What does it mean to "Be True To Yourself"

[TheCLounge]

In your own understanding and experience...

 

I believe this is what every holy scripture tries to teach us but we fall in religious/egotistical trappings.

 

 

I even believe that's what the entire Bible and kingdom of heaven is about..

Edited November 21, 2017 by TheCLounge

[Anastasia]

To be true to yourself, you first have to know yourself.

[TheCLounge]

I've believed that they are both the same. Different wordings. Same meaning or they at least bring about the same result.

[C T]

be true to self, imo, is indicative of a call to fulfill one's potential to the best of one's abilities and circumstances. 

 

 

[Lost in Translation]

I see 'Be True to Yourself' as something very, very simple.

 

1) As @Anastasia says, you must first know yourself.

 

2) Knowing yourself, you must act at all times in a way that is consistent with your morals, ethics, and values.

 

3) Understand that you will change with time. When you do, don't fall into the trap of judging your former self with your current morals, ethics, and values.

 

If you can follow these rules then you can live a guilt-free life. I say this not in a vacuum, but from decades of personal experience. This is how I live my life.

[rene]

To me, it means something different.

 

I believe that limitless love resides inherently at the core of each of us, as our base foundation and original starting point.

 

Being true to yourself - is letting everything else fall away, and allowing that true nature to arise.

 

[Maddie]

According to the Buddha's explanation of anatta there is no self due to the fact that what ever you call yourself... isn't. So perhaps the question is to know what yourself isn't?

[TheCLounge]

1 hour ago, dmattwads said:

According to the Buddha's explanation of anatta there is no self due to the fact that what ever you call yourself... isn't. So perhaps the question is to know what yourself isn't?

When I say self I don't mean in an egotistical way. 

 

But as being apart part of the essence 

[cold]

2 hours ago, rene said:

To me, it means something different.

 

I believe that limitless love resides inherently at the core of each of us, as our base foundation and original starting point.

 

Being true to yourself - is letting everything else fall away, and allowing that true nature to arise.

 

 

Oh were that to be true  "What a wonderful world it would be ...

                                         I see friends shaking hands ... Saying... how do you do

                                         What they're really saying .... is I love you."

[Maddie]

1 hour ago, TheCLounge said:

When I say self I don't mean in an egotistical way. 

 

But as being apart part of the essence 

But what does that mean? 

[liminal_luke]

28 minutes ago, dmattwads said:

But what does that mean? 

 

You might not have a self, Dmattwads, but it`s nice to see you back around here anyway.

[cold]

8 minutes ago, liminal_luke said:

 

You might not have a self, Dmattwads, but it`s nice to see you back around here anyway.

 

He is a bot?

[Nungali]

6 hours ago, TheCLounge said:

In your own understanding and experience...

 

I believe this is what every holy scripture tries to teach us but we fall in religious/egotistical trappings.

 

 

I even believe that's what the entire Bible and kingdom of heaven is about..

 

Know what a 'self' is first .  

 

Then, know what 'version' of a self you are.   - 'Know Thyself '  means to know and understand what  a human is, especially the basic model of the human psyche , then how your particular version fits in with and works that model.

 

For me, after about 40 odd years of looking at various ones, I have chosen a basic 'Egypto - Kabbalistic - Zoroastrian - Thelemic ' schemata (with adaptions)   using the language, symbols, images and explanations  of astrology and Greco-Roman mythology.

 

That's the basic self programme.  Next is to discover  your original essence or spirit (one's 'calling' , higher desires, natural propensities, dharma, True Will, etc .)   The first (self) is your vehicle, the second (True Will ) your essence or purpose.    By then, an idea of what 'yourself' is should begin to emerge.

 

Then , this has to be incorporated internally and externally through a process of initiation, or more importantly, individuation ;  where all this gets integrated ( and modified ) in a social context , that is, how 'you'  work and fit in with  ,  'give to' your society and/or culture  and  how and what you get back from it .

 

To be true to yourself means, once you have these realisations, to live and express them.  Not to take a payoff  (or for  any other reason ) and limit or restrict the self, or go down a false path or expression of your  True Self  ( if you can find out what that is ) .

 

 

 

[9th]

Quote

      To be sensitive is a natural condition of certain people. In the final analysis sensitivity matters very little. What matters is that a warrior be impeccable. What matters to a warrior is arriving at the totality of oneself.

