When an actor gets on the stage to act to earn a livelihood, he has to put on a costume, do his make-up, learn his dialogues and deliver it to the best of his abilities. But offstage, he knows who he truly is. At the end of the performance, he is satisfied with how he performed and relieved for finishing the role and coming back to his original self. This is true with life too.

We are but actors on the stage of life. The different costumes we wear and roles we play include those of the rich, poor, good, bad, sinful, sinless, man, woman, young, old, dull and intelligent. However, have we ever thought about the person we truly are behind the costume and make-up? While it is important to play your role well, it is even more important to play it with the knowing that you are not the role, but the being. This is the difference between aparā vidya and parā vidya. All that we do in this world for a living is aparā vidya, but to do it with the constant awareness of who we truly are is parā vidya.

All the problems in this world have risen because we have forgotten who we truly are behind the costume we have donned and the role we are performing. We have started identifying ourselves with the role and costume, and are searching for relief for all our problems.

Can you imagine the plight of an actor who refuses to dissolve the make-up and remove the costume, but is adamant about carrying it everywhere all the time? It would become such a burden to him and he would look like a lunatic in the eyes of others.

Whether we want to believe it or not, sometimes we are those lunatics who are refusing to see ourselves in true light, but are getting carried away by the glitter and glamour of our roles, or the doldrums of the same.

Let go of the false identity and take some time to meet the real you within yourself. You will get your answers to all your unresolved problems.

(The writer is a founder of Sri Madhusudan Sai Global Humanitarian Mission)