Invitation accepted. The “I am” is what I have envisioned as the “core” of our existence. Our inner life can not be tampered with, violated, or known by another.
With this understanding, we can rise above the chatter to see the truth in our being.
Ironically, we are united. It is an interconnected reality, not disconnected from our shared energy.
“No algorithm can hack it. No narrative can capture it. No system can control it.”
I recall the moment I became self-aware. I was crawling around under the dining room table playing with a marble or something when I suddenly became aware of I, the thing playing with the marble. Apparently, before that I was only aware. Suddenly I was aware of the I that was aware. I asked myself who is that?
Yes indeed my friend, but the perception deception captured the purity and simplicity of their words and wrapped it all up in religion, books, temples, icons, symbolism and false paths. The pure essence of their messages hidden in the mire of religious ideologies!
You did such a wonderful job of concisely laying this out and then, crucially, you didn’t leave out the pitfalls that I see so often, at least in the advaita vedanta community. So much bypass and checking out. Really beautifully done! I read it again today and I’m so grateful for it.
We are so bombarded with visuals, de-identification with them seems like something most people do not even consider. Looking (consuming visuals) leads around in a circle, while listening (sitting inside your head) actually brings about spiritual growth; it brings about maturity and wisdom. It actually brings answers to what may seem impossible. I will try to remember this as I grapple with this daily dystopian prison, looking for some kind of a way out. Thanks for another exceptional article.
“They say, in Zen, “You cannot catch hold of it, nor can you get rid of it. In not being able to get it, you get it. When you speak, it is silent. When you are silent, it speaks.” - Alan Watts
I think language itself is the key to liberating the mind. Read my latest note where. i give a small hint on that!
That is so simple yet so beautiful - that is going in to my vault! Thanks for sharing! I haven't actually heard the term monopsychism before, which is strange and wonderful at the same time, but i will definately do some reading on it. Thanks for sharing.
Wonderful piece. It needs to be said and you said it succinctly and expansively at the same time. I opened the door to see the light and consciousness almost 50 years ago, I went through the door, closed it and never looked back. There are many times the manipulative forces of perception deception have appeared to capture me, obscuring the light from my inner sight, but eventually I’ve realised and broken through. The last almost capture was the 2020 ‘scamdemic’, I escaped from that even more aware and stronger with a vision so clear the deception exposes itself everywhere. I’m now on a mission to enlighten others and guide them through the he maelstrom of deception. ‘Just open your eyes and realise what has always been, just open your heart, that’s a start’…..
Wow, beautiful to hear! It's a crazy journey right? I feel like even though there is an absolute truth that always silently pulsates in the background of experience, there is a relative journey which seem to go in a spiral where you think you're about to reach some sort of complete understanding you spin another lap and realize just how little you still know. It's a fun ride - even though it has it's darker valleys.
Great article, thank you for this perspective! I will take the courage to join you in this revolution against the conditioning of the human mind in accepting its own imprisonment!
Thank you, I'm glad to know you are with me on this journey - it's a wild ride we have in front of us - the more of us there are, they more epic it will become! ✊🔥
Thanks for that lovely email. It is a good reminder that peace is always available no matter what is going on in the Matrix. I also agree that disconnecting from life due to recognition of the 'I am' is not the answer. As said, we are here to bring our unique qualities to the game and express them for the good of self and others. This does require connection to one's true self otherwise we get pulled around by our emotions, thoughts and resultant perceptions.
Your very welcome and thanks for sharing and engaging :) yes, one thing I didn't write but I always think about when meeting people who are very attached to the I am state or always in a higher state "beyond the world of man" - The Devine does not need you to be the Devine, it already is the Devine always - it does need us to be human - and to express the infinite through the finite :)
Thank you, Erik. Blessings, brother. I’m going to share this widely. Thanks for putting your antenna up and bringing this in and loving humanity enough to share it.
Thank you Valerie.. Yea, at least on paper. But i suspect this is all part of our journey now, to go back to our essence and to realize our proper place in the universe and our proper role on this planet. This reminded me of the quote by Confusius “Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.”
100% yes to this. If anyone wants to dig further into this may I suggest the youtube channels of Tony Parsons, Jim Newman and the instagram account of Don Oakley. Don is my personal favourite. I have been a student of A Course In Miracles for 35 years and it has kept me asking the questions of who I am.
This is the path away from NPC mindset and gets you in the game holding the joystick.
