Who are you?

Who are you? 

Seems to be a simple question…

This question, regularly, arises during our programs. Many participants however wrestle to answer it. Sometimes it even is a confrontation (also emotional) when they cannot find  an answer immediately in the inner emptiness that arise. Anyway, one has to search deep dealing with this question. A quick answer does not come up. Doesn't this strike you as 'odd' because  you are ‘living’ for such a long time already? It took me even over fifty years to start answering this question.

As an example; You are not your name. This is how they call you (or how you prefer to be called).
You are no manager, city council member, director, professor, project leader, doctor, therapist, or what ever. This is after all what you do or your job (occupation).
You are not partner, father or mother, brother or sister, nephew or niece. This is your relationship and/or roll.
This are all patches, patterns, and dreams around yourself. They hide the inner void. They do not show and share the energy of who you really are and what the world is waiting for.

So… Who are you?
There is not a single person in this world exactly like you. Since you were born you are, as you are, complete and perfect. Nothing had to be added and nothing had to be taken away. All the treasures you need to be who you are and to reach your destiny in life are already inside. You are, to say in one word, unique!

It’s your environment, society, who teaches you to become 'perfect'. You want the approval of others. That they say something that makes you feel good. But this is ridiculous because you already are perfect. You only have to be aware of it.

So stop wasting your time, your life, your money and your energy searching for ‘another you’ thinking you getting approval from others. You are trying to escape from yourself. Not confronting your true self. Don’t be distracted from your destiny because others are watching you.

The Eastern approach is to start searching and knowing the authentic and valuable ‘dreamer’ from the inside. This awareness and insight provides free (inner) space to live, grow and excellent creation as balance in a world in transition.

When you are who you are you will never be deceived. Being who you are is called real LIVING. You do not have to be a beggar (any more) for things which assume to help you to make you perfect. Don’t ask. With asking you will miss much that is already available in you. Look and dis-cover rather than asking. All the treasures you need are already inside you. You only have to be aware and start living them. Stop doing things which you never wanted to do.

Are you weird in the eyes of other people when you are and act who you are? Just say... you are unique. You always were.

Taking the time to really answer the question; “Who am I?” for yourself, can bring you wealth and freedom. It’s marvellous to have this experience (time after time) with guests here in Villa Asia.

Frans Captijn
Host / Catalyst / Talenteer at Captijn Insight

Captijn Insight: “Catalyst in your process to new sustainable flow. Whether you are an individual, couple, team or an organization.” 

www.captijninsight.com

captijninsight@gmail.com

Open your gate. There is nothing to hide. Dis-cover more.

Living in Thailand now for over two years I am more and more aware of all kind of gates people living here have around their house. We just moved and also have a gate now.

Gate’s in Thailand are not only to protect. Lot of times they are open. They show well being and wealth. When you have a big garden most of the time the house is at the end of the lane starting at a beautiful gate. A kind of dress to impress and the ego show must go on.

The image of a gate brings me to more and more experiences I have in my life. During my life in The Netherlands, after connecting with other people or friends entering their gate, a lot of times I felt happy I got the opportunity to enter my own gate again. Not so bad inside as I thought.

A lot of suffering behind ‘closed doors’ is going on. Showing the outside everything is fine. The show of happy living goes on. Using Facebook the outside world looks bright! Everybody (including me) most of the time shows ‘the best’. It’s all laugh, light and love. But… listening deeply, being available, being there… other stories occur. Lots of people are crying inside.

People hide between walls and have an inner threshold guard to protect themselves from being hurt (again) or showing their real world. Labyrinths, in a nice way, show the inner world and the outside world. Many people are trapped in their inner world and when they go outside they start to take care of others so they can forget their own war inside.

They are in a vicious circle believing that their future is only the past again entering through maybe another gate. Not knowing how to get rid of this disturbing inner believe hearing their inner voice (voices from the past from others) instead of listening to their source of silence.

Hiding has become a natural self learned pattern starting early in life. Most of the time not even necessary any more now. It has to do with showing the, not existing, ego being happy and valuable.

Osho says: “You think your ego is something valuable? People simply laugh at it. Except you, everybody else is against your ego. Except you, everybody else knows the ridiculousness of it – about your ego.

What is the ego? It is a very ridiculous standpoint. The ego says, “I am the center of the universe. The universe exist for me.” But you are not the center of the world – because the world was here when you were not, and the world will be here when you are not here. You cannot be the center. You are not the center. If there is a God, then only God can say “I”, nobody else. It’s okay as a formal expression.
The (not really existing) ego gives you an imaginary rock to stand on. It is just a dream. The ego is a declaration that “I am separate from others – separate from the trees, the sky, the sea, your ancestors – but you are not. To say ‘I’ is simply absurd. You cannot be independent, totally independent. So just be and know the ego is just only an imagination.”

How open is your gate? What are you hiding for? When you open your gate there is a lot valuable reality to discover for yourself outside your gate and for other people, without even knocking, inside your gate.

When you know who you are there is nothing to hide. It’s worth sharing. The world is waiting for you. Nothing courageous to be done. Do not show, just be and live. 

Frans Captijn
Host / Catalyst / Talenteer at Captijn Insight

Captijn Insight: “Catalyst in your process to new sustainable flow. Whether you are an individual, couple, team or an organization.” 

www.captijninsight.com

captijninsight@gmail.com

What is life all about?

During a buddy program I joined a class with my guest at the Suan Dok Temple in Chiang Mai connected to the Buddhist University.

Buddhism is not a religion. It is a philosophy of how to live life without suffering. This tuesday afternoon the theme / teaching was; "What is life all about?"

