48. About you: Chapter 22: Who is the I ?

The true and noble human condition was lost when the soul moved from the eternity of space into life and time. The calculation of time began when the soul moved from the limitless to the limited, from non-action, from infinity, from space, from being, into action, into the finite, into life, into time. From the freedom of space into the captivity of time. Losing its infinite freedom, the soul began to worry and suffer, longing to regain its lost existence. The recovery of the soul's freedom is a sweet suffering, and that is not connected to longing for freedom—it is not suffering. If we can talk of fear, it refers to the fear of not finding the way back to the One. If we speak about fear beyond this, it is merely the concern for material tomorrow, which is characteristic of the external, material, shadow man. Since the One is the cause of man as the effect, the true and normal person can say, "I am the effect, the illusion/vision of myself, which is only a possibility, potential, help, a tool for the realization of the kingdom of the One here on Earth." The effect, in order to define itself, needs a reference point, which is always the One. The symbol of this self-definition is the equal-armed cross placed within a circle, as the first known and preserved form of the cross, which points to the determination of space and time, the finding of the centre of the soul. Here, the horizontal life and its representative, the individual self, meets the vertical being and its representative, the universal self. 

In order to understand our duality within the "I," we refer to the following:

1) The individual self means "I am," in the first person singular, that is, I am myself; outside of me, there is no one and nothing. In this light, it must also be true that there are others besides me and the all, that is, the world. The universal self means "we are" (I and the One), in the first person plural. In other words, we ourselves are like the One. Outside of us and the One, there is no one and nothing. Therefore, we are not left to ourselves. We gain knowledge of our inner world based on our spiritual world or self-knowledge, which is carried by the universal self, and of our external world, which is carried by the individual self.

2) In the relationship between the "I" and being, it can be said that our being is connected to the universal (universal) self. Life is connected to both the individual self and the universal self, since life contains being, just as time contains the moment and the moment contains the time. The connection between the past, present, and future is therefore the moment or the time-gate. Knowledge of being (existence) is possible through metaphysical transcendence, which means knowing the state beyond the physical world (life). Metaphysics must transcend not only what is beyond time but also what exists at all. Information acquisition presupposes knowledge, knowledge presupposes consciousness, and consciousness presupposes awareness. Awareness always implies self-awareness, that is, the knowledge acquired about oneself, the belief.

3) In the relationship between the ego and the "I," we illustrate the difference between the "I" as the first person and the ego within our soul using the declaration of our Initiation Master: "I am the way, the truth, and the life," meaning He is the way, the truth, and the life, which is the personal self. It can even be said that He is the Tao. However, if we interpret it as my universal self in my soul being my way and my truth, that is, He, and my individual self being my life, then the message, the teaching is addressed to my ego. There is a possibility of transition between the "I" and the ego when we can accept that our ego could be like His. Our Initiate Master's decoded message, then, is: I am the model, the way, I know the hidden truths, but also life. Come with me. Before entering into time, which in Christian terminology is called Paradise, in the basic stance of being, the two selves were united. Our return must serve the finding of this unified soul. It follows that our return is possible through our universal self, the self that bears the cross of space and time, which could be called in the traditional Christian, conscious self or a self akin to the One. The bearing of the cross, even the Christianity, is thus a fact, not a matter of choice.

4) In the relation between “my world” and life, it can be said that the world exists both within us (internally) and outside of us. The internal world’s record and spiritual realization is carried by our universal self, while the external world is carried by our individual self. The two together form my world. Thus, "I am" the world because the world is self-conscious. Whoever lives the inner and outer worlds independently, is mentally weak, meaningless in soul, and asleep, because they do not realize that being is carried by the universal self. Psychology, of course, knows nothing of this. In every respect, we must find the centre, the basic position within ourselves, because outside of ourselves, there is no other world.

5) In the relationship between "I" and rational thinking, it can be concluded that rational thinking does not help in gaining knowledge about our being, because we experience our being with the intellect of our soul. If rational thinking means that two times two is four (according to quantitative mathematics), then our soul and the universality within it cannot be understood by this thinking, nor can the paradox of love. The self-consciousness of the soul is grasped in the subjects, in the awareness of images. That is, the proximity of our being, our universal self, is understood when we move farther away from our sensory experiences and perceptions, from our individual self. In this detachment, we do nothing but reduce the distance from the Golden Age, from the second Paradise, accelerating the process that helps us to find ourselves and return to the One as the highest principle.