Right on! :) I'm always looking to dig further and haven't seen any of those people before so thanks for sharing - i have read a Course in Miracles a couple of times though - it's some profound work so amazing to hear you've been at it for such a long time.
It really is and i really love the video game metaphors really fits so perfectly if one can avoid falling in to certain pitfalls of it :)
And thank you again. we need more of this content on Substack. I have indulged in the rage economy of my own mind during the covid shit how and beyond but I have let it run it's course and am glad to be back on the page. Awareness is what I want to drift (and practice) toward more frequently.
Beautiful! I can't recall a specific moment like that - but my past is generally hazy ^^ From my experience my journey started with my mind being horrible to me and I felt broken and wanted to become whole again which set me on my journey of self-discovery. But the moments of becoming blatantly aware of being aware has always been a welcomed mindf*ck :)
Many words to describe something neither new nor complicated. I'm underwhelmed, but happy when anyone breaks free from the manipulation around us. Seeing manipulation for what it is renders it powerless. So thanks for shedding the light. And maybe go a little lighter on the manipulative writing techniques you use in your first several paragraphs and get to the point. Cheers
Interesting take. We'll, it's not new for me neither obviously but it's definately new, or known but not properly utilized by most people. Happy that your already aware, good for you.
Can you expand on what you mean by manipulative writing techniques?
Just that the first few paragraphs contain literary techniques used to elicit an emotional reaction of suspense and expectation in the reader. I thus needed to wade through the verbal hype and sift for the solid nuggets promised. Everything has its place—no problem with your writing per se, yet I find that for something that purports to be pivotal and fundamental, the plainer, more direct and more straightforward—and yes, shorter—the better. Just my two quick cents thrown out there. No offense intended. Thank you for your time and your writing.
No offence taken. Straight to the point is not my style of writing. I like to take readers on a slow journey through checkpoints i consider pivotal in order to get the full picture and I assume as little as possible about the readers previous knowledge. May not be everyone's cup of tea but that's fine :)
“The other mind entity is what we call the impartial observer. This mind of present-moment awareness stands outside the preprogrammed physiological determinants and is alive to the present. It works through the brain but is not limited to the brain. It may be dormant in many of us, but it is never completely absent. It transcends the automatic functioning of past-conditioned brain circuits. ‘In the end,...I conclude that there is no good evidence… that the brain alone can carry out the work that the mind does.
Knowing oneself comes from attending with compassionate curiosity to what is happening within.
Methods for gaining self-knowledge and self-mastery through conscious awareness strengthen the mind’s capacity to act as its own impartial observer. Among the simplest and most skillful of the meditative techniques taught in many spiritual traditions is the disciplined practice of what Buddhists call ‘bare attention’. Nietzsche called Buddha ‘that profound physiologist’ and his teachings less a religion than a ‘kind of hygiene’...’ Many of our automatic brain processes have to do with either wanting something or not wanting something else – very much the way a small child’s mental life functions. We are forever desiring or longing, or judging and rejecting. Mental hygiene consists of noticing the ebb and flow of all those automatic grasping or rejecting impulses without being hooked by them. Bare attention is directed not only toward what’s happening on the outside, but also to what’s taking place on the inside.
‘Be at least as interested in your reactions as in the person or situation that triggers them.’... In a mindful state one can choose to be aware of the ebb and flow of emotions and thought patterns instead of brooding on their content. Not ‘he did this to me therefore I’m suffering’ but ‘I notice that feelings of resentment and a desire for vengeance keep flooding my mind.’... ‘Bare Attention is the clear and single-minded awareness of what actually happens to us and in us at the successive moments of perception,’... ‘It is called ‘Bare’ because it attends just to the bare facts of a perception as presented either through the five physical senses or through the mind without reacting to them.”
-Gabor Maté, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction
Thank you for putting into words what I already knew but could not express
Thank you, it was my pleasure and probably a lot more to come through.
Invitation accepted. The “I am” is what I have envisioned as the “core” of our existence. Our inner life can not be tampered with, violated, or known by another.
With this understanding, we can rise above the chatter to see the truth in our being.
Ironically, we are united. It is an interconnected reality, not disconnected from our shared energy.
“No algorithm can hack it. No narrative can capture it. No system can control it.”
Perfect wording.
Peace,
Kindred Spirit.
Thank you. It’s pretty amazing isn’t it? Such an obvious, seemingly unimportant thing, yet it holds so much power!