I will try to express my understanding and feeling. During the class I discovered that life has to do with Peace, Mission and Forgiveness. 

Peace, in the first place, has to do with the peace within yourself. When you are suffering, most of the time you are not in balance between thinking (creating your own reality, but not thé(whole) reality) and feeling (intuition  / insight / inner wisdom). And when you are not in peace with yourself, it’s easy to start a war with somebody else (the world around you). So when you want to live who you really are you first have to work on peace within and accept who you realy (all one) are.

Nobody is here at this world to do nothing. You have to learn and to fulfill your mission. To find out your mission is one. It’s only to recognize all your talents and gifts and to discover the way you are called to bring them into the world. 

The second thing is to come into action to do it. Be the missionary to bring all (your unique set), instead of only a few, of your talents and gifts into the world. You are in charge to do the things you have to do. The world is waiting for it. 

Forgiveness is a topic on itself. Not realy a Buddhist one. 

Life is NOT about suffering. Pain is inevitably. This is not a pessimistic view. It is the reality of life. Suffering is optional, a choice. Again you are in charge, you make your own decisions. You have the possibility to make free choices. Stop your general excuses, think out of the box and see your obstacles as opportunities. You are not a failure as you fail. Every failure is a step closer to success.

Forgiveness is to let go. To give a new chance to do good. And think about the idea that you are the only one that decides what is ‘doing good’ (for you and out of your reality). It’s only your perception.

You can be disappointed or maybe even ruined because of disappointment in hope. False experienced hope.There is a lot in life that hurts us. You can sometimes feel hurt by what other people have done to you.But people are human, they make mistakes, they may be under stress sometimes, they say a sharp word. When your heart is open this can sting it. But most of the time there is no real malice, nothing personal intended in that. It is just that people are fallible and in different situations they act hastily and make mistakes. It is really easy to turn oneself in somebody wronged…, thinking; ‘this always keeps happening to me…’, everybody is against me.

Maybe, in a different way you think, they try to make you a success. We are not perfect sometimes.

So open up to forgiveness. We need not feel graved and feel not retaliate when things turn against us. Because actually everybody has his best interest and heart but some of the times they don’t show it. Some people are unfortunately so out of touch with compassion, love and wisdom, that they persistently do things that harm others. That’s  tragic but we should not lose heart when we notice that. We have to know that there are people who are desperately confused and have yet to learn that the way to live is to abandon desires and cultivate kindness to all beings.

And remembering this, that enables us to live unselfish, live for the good of all beings doing that with promotes happiness and harmony.

Life is about peace, mission and forgiveness. What an insight. 

Frans Captijn
Host / Catalyst / Talenteer at Captijn Insight

Captijn Insight: “Catalyst in your process to new sustainable flow. Whether you are an individual, couple, team or an organization.” 

www.captijninsight.com

captijninsight@gmail.com

What actually is Mastery, what to do with it?

I deliberately don't want to give it a true definition because I do not want to give it a label and put the word in a kind of ‘prison’. I see it as a loose and involved form of competence and wisdom out of growth, development and maturation. Mastery goes beyond 'expertise', 'life experience' and competence. It is an attitude of personal freedom one of 'you are who you are' in an environment that allows you to be exactly that way and should be. It would be regrettable for yourself and those around you if you don't show everything that you have.

Mastery has an interesting natural control of yourself or on what you do. A personal leadership in which you feel free and not being chased. When you know what you can and should contribute and what is expected from you in a situation just by sense.

You share your complete, unique and specific set of skills and talents, whether or not with others, to move forward in your life. Which will cost you in that way hardly any effort. You have your abilities in your backpack for a reason and you know how to keep your balance. You frequently take a short break to enjoy (celebrate) the results, to learn from the experience and to recharge for your next small step.

Those masterful qualities that you don' t have you know fast enough how to find them by addressing others through your energy, enthusiasm and inspiration, This is regarded as an inviting and stimulating way of sincere cooperation with respect and appreciation for their specific qualities. Deliberately not trying to get those qualities for yourself. That, after all weakens you, can put relationships under stress, and it takes too much time that you can use in a better way to improve a more beautiful world for yourself and those around you. 

Why would you go looking for the mastery in yourself and / or your organization? 

There are much more valuable beautiful things in people and organizations to achieve than is usually done (and which is paid for). People, and thus organizations  have a lot more to offer to move more freely and easier forward on the road of life, known as 'profit' or getting targets. And that's not often by convulsively management or 'steering'  according to all sorts of procedures and / or fixed patterns. Wanting to keep a grip is a commendable (and sometimes measurable) aim but it also brings inflexibility and cramps along with it.

In the rush in which we live and work, we barely get to look at and listen to ourselves. Letting in inspiration, sometimes from less well-known sources, and looking from different angles at ourselves and the challenges around us. Choosing for Mastery is choosing for connection, commitment, passion, talent, creativity and above all, free (inner) space. More fun in which the person is the main objective. A higher quality of life, in my opinion,  as it is intended to be (and also a higher quality of the product/gift you share).

Quest for Personal Mastery? An adventure to understand and getting new insights on (life) questions. An expedition to find unexpected creative solutions and or answers who will let you 'breathe' again and help you to find your way. You only have to engage in the discovery ... 

Frans Captijn
Host / Catalyst / Talenteer at Captijn Insight

Captijn Insight: “Catalyst in your process to new sustainable flow. Whether you are an individual, couple, team or an organization.” 

www.captijninsight.com

captijninsight@gmail.com