      The self-confidence of a warrior is not the self-confidence of the average man. The average man seeks certainty in the eyes of the onlooker and calls that self-confidence. The warrior seeks impeccability in his own eyes and calls that humbleness. The average man is hooked to his fellow men, while the warrior is hooked only to himself. You're after the self-confidence of the average man, when you should be after the humbleness of a warrior. The difference between the two is remarkable. Self-confidence entails knowing something for sure; humbleness entails being impeccable in one's actions and feelings.

 

      The double is not a matter of personal choice. Neither is it a matter of personal choice who is selected to learn the sorcerers' knowledge that leads to that awareness. Have you ever asked yourself, why you in particular? I don't mean that you should ask it as a question that begs an answer, but in the sense of a warrior's pondering on his great fortune, the fortune of having found a challenge.

      To make it into an ordinary question is the device of a conceited ordinary man who wants to be either admired or pitied for it. I have no interest in that kind of question, because there is no way of answering it. The decision of picking you was a design of power; no one can discern the designs of power. Now that you've been selected, there is nothing that you can do to stop the fulfillment of that design.

      A warrior is in the hands of power and his only freedom is to choose an impeccable life.

 

      Our reason is petty and it is always at odds with our body. This, of course, is only a way of talking, but the triumph of a man of knowledge is that he has joined the two together.

      The ally is waiting for you, that's for sure. It is right here, or there, or in any other place. The ally is waiting for you, just like death is waiting for you, everywhere and nowhere. It's waiting for the same reason that death waits for you, because you were born. There is no possibility of explaining at this point what is meant by that. You must first experience the ally. You must perceive it in its full force.

      The way one understands the ally is a personal matter. There's no need to be confused. Confusion is a mood one enters into, but one can also get out of it. At this point there is no way of clarifying anything. Later we'll consider these matters in detail. It's up to your personal power, so work for impeccability.

 

      A warrior cannot be helpless, or bewildered or frightened, not under any circumstances. For a warrior there is time only for his impeccability; everything else drains his power, impeccability replenishes it.

      Impeccability is to do your best in whatever you're engaged in. The key to all these matters of impeccability is the sense of having or not having time. As a rule of thumb, when you feel and act like an immortal being that has all the time in the world you are not impeccable; at those times you should turn, look around, and then you will realize that your feeling of having time is an idiocy.

 

      In the life of a warrior there is only one thing, one issue alone which is really undecided: how far one can go on the path of knowledge and power. That is an issue which is open and no one can predict its outcome. I once told you that the freedom a warrior has is either to act impeccably or to act like a nincompoop. Impeccability is indeed the only act which is free and thus the true measure of a warrior's spirit.

 

- Castaneda

 

[thelerner]

Know thyself &

To thine own self be true.

 

Works for me, though I might add to your best self be true.  Otherwise, some of myselves are pretty slovenly. 

 

 

addon>  wanted to grab the original Shakespearean:

Polonius: This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man.

 

For an interesting historical view  of the quote see: https://literarydevices.net/to-thine-own-self-be-true/

Edited November 21, 2017 by thelerner

[rene]

5 hours ago, cold said:

 

Oh were that to be true  "What a wonderful world it would be ...

                                         I see friends shaking hands ... Saying... how do you do

                                         What they're really saying .... is I love you."

 

Similar to the exchanged greeting of Namaste.

[Fa Xin]

For me, it just means to be aware of your thoughts and actions, reactions, emotions, attachments... all that good stuff. Being mindful (eh hate that word) and knowing your mind. 

 

It may not be something as grand as discovering your own true nature - but it’s the important step to take in that direction. Something a bit more attainable for Joe Shmoe. 

 

Joe Shmoe may not know his true nature, but if he can see that his current “nature” and tries to make the best of that....

 

if he is aware of his habits, his patterns, and the effects of his actions. 

 

 

Above all is ACCEPTING them and being truthful about your flaws and foibles. 

 

Sorry, what was the question ?

Edited November 22, 2017 by Fa Xin

[TheCLounge]

I agree. I think when people think of being "true to themselves" they think about just doing whatever they want. But I see a sense of self accountability and examination as well.

[Small Fur]

On November 21, 2017 at 6:48 AM, TheCLounge said:

In your own understanding and experience...

 

I believe this is what every holy scripture tries to teach us but we fall in religious/egotistical trappings.

 

 

I even believe that's what the entire Bible and kingdom of heaven is about..