Peace, or as the Mayans use to say which i really like; In lak’ech
I recall the moment I became self-aware. I was crawling around under the dining room table playing with a marble or something when I suddenly became aware of I, the thing playing with the marble. Apparently, before that I was only aware. Suddenly I was aware of the I that was aware. I asked myself who is that?
Beautiful! :) Wish i could recall my first moment like that! :)
BTW: Especially when young it was a burden and was part of what "othered" me especially from children my age.
The Buddha discovered all this 2,500 years ago and Jesus discovered enlightenment some 500 years after that.
They sure did, I love the story, metaphors and teachings of Jesus/Yeshua and the path towards the Christed Self/Christ Consciousness!
Yes indeed my friend, but the perception deception captured the purity and simplicity of their words and wrapped it all up in religion, books, temples, icons, symbolism and false paths. The pure essence of their messages hidden in the mire of religious ideologies!
Oh thank you❤️
You're very welcome and thank you! ❤️🔥
You did such a wonderful job of concisely laying this out and then, crucially, you didn’t leave out the pitfalls that I see so often, at least in the advaita vedanta community. So much bypass and checking out. Really beautifully done! I read it again today and I’m so grateful for it.
We are so bombarded with visuals, de-identification with them seems like something most people do not even consider. Looking (consuming visuals) leads around in a circle, while listening (sitting inside your head) actually brings about spiritual growth; it brings about maturity and wisdom. It actually brings answers to what may seem impossible. I will try to remember this as I grapple with this daily dystopian prison, looking for some kind of a way out. Thanks for another exceptional article.
And thank you for sharing and engaging :)
This reminds me of something Alan Watts said:
“They say, in Zen, “You cannot catch hold of it, nor can you get rid of it. In not being able to get it, you get it. When you speak, it is silent. When you are silent, it speaks.” - Alan Watts
I think language itself is the key to liberating the mind. Read my latest note where. i give a small hint on that!
Echoes of monopsychism. I've always liked the concept.
Roses are red
violets are blue
you are me
and I am you
That is so simple yet so beautiful - that is going in to my vault! Thanks for sharing! I haven't actually heard the term monopsychism before, which is strange and wonderful at the same time, but i will definately do some reading on it. Thanks for sharing.
Wonderful piece. It needs to be said and you said it succinctly and expansively at the same time. I opened the door to see the light and consciousness almost 50 years ago, I went through the door, closed it and never looked back. There are many times the manipulative forces of perception deception have appeared to capture me, obscuring the light from my inner sight, but eventually I’ve realised and broken through. The last almost capture was the 2020 ‘scamdemic’, I escaped from that even more aware and stronger with a vision so clear the deception exposes itself everywhere. I’m now on a mission to enlighten others and guide them through the he maelstrom of deception. ‘Just open your eyes and realise what has always been, just open your heart, that’s a start’…..
Wow, beautiful to hear! It's a crazy journey right? I feel like even though there is an absolute truth that always silently pulsates in the background of experience, there is a relative journey which seem to go in a spiral where you think you're about to reach some sort of complete understanding you spin another lap and realize just how little you still know. It's a fun ride - even though it has it's darker valleys.
Great article, thank you for this perspective! I will take the courage to join you in this revolution against the conditioning of the human mind in accepting its own imprisonment!
Thank you, I'm glad to know you are with me on this journey - it's a wild ride we have in front of us - the more of us there are, they more epic it will become! ✊🔥
Autonomy of the mind :)
Thanks for that lovely email. It is a good reminder that peace is always available no matter what is going on in the Matrix. I also agree that disconnecting from life due to recognition of the 'I am' is not the answer. As said, we are here to bring our unique qualities to the game and express them for the good of self and others. This does require connection to one's true self otherwise we get pulled around by our emotions, thoughts and resultant perceptions.
Your very welcome and thanks for sharing and engaging :) yes, one thing I didn't write but I always think about when meeting people who are very attached to the I am state or always in a higher state "beyond the world of man" - The Devine does not need you to be the Devine, it already is the Devine always - it does need us to be human - and to express the infinite through the finite :)
Yes very true indeed!
🙏🔥
Thank you, Erik. Blessings, brother. I’m going to share this widely. Thanks for putting your antenna up and bringing this in and loving humanity enough to share it.
Thank you Betsy, and thank you for sharing!
Very well said. Powerful. Thank you for tying in the knowledge with being fully present. Simple, right? Just have to keep remembering.
