Who am I?

[3bob]

Spirit to Spirit...

[dwai]

Yo! Dath wathup!!

 

(Quoting the great warrior scholar mike Tyson)

Edited May 12, 2017 by dwai

[laughingblade]

“I Am Not I”

 

By Juan Ramón Jiménez

Translated by Robert Bly

 

I am not I.

                   I am this one

walking beside me whom I do not see,

whom at times I manage to visit,

and whom at other times I forget;

who remains calm and silent while I talk,

and forgives, gently, when I hate,

who walks where I am not,

who will remain standing when I die.

[Stosh]

[Daeluin]

I am the gatekeeper.

[aboo]

I am my body, my thoughts, my words, and my deeds.  I am also the sum of all the things I have ever been.  But strangely, I am greater than the sum of all the parts because within me reside the potential of future of what I am physically, including all my future thoughts, words, and deeds.

 

"I am" is a collection, not anything singular.

 

Interesting. Sri Ramana Maharshi is quoted as saying:

 

"In the vision of death, though all the senses were benumbed, the aham sphurana (Self-awareness) was clearly evident, and so I realised that it was that awareness that we call "I", and not the body. This Self-awareness never decays. It is unrelated to anything. It is Self-luminous. Even if this body is burnt, it will not be affected. Hence, I realised on that very day so clearly that that was "I".

 

It would appear he believed he was something singular and not a collection of things (body, thoughts etc).

 

Of course, I may be mistaken in stating that, as I am no expert on his teachings (atma vichara).

Edited May 12, 2017 by aboo

[Marblehead]

Interesting. Sri Ramana Maharshi is quoted as saying:

 

"In the vision of death, though all the senses were benumbed, the aham sphurana (Self-awareness) was clearly evident, and so I realised that it was that awareness that we call "I", and not the body. This Self-awareness never decays. It is unrelated to anything. It is Self-luminous. Even if this body is burnt, it will not be affected. Hence, I realised on that very day so clearly that that was "I".

 

It would appear he believed he was something singular and not a collection of things (body, thoughts etc).

 

Of course, I may be mistaken in stating that, as I am no expert on his teachings (atma vichara).

 

I think you have it right.  However, Mr. Sri was referring to "self-awareness" as being something external to the body, Ya' know, like a soul that was placed in a new-born body.  I don't go there as I hold that self-awareness is an activity of a properly functioning brain, which, of course, is an element of the body.

[aboo]

I think you have it right.  However, Mr. Sri was referring to "self-awareness" as being something external to the body, Ya' know, like a soul that was placed in a new-born body.  I don't go there as I hold that self-awareness is an activity of a properly functioning brain, which, of course, is an element of the body.

Thanks for the reply.

 

I think cognitive neuroscientists etc refer to it as the "Hard problem of consciousness". I remember watching a video of Noam Chomsky where he said it's a mystery we may never comprehend - like motion in the 18th century.

Edited May 12, 2017 by aboo

[Marblehead]

Thanks for the reply.

 

I think cognitive neuroscientists etc refer to it as the "Hard problem of consciousness". I remember watching a video of Noam Chomsky where he said it's a mystery we may never comprehend - like motion in the 18th century.

 

Yeah, perhaps it is true that some questions have no answers (that we are capable of comprehending).

 

And, of course, there are some answers that have no questions.

 

I do try to stay alert for info regarding this concept but I don't actively go searching.

 

And no, I have no idea how close to the truth I am with my understanding.

[C T]

Who am I you may well ask
I really wish I knew
If I am not myself at all
Then maybe I am you
To discover who I really am
Is really quite a task
Maybe I am someone else
Who wears a funny mask
I strive so hard to know myself
To discover the “real me”
My thoughts and feelings all confused
Yet still I cannot see
What makes me tick?
What makes me feel?
So very special and unique
My purpose in this glorious world
Is what I truly seek
I wish I could be creative, self confident and smart
Not quiet, shy and insecure
Emotional at heart
I wish I had the confidence to say what I really feel
Instead of fearing criticism
Uttering words that seem unreal
Why at times do I feel so alone
And just yearn for a friendly face
While at others I just long to be
In some far off distant place
With no one else to bother me
And disturb my rambling thoughts,
Until my conscience brings me back
To do the things I ought
And so I continue on my way
On this journey they call life
I try to do the best I can
Though at times the goings tough
I’ll do my part to refine the world
And make it a better place
By being “me” to my capacity
With each trial I have to face

 

~ Granny Faigie Rabin ~ 

[C T]

WHO AM I?

 

I just want to know who I am

where I am, what I truly am

and what I exist for at all.

I want to know what is named ‘me,’

 

Who am I? Also who are you?

Am I in the world? Am I one with it?

Separate from the world or not?

Or am out of this world or not?

I feel so connected with all around

But sometimes I just don’t feel involved

and feel quite detached from this world.

 

I am not who you think I am.

I claim I am not the same self,

I would love to know my true self,

be sure of who I am to myself.

“This is my true self, my real self,

my steadfast self, my only self

independent self, the real me.”

 

Who will now point out this true self to me?

Is it another self in me given this task?

Can I point out my true self to myself?

 

I claim I am not the same self,

as I remember as a child long ago.

I claim I am different from this self from the past.

If so, then I can take no praise nor blame

for what I did or didn’t do in the past.

After all, myself today is not same

as the self who had acted yesterday.

 

Why should one self in me judge part of me?

Why should one part of me give

another part of me a hard time?

Why do that if I am always the same person?

Why do that if I am always changing?

 

If myself is just the same self every day,

yesterday, tomorrow and now,

that means that I always remains the same;

events then make no difference to myself,

nothing at all can affect me.

 

If I am really changing from day to day

then nothing can affect me

for more than a moment

because I am different

now from what I was just before.

Yesterday’s self bears no significance today.

My old self sometimes says nothing about today

Yet my old self sometimes dominates today.

My old self sometimes shadows over today.

 

Why should my old self judge today’s self

if I am changing every day?

Why should my old self judge today’s self

if I am the same self every day?

 

Do I consist of lots of different selves?

Tell me which one of my many selves

do I rely upon.

 

If I always remains the same, then

no chance for any kind of change;

I can’t develop or regress.

It would not matter what I did,

what I am doing or what I will do.

 

I cannot find a true self to pinpoint.

Which self within points out the true self?

Can I rely upon the self that points out the true self?

So there is no self assurance here

True self, changing self, different selves?

This all seems rather inconsequential.

 

Then I like to think I am both,

a true unchanging self and a changing self.

Which bit of me shows my true self?

Which bit of me shows my changing self?

What connects up these two kind of selves?

True self, changing self, different selves,

old self, new self, synthesis?

 

Reality refutes every thesis.

 

Such a relief ….

 

~ Christopher Titmuss ~ 

Edited May 12, 2017 by C T

[3bob]

"I am the Walrus"

[dwai]

[thelerner]

The answer I get is:

I am breath and awareness.

that's an intellectual understanding.

I don't put much credence into it,

but that's what I got.

[C T]

Its a question thats like a dentist's drill... You will know when you are fixed. 

When the time comes for you to reflect and talk about the experience, its already in the past. 

 

So, in a sense, we are the toothache, the drill, the driller and the drilled, all at once. 

[AussieTrees]

We are stoic to the drill.

We are shocked by the bill.

[C T]

We are stoic to the drill.

We are shocked by the bill.

yeah