 

On November 21, 2017 at 5:28 PM, Fa Xin said:

For me, it just means to be aware of your thoughts and actions, reactions, emotions, attachments... all that good stuff. Being mindful (eh hate that word) and knowing your mind. 

 

It may not be something as grand as discovering your own true nature - but it’s the important step to take in that direction. Something a bit more attainable for Joe Shmoe. 

 

Joe Shmoe may not know his true nature, but if he can see that his current “nature” and tries to make the best of that....

 

if he is aware of his habits, his patterns, and the effects of his actions. 

 

 

Above all is ACCEPTING them and being truthful about your flaws and foibles. 

 

Sorry, what was the question ?

 

 

 

First of all, I would like to acknowledge the simplicity of what Fa Xin had to say; there can be many steps along the way to true self-knowledge and some self-accepting reflection in awareness is a very practical place to begin! I would also suggest among other things, Kholberg’s principles of Moral Development as a way to conceptualize one’s orientated perspective from a mundane psychological perspective.

 

As for the completed state…

 

Being “true to yourself” is a state of integrity that when deeply founded, has no doubt nor need to announce it self; like all Truth, it simply is. And from that source its flow is natural, easy and without the fear of self-consciousness. So if you are ‘fighting’ to maintain your integrity, then you are not fully rooted in it. If you are trying to rationalize how to be, then you are not coming from the core of integrity. And if you are taking the time to boast about it, then you aren’t just living it.

 

To clarify, true Integrity does not originate from a psychological state; it is a full system state, that at its utmost level does not only involve the physiology of the body, but the complete alignment of the mind-heart to all subtle bodies, and ultimately the release of your human beliefs and concepts to move in unison with the harmonies of the entire universe (this is, to note, wei wu wei).

 

How you come to this is not so much through the psychological reflection that is often born from a state of mental projection, but rather it is in recognizing the whole of your constitutional place in alignment with all else. It is a deep understanding and knowledge of self before mind. From here, your mind only acts as the servant-executor to the flowing depths of your truth.

 

So the realizations of values and morals (often which in the absoluteness of integrity are not themselves absolute) are the fruits of this alignment, not the reverse, which is as most people live. It is that most people tend to “think” about what they ‘should’ do and create all sort of ‘beliefs’ around what they think could be right, and then mistake these rationalizations as the truth from which they define themselves. This often leads to rigid action, to imposing proclamations of dogma, to arrogance, to internal dissonance (much of which is sublimated in service of social convention and prevalent ideology), and ultimately a very deep seated and unconscious fear, because most know and can feel at some level with minimal reflection, their own fraudulence, their own confusion, and their own emptiness in insecurity.

 

Integrity, like all other states of truth are of no-mind. You exist in an orientation that is fundamental from a principle transcendent of the man-made condition, though integral to it. And either one realizes this truthful inherency of place in being or they do not and therefore act from the confused, rationalized states of (self) belief, and thus live in perpetual psychological insecurity that they (falsely) construct to cope with the actuality that they don’t know… even the most fundamental innate things… like one’s own “true self”.

[Astral Monk]

How can you be false to youself?

 

Its like asking an orange to 'be fully an orange, not something else!'

 

As pointed out, there is no enduring 'self' to be true to. 'Self' is just a momentary locus of a narrative, a loose knot holding together a string of associations.

 

'Truth' meanwhile fares no better as a logical value tying together a series of well-formed propositions, defining a coherent system--in other words, an imaginary dotted line in the proverbial sand marking off a domain of ideas we call 'facts'.

 

'Truth' and 'self' are both relative, conditioned, as evidenced by the fact there is 'not-truth' and 'non-truth' as well as 'not-self' and 'non-self'. These referers have no fixed referees.

 

So really this is nothing more than an aphorism to what, not lie in your mind as part of your own internal monologue? Lol, you cant lie to yourself. Then it means steadfastly (or stubbornly) adhere to your beliefs in your head even in the face of external opposition?

 

Because it cant mean anything profound about true nature or whatnot. An orange is still an orange no matter what imagination projects. Even if the self were a 'thing', lies and truths emmanate from it without violating its nature or changing its fact. Both fully reveal its essence without fail or obstruction.

 

Which means a thing, even a person, always and by every act expresses its essence. It cannot fail to. It cannot deceptively express another essence. In being the thing it is, it cant fail to be that thing--as we would say, truthfully.

 

8)

[Marblehead]

You hit on a key word here:  imagination.  That includes illusions and delusions.