# Natural Self > The natural self is the self a person actually chose to be in this life distinct from the habituated normal persona adopted to survive expectations with all pain being resistance to that natural self and the work being dropping resistance to who they already are - Canonical: https://sassani.app/topic/natural-self # Natural Self The "natural self" in Bashar's teaching is the self you actually chose to be in this life — distinct from the habituated "normal" persona adopted to survive other people's expectations. The path of least resistance is being your true self; the struggle to be something you are not is the source of the drag, pain, and suffering so many on this planet carry. Attaining the natural self in this life — by following your passion as best you can — is the goal the higher self points toward, and the work is dropping resistance to who you already are. ## All pain is resistance to the natural self The central equation Bashar gives is short and absolute: all pain is resistance to the natural self. The longer you resist the true natural you, the more pain you suffer. When that pain reaches a certain point, many humans think the only way back to the natural self is to lose the body altogether — but the actual out is to kill the beliefs that make you choose to resist, rather than killing the body. By going into the deepest darkness you give yourself, through the rubber-band analogy, the opportunity to spring into the brightest light. The same equation is stated in the chronic-pain session, with an explicit physiological qualification: even though there can be physiological reasons for pain, even in the creation of a situation that brings about a physiological reason for pain, still fundamentally, energetically speaking, pain is usually the result of resisting the natural self. In most cases of self-generated pain, if the pain persists it is usually — not always — an indication that you have not yet arrived at the core fundamental belief. ## The natural self is who you chose to be Bashar is direct that the natural self is the self you actually chose to be in this life. Many on your planet suffer precisely because they struggle to be something other than what they are, and the path of least resistance — being your true self — is also the path the higher self points toward. Inner work is therefore less about becoming something new than about dropping the resistance to who you already are. "This is all a discovery process of who you really are, who you really want to be, period. No ifs, ands, buts, no waffling." ## The motivational mechanism and why you hold on The reason anyone holds on to a definition that produces pain is the motivational mechanism. You will always immediately and automatically move in the direction of what you believe to be in your best interest, and away from what you believe is not. If you are holding on to something you intellectually know is not in your best interest, the only way it can stick around is if you have defined it, in the motivational mechanism, as actually being more in your best interest than the alternative — or you have defined the thing you say you prefer as more frightening than the thing you don't prefer. The question to ask is: what would be the worst, most terrifying thing you can imagine happening if you actually allowed yourself to be who you prefer to be? A common answer is "I wouldn't know who I am anymore" — but Bashar reframes this as a muddled definition. If who you prefer to be is truly who you prefer to be, then by definition it cannot contain the elements of negativity you are projecting onto it. Becoming who you prefer to be cannot, by definition, be painful in the way the resistance was painful; that pain exists only in the reality of the person you are not. When the definition is clarified and you allow yourself to be that person, the struggle does not "kind of" go away — it does not exist in the reality of the person you actually prefer to be. ## Being yourself is a service to others A major barrier to being the natural self is the fear of exposure — that others will "come after you." Bashar reframes the resistance you meet: when you are being you as fully as you can, you are a constant reminder to those who are not being themselves that they are not being themselves, and they do not like being reminded. So at first they may rebel, because from a negative state they can only see your example negatively ("you're rubbing my nose in what I am too afraid to do"). But that is exactly the greatest service you can provide them — at least by example you give them the opportunity to see, through you, that they could choose to be more fully themselves. By not being yourself, you remove that opportunity and reinforce their fear. The corollary is the cooking-pot story: a tribe sits around a pot painted with images from their history, each person seeing only the side facing them. If the person on the other side doesn't share their image, no one has the whole history — you deprive others of understanding their heritage. Say what's on your side of the pot, so everyone can share the meal and enjoy the feast. Every single one of you is a gift; do not deprive others of the gift of your being. ## Pain sometimes serves a relating function A nuance Bashar adds: sometimes a person creates a painful experience not because they need to learn something from it directly, but because of what it will do for others they interact with — they have been taught to believe they must strongly identify with others through shared experience in order to help them. Bashar's civilization does something similar, taking on incarnations in the civilizations they contact so they can relate to them rather than appearing utterly alien. You can reach a point where you realize you do not necessarily need to relate through pain; you can let your belief system find another way to relate without inflicting pain on yourself. The proposed practice: in your imagination, what other ways might you learn to relate to people without necessarily experiencing it in a painful way? ## Practical implications Locate pain as resistance. When you suffer — emotionally or as the lived experience of a chronic condition — ask: what belief is making me choose to resist my natural self right now? The work is to find the core belief, not to suppress the symptom. Use the motivational mechanism to surface hidden definitions. If a behavior or identity persists that you say you do not prefer, ask: how am I defining this as more in my best interest than the alternative? Or: what do I believe is so frightening about who I prefer to be that I am willing to endure this instead? Clarify the definition of who you prefer to be. If your picture of the preferred self contains negativity (fear, pain, isolation), the definition is muddled — that version is not actually the one you prefer. The truly preferred self, by definition, cannot contain the elements of resistance you are projecting onto it. Treat being yourself as an act of service, not exposure. The resistance you encounter often reflects others' fear of being themselves; your example gives them an opportunity to choose differently. Withholding yourself reinforces the same fear in them. Question the belief that you must suffer in order to relate to or help others. Imagine other ways of connecting that do not require you to take on pain as the price of empathy. Note: Bashar's framing of pain as resistance is a metaphysical teaching about belief and identity. It is not a medical directive and does not dismiss physiological causes; persistent or severe physical or psychological pain should also be evaluated and treated through appropriate professional care. ## Representative passages All pain is resistance to the natural self. The longer you resist the true natural you, the more pain you will suffer… if you understand that the only reason the pain exists is because you have belief systems that make you choose to resist your natural self, then perhaps what you will actually kill are those beliefs instead.— Bashar, All Pain Is Resistance To The Natural Self (all-pain-is-resistance-to-the-natural-self#qa-1) Even though we understand that there can be physiological reasons for such things… still fundamentally, energetically speaking, usually pain is the result of resisting the natural self.— Bashar, Chronic Pain Resisting The Natural Self A Game Of Chess (chronic-pain-resisting-the-natural-self-a-game-of-chess#qa-1) You will always immediately, automatically move in the direction of what you believe to be in your best interest… Remember, pain is resistance to the natural self. So what is it about being your true natural self… that is so much scarier than what you're already holding on to that you don't prefer?— Bashar, Motivational Mechanism Pleasure Vs Pain (motivational-mechanism-pleasure-vs-pain#qa-1) When you are being you as fully as you can, you are a constant reminder to those who are not being themselves, that they are not being themselves, and they don't like being reminded of that… that is the greatest service you can actually provide them.— Bashar, By Being Yourself You Give Others The Choice To Change Game Of Chess (by-being-yourself-you-give-others-the-choice-to-change-game-of-chess#qa-1) Every single one of you is a gift. Do not deprive others of the gift of your being… Say what's on your side of the pot. So everyone can share the meal and enjoy the feast.— Bashar, By Being Yourself You Give Others The Choice To Change Game Of Chess (by-being-yourself-you-give-others-the-choice-to-change-game-of-chess#qa-3) ## Related - [Higher Self](https://sassani.app/topic/higher-self) - [Excitement](https://sassani.app/topic/excitement) - [Self-Acceptance](https://sassani.app/topic/self-acceptance) - [Essence vs Ego](https://sassani.app/topic/essence-versus-ego) - [Surrender & Letting Go](https://sassani.app/topic/surrender) - [The Formula](https://sassani.app/topic/the-formula) Markdown twin of https://sassani.app/topic/natural-self. The HTML page is the source of truth.