Summary

The provided text is an allegorical narrative that explores the journey of self-discovery and the process of unlearning conditioned behaviors to realize one's true nature and potential.

Abstract

The narrative uses the metaphor of an eagle raised in a chicken coop to illustrate the concept of individuals living a life misaligned with their true selves due to societal conditioning. It emphasizes that simply being informed of one's potential does not lead to its realization; rather, it requires a conscious effort to shed learned behaviors and beliefs, akin to the eagle learning to stop acting like a chicken. The story suggests that this process of self-realization involves identifying and mastering one's internal programs, which dictate behavior and perception. The text concludes by encouraging individuals to embark on a personal journey of self-discovery, referred to as "The First Ascent of Mount ME," to transcend their conditioning and fully embrace their authentic identity.

Opinions

The author posits that knowledge of one's true nature is insufficient for change; active unlearning and reconditioning are necessary.
The text implies that living according to one's true potential is hindered by societal norms and expectations, which are internalized from a young age.
It is suggested that the journey to self-discovery is a challenging but rewarding endeavor that requires courage and commitment.
The author believes that one's environment plays a crucial role in the development or suppression of innate abilities and potential.
The narrative conveys that self-realization is not about valuing one identity over another but about recognizing and living in alignment with one's authentic self.
The author introduces the concept of "The First Ascent of Mount ME" as a personal metaphor for the individual quest to understand and embody one's true nature, indicating that this is a unique and ongoing journey for each person.

Who Are You?

How to find out who and what you truly are

One day an eagle laid an egg in a chicken coop. The egg hatched and the newborn eagle learned from its peers how to live like a chicken. Life was OK — except for a yearning that made it seek. But none of what it found truly satisfied its yearning.

Would it help if someone told the eagle that it is not a chicken, but an eagle? No, this would not help. The eagle has learned to “be” a chicken; it carries a “chicken program” that tells it how to behave under which circumstances. It feels safe and comfortable “being” a chicken — except for the yearning.

Would it help if the eagle attended an eagle seminar in order to learn to be an eagle? No, this would not help either. Learning to be an eagle would install an eagle program that would overlay the chicken program. Then it would be an eagle who believes it is a chicken who has learned to behave like an eagle, which would be even more confusing than continuing to live as a chicken.

The only way for the eagle to be what it truly is, is to stop behaving like a chicken. For this it has to free itself from the chicken program.

Why did the eagle’s mother lay her egg in a chicken coop in the first place? Because she also lives in the chicken coop and believes that she is a chicken. In fact, ALL birds in the chicken coop are eagles who believe that they are chickens — and this has been so for thousands upon thousands of years.

This story is not about a valuation between eagles and chickens. Eagles are not better than chickens. They are different. It is about ending up in the wrong life because you grow up among those who have ended up in the wrong life in the same way. And it is about how to find your true life, that is, your true nature.

I call this story “The OTHER Story of the Eagle in the Chicken Coop” because it is different from the one you may know.

In a common version of the story of the eagle in the chicken coop, it is enough for someone to tell the eagle that it is an eagle.

But this is an illusion. If the eagle has lived its whole life as a chicken, it knows that it is a chicken. If somebody tells it something else, how can the eagle believe it more than its lifelong experience?

How would you feel if someone told you that you are something completely different from what you are living today? Would you give up your old life and start a new one based on this information? Maybe you would have to leave your family and friends, give up your job, and live somewhere else. Would you have the confidence and courage to do that?

In another version of the story of the eagle in the chicken coop, someone leads the eagle on top of a mountain and gives it a kick so that, as it falls down, it remembers how to fly.

But this is also an illusion. A living being does not remember its potential. It develops its potential. For this it needs an environment that demands and thus promotes its potential. Let us consider, as an example, a cheetah.

A cheetah born in the wild develops its potential as a hunter, becoming the fastest mammal on this planet. It must develop its full potential to survive. Until it is skilled enough to prey on its own, it is provided with food by its mother.

A cheetah born in captivity learns that its food comes from an animal keeper. It doesn’t have to be able to run fast and kill a prey animal. And because it does not have to, it does not develop that potential. It could not survive in the wild. Even if it were hungry, it could not suddenly run fast enough to kill a prey animal.

We humans are like the eagle in the chicken coop. We also copy the way of life of our parents. We carry a “human chicken program” inside us that tells us how to behave in which situation. As a result, we lead a limited life and develop only a fraction of our potential.

Back to the original question: Who are you?

I can’t tell you, for you have to find out for yourself. But I can tell you how you can find out.

First, you have to understand that you are not what you have learned to be. You are not your human chicken program.

Second, you have to remove everything that you are not. Then, that which you are remains.

In his novel “Island” Aldous Huxley phrased it as follows:

“If I only knew who in fact I am, I should cease to behave as what I think I am; and if I stopped behaving as what I think I am, I should know who I am.”

If you want to know who you are, you have to stop behaving as what you think you are. Your programs tell you what you are and how to behave. Therefore, you have to stop performing your programs. For this you have to identify your programs, then learn to master them. Since you are controlled by many programs, this is a lot of work. But it is a most rewarding work.

I call this endeavor The First Ascent of Mount ME. Only you can climb this mountain. I am on the ascent of my mountain since 2011. In “How ‘Know Thyself, Heal Thyself’ Became My Life Topic” I describe what made me go on this exciting voyage.