The ‘I’ Thought
Our world begins with one thought, which is ‘I’, and because of the ‘I’ thought, the mind becomes sentient and it becomes the container for all thoughts.
In order for it to exist separate from the Self Consciousness, this ‘I’, being a thought, needs to attach and identify itself to an object that is manifesting in consciousness, and that object is the human body.
All objects and forms that manifest in consciousness are the reflection of Being.
Within Being everything has the desire to Be, to manifest in consciousness. By identifying and becoming attached to a body the ‘I’ thought believes that it is that body.
The mind now becomes a body/mind, and from this original ‘I’ thought all other thoughts proceed, such as, I am a boy or girl, I want, I can do, I am happy, in endless repetitions. It is all these ‘I’ thoughts that constantly appear in the mind during our waking hours and maintain our separation from our natural source in Being.
All concepts we assume represent knowledge in our world, and are based on sensory information where outer impressions create knowledge about our world that has no foundation or true understanding in reality.
The ‘I’ thought is often called the ego or I am, and through its identification with the body believes the body to be its self. It then forms a personality that differentiates, in the mind, one individual from another.
This separation from all that Is alienates us from knowing and being our True Self. We live in a state of limitation in consciousness because we are dependent on the mind and our memories of past experiences in what we call ‘life’ and the world.
For us this world is what we believe to be our reality, and because of this we are conditioned to say, ’the only things real are what we can touch, see, hear taste and smell; anything else is only in our imagination’.
If this is our reality then it reveals a life that is fraught with danger, fear, unhappiness and ignorance.
This attitude is seen as acceptable, because everyone else has the same or similar experiences in life. Being limited to this sensual world a life appears to end with the body’s death, because when the body dies, nothing is left. The body breaks down; there is no more breathing; all thoughts disappear; and there are no memories.
Where there is nothing remaining, then this bodily life has disappeared, as well as the world, because it was all a thought and illusion. If the whole life is only an illusion it becomes obvious that consciousness for the body is dependent on one thought, which is the I am.
Our life is an externalization of the mind which forms our world. This is important for us to understand. For instance, when we dream, a whole world appears, with trees, mountains, rivers and so on. When we have a dream everything happens without any prior creation. When we awaken we know it was only a dream, but during the dream we do not usually know we are dreaming.
When we wake up after sleeping our world suddenly appears. Everything in this world reforms through the memories in the mind, and the ‘I’ thought creates a sensation of continuation. However, this is actually another dream, albeit a longer dream.
Why can we say this awakening is also a dream? We know that eventually this life dream will end when the body dies; then do we awaken? Probably not. We can only awaken from this dream here and now.
What existed prior to the body’s birth? And what continues to exist when the body dies? What people call the external soul, which is promoted by the religions, is only the ego or ‘I’ thought, which creates the personality that is considered as being the self or soul.
It has often been said that god created the world, and if that were so, then god is the ‘I’ thought, which is the creator of the world illusion.
So there is an apparent separation between the Eternal Self and the body that appears in the outer manifestation. But this is only a concept of the mind, because there is no actual separation, only the thought that it exists. The body manifests in consciousness the moment of its birth and has no awareness that it exists, because it remains in the Eternal Consciousness.
A small baby animal, which the human body is, reflects the nature of the Eternal Consciousness, which is love, joy, and peace. Unfortunately, words such as these cannot reflect our inner nature or Self, because words are only the outflowing of thoughts which are limited by the intellect.
Due to the identification of the ‘I’ thought, human beings seek to maintain a separation between themselves and everything else in the manifestation by naming everything. However, all objects and forms manifesting in consciousness reflect the true nature of the Eternal Self. All manifestation is only a reflection of the oneness of Being in Self, and it is this oneness that is true nature of all forms and objects, including ourself.
When we move consciousness out of the mind and stop building concepts and attitudes that give power to the ‘I’ thought, and cease being selfish, we begin to become aware of the eternal moment, the unchanging Self. Then we realize our true nature and oneness.
The body now remains in consciousness free of the influence of the ‘I’ thought, being in harmony with all other forms manifesting in consciousness in the pure consciousness.
This represents our work which requires developing awareness through continually passively watching the flow of illusionary thoughts, and dismissing them as they appear. Do not challenge or follow them, allowing them to draw your attention from being what you are. Your world is not that of the mind and the ‘I’ thought, but that of the Eternal Self, which exists without thought or the outer sensual and illusional manifestation.
Become aware that you are I AM, which is total reality. Feel the presence of Self, which is ever present, only you do not listen. It is ever here unchanging in the moment free from the past, present and future. Within Self there is no time or space, everything is perfection and one.
You do not have to do anything or be anything, you only have to become empty of all outer illusion and thoughts that identify and attach you to a body. Become empty of all this outer illusion and be filled with the Light and power of the Eternal Self.