Thank you Valerie.. Yea, at least on paper. But i suspect this is all part of our journey now, to go back to our essence and to realize our proper place in the universe and our proper role on this planet. This reminded me of the quote by Confusius “Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.”
100% yes to this. If anyone wants to dig further into this may I suggest the youtube channels of Tony Parsons, Jim Newman and the instagram account of Don Oakley. Don is my personal favourite. I have been a student of A Course In Miracles for 35 years and it has kept me asking the questions of who I am.
This is the path away from NPC mindset and gets you in the game holding the joystick.
Thanks for the reminder Eric
Right on! :) I'm always looking to dig further and haven't seen any of those people before so thanks for sharing - i have read a Course in Miracles a couple of times though - it's some profound work so amazing to hear you've been at it for such a long time.
It really is and i really love the video game metaphors really fits so perfectly if one can avoid falling in to certain pitfalls of it :)
Thank you!
And thank you again. we need more of this content on Substack. I have indulged in the rage economy of my own mind during the covid shit how and beyond but I have let it run it's course and am glad to be back on the page. Awareness is what I want to drift (and practice) toward more frequently.
Beautiful! I can't recall a specific moment like that - but my past is generally hazy ^^ From my experience my journey started with my mind being horrible to me and I felt broken and wanted to become whole again which set me on my journey of self-discovery. But the moments of becoming blatantly aware of being aware has always been a welcomed mindf*ck :)
Many words to describe something neither new nor complicated. I'm underwhelmed, but happy when anyone breaks free from the manipulation around us. Seeing manipulation for what it is renders it powerless. So thanks for shedding the light. And maybe go a little lighter on the manipulative writing techniques you use in your first several paragraphs and get to the point. Cheers
Interesting take. We'll, it's not new for me neither obviously but it's definately new, or known but not properly utilized by most people. Happy that your already aware, good for you.
Can you expand on what you mean by manipulative writing techniques?
Are you referring to story telling? 😄
Just that the first few paragraphs contain literary techniques used to elicit an emotional reaction of suspense and expectation in the reader. I thus needed to wade through the verbal hype and sift for the solid nuggets promised. Everything has its place—no problem with your writing per se, yet I find that for something that purports to be pivotal and fundamental, the plainer, more direct and more straightforward—and yes, shorter—the better. Just my two quick cents thrown out there. No offense intended. Thank you for your time and your writing.
No offence taken. Straight to the point is not my style of writing. I like to take readers on a slow journey through checkpoints i consider pivotal in order to get the full picture and I assume as little as possible about the readers previous knowledge. May not be everyone's cup of tea but that's fine :)
“The other mind entity is what we call the impartial observer. This mind of present-moment awareness stands outside the preprogrammed physiological determinants and is alive to the present. It works through the brain but is not limited to the brain. It may be dormant in many of us, but it is never completely absent. It transcends the automatic functioning of past-conditioned brain circuits. ‘In the end,...I conclude that there is no good evidence… that the brain alone can carry out the work that the mind does.
Knowing oneself comes from attending with compassionate curiosity to what is happening within.
Methods for gaining self-knowledge and self-mastery through conscious awareness strengthen the mind’s capacity to act as its own impartial observer. Among the simplest and most skillful of the meditative techniques taught in many spiritual traditions is the disciplined practice of what Buddhists call ‘bare attention’. Nietzsche called Buddha ‘that profound physiologist’ and his teachings less a religion than a ‘kind of hygiene’...’ Many of our automatic brain processes have to do with either wanting something or not wanting something else – very much the way a small child’s mental life functions. We are forever desiring or longing, or judging and rejecting. Mental hygiene consists of noticing the ebb and flow of all those automatic grasping or rejecting impulses without being hooked by them. Bare attention is directed not only toward what’s happening on the outside, but also to what’s taking place on the inside.
‘Be at least as interested in your reactions as in the person or situation that triggers them.’... In a mindful state one can choose to be aware of the ebb and flow of emotions and thought patterns instead of brooding on their content. Not ‘he did this to me therefore I’m suffering’ but ‘I notice that feelings of resentment and a desire for vengeance keep flooding my mind.’... ‘Bare Attention is the clear and single-minded awareness of what actually happens to us and in us at the successive moments of perception,’... ‘It is called ‘Bare’ because it attends just to the bare facts of a perception as presented either through the five physical senses or through the mind without reacting to them.”
-Gabor Maté, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction
Gabor Mate, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts