eyes, hear with the help of our ears, smell trough our nose, taste wit our tongue and our skin gives us the sense of touch. Most of the things that we do are for our body. We feel hungry because of the body, and then the mind searches for sources of food and nutrition. The mind is intimately connected with the body. The mind acts upon the body and the body reacts upon the mind. A pure, healthy mind means a healthy body. Grief weakens the body. Therefore, it can be deduced that our mind is the driver to our milestone in the journey.

For the second part, I would like to begin with one or two examples that might be experienced by everybody in our lives. They are

1. We normally have a good night’s sleep. But what happens during the exams? We are in the same bed, in the same weather and still have the same body. Then why can’t we get a good night’s sleep? It is because of the tension created by the impending exams. Tension created in the mind took over the bodily functions.

2. We could easily walk on a narrow carpet on the ground. Even if it is only one to two feet wide. However, what happens if it were to be elevated twenty feet from the ground? Could we walk on easily? 

The answer is No. 

These examples show that we are primarily what our mind is. If the body could be compared to a car then the mind is the driver, without whom it cannot run. It would run with the velocity decided the driver. It would stop and start according to is wishes. The pilot is more important than the plane, and the captain is more important than the ship.

Thirdly, we associate our presence with the physical presence of our body. To a question like, “where are you?” we would reply to the place where our body is – at home, school and so forth. The reply is absolutely correct. Nevertheless, it is necessary to be considered:

We are in the classroom, being taught by the teacher. But we are not able to concentrate. Consequently, we understand nothing. Our mind has wandered off in the midst of a lecture. Even though, physically, we are in the class, mentally we are somewhere else. The body follows the mind. Fears, anxiety, mirth, grief, anger – all produce their various impressions on the face, only when the mind has decided to experience them. Thus, it can be construed that we are where our mind is. 

In short to answer to the question, “who am I?” I am nothing as I do not know where I came from, and then I do not know what my destiny is since I am what my mind is and I am where my mind( always changeable) is. 

Thang Peng Cung