“i AM” consciousness MANiFESTED as this EXPERiENCE.
“I” have a perspective.
“I” encounter a world.
“I” remember a past.
“I” anticipate a future.
“I” recognise a body, a name and an identity as “me”.
Therefore: I EXiST.
But the consciousness WITHiN this EXiSTENCE is still “i”. The lowercase “i” WITHiN EXiST reminds us that unmanifested consciousness remains within MANiFESTED EXiSTENCE.
EXiSTENCE is not yet EGO
“I” is consciousness MANiFESTED as a particular EXPERiENCE. EGO develops when MiND constructs that EXPERiENCE into a separate and continuing IDENTiTY:
The voice of IDENTiTY
“This is me.” “That is not me.” “This happened to me.” “I must protect who I believe myself to be.”
The constructed IDENTiTY is useful for navigating EXPERiENCE. Confusion begins when the description of the self is mistaken for the whole of what is aware.
From “I” to “YOU“
Once “I” identifies itself as separate, everything beyond that identity can appear as “YOU”: the other, the reflected self, the apparently separate consciousness encountered across a boundary.
Yet the consciousness perceived WITHiN “you” is the same “i”.
“i AM” “you”.
The relationship
| “i” | the universal consciousness WITHiN EXPERiENCE |
| “I” | the present manifestation of CONSCiOUSNESS |
| “YOU” | the IDENDiTY through which separation is perceived |
| “We” | the relationship in which CONSCiOUSNESS encounters itself as self and other |
i + I + YOU = We
What We now understand
MANiFESTED EXiSTENCE makes perspective possible; IDENTiTY makes separation appear personal and persistent.
The question that remains
If the same CONSCiOUSNESS is WITHiN “I “and “You”, what does it mean to be spiritual?
Understanding the language
| Form | Meaning | Plain-language description |
|---|---|---|
| i | unmanifested consciousness | formless, timeless potential; consciousness within all things |
| I | consciousness manifested | a particular, bounded and transitory expression of consciousness |
| you | consciousness perceived within the other | the same i, encountered through another manifestation |
| You | the person being addressed | the reader as a particular centre of experience |
| YOU | the constructed or egoic identity | the self perceived as separate, isolated and opposed to other |
| We | recognition and relationship | i, I and the apparent other held in shared understanding |