We think of a ghost as a piece of us that continues to hang around after we die, and haunt the places where we lived. What if there are already ghosts of yourself ? What if you are actually a ghost, or at least your self-image is a ghost?

Ghosts are thought to be insubstantial forms that come and go. They are not real or even solid, and most people have a hard time seeing them. And yet how solid or substantial are our internal images of ourselves-our beliefs and ideas about who we are? If you think of yourself as an unattractive person one day and then as an attractive person the very next day, was either image real? And can anyone else see your self image? What if you have a self image of being unattractive and someone is attracted to you anyway? Maybe others can't actually see your self image. What if your self image is a kind of ghost.

We don't usually see that our image of ourselves is a kind of ghost because we really believe that it is a true representation of what we are. We may be left wondering, Who am I if what I believe I am is unreal and does not exist? What else am I besides the ghost like images of myself?

There is a strong sense that we do exist, that we are real. But does this sense of existence and reality come from our image of ourselves? Or does the sense of being real and of existing come from somewhere deeper within our being? It's difficult to know for sure since the image and the sense of realness can both be present at the same time, and our egoic idea of ourselves can co-opt that deeper sense of realness we naturally have.

One way to distinguish what is real from what is not is to ask yourself how real your ideas of yourself are. One measure of how real something is, is how long it lasts. The more real something is, the longer it lasts. How long do ideas about yourself last? They come and go (like a ghost in a ghost story) and don't last very long at all. A thought is often over so quickly that we can't remember a moment later what we were just thinking.

Our images we have of ourselves are always changing and passing away to be replaced by another idea or picture of ourselves or even a thought about something else. So those ideas or identities we have must not be very solid and real. They are just ghosts in our minds.

How about the pure sense that you are real right now? Does that sense come and go? Do you ever really have the opposite sense that you don't exist or never existed? This sense that you do exist is more true than any of your ideas about yourself because it is always here. You always exist, but the thoughts in your mind about yourself are like ghosts. What you are has never been contained in your self-images. Even when your ideas of yourself fade away, like images in a movie, what you really are is always still here .

What if it is this real you that matters most? Wh not become more curious about the real you than about the false ghosts of identification. What is are you made of? What is this real you like? What does it want to do? These are deep and valuable questions to explore, but remember that the answers are never found in your thoughts about yourself. The true answers can only be found in the simple sense of existing.

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Internationally known spiritual teacher, Nirmala has been offering satsang and individual spiritual mentoring since 1998. He offers free spiritual books and many more ways to explore his teaching on endless-satsang.com. This and other unique content spirituality articles are available with free reprint rights.