Why I? or Does God Speak English?
Peter Russel
It is a peculiarity of the English language that the word for the self is the shortest word - just the letter "I".
And the letter "I" is the simplest letter - just a single stroke of the pen.
The self is beyond definitions, without attributes or form - the simplest aspect of ourselves.
It is the innermost core of our being, the centre of our consciousness, the foundation of all experience.
The self has two aspects.
There is the pure Self, the faculty of consciousness common to all minds,
And there is the individual self, the localised manifestation of that essence as an individual.
Similarly there is "I" and there is "i".
The "i" is a small "I", in which the wholeness of creation has become a mere point, placed above, out of reach.
The individual self believes it is separate from its own essence.
It lives under the illusion that it is no longer whole - as if the gap in "i" could cut itself from its "I"ness.
The "I" is that which joins duality, as a line joins two points.
It is a vertical stroke linking bottom to top, as "I" links Earth to Heaven, ground to God.
Look at "I" or "i" in a mirror, and it remains "I" or "i".
Turn "I" upside down and it makes no difference.
But turn an "i" upside down and you have a "!" on your hands.
In Greek, Latin, and most of the Indo-European languages the letter "I" is the middle vowel.
Our own centre is symbolised as the central vowel.
And the sound of "I" is the middle mouth position.
This simple stroke of the pen is also the number "1".
The Self is the unity within, the one common thread to our experience.
This is also reflected in our speech.
When speaking of "I" in a detached way, we say "One thinks; One feels; One does this or does that."
Not only is the Self an inner oneness, awareness of "I", leads also to an awareness of "one's" oneness with creation.
The unity within is also the unity without.
The Self is the consciousness that sees the whole world of our experience.
The inner "I" is the inner eye.
The eye is both an organ perception, and a window into the soul.
When we meet another "eye to eye" we are meeting "I" to "I".
"I" is the great unknowable.
We cannot describe or define "I" in words.
We can only describe and define the many forms "I" takes, the many roles "I" play, the many clothes "I" wear, the many things "I" do.
But none of these is what "I" is.
Yet, unknowable as it is, "I" is undeniable.
"I-ness", consciousness, the existence of experience itself, is the one certainty behind all experience.
Everything else is open to doubt.
"I" is the absolute truth.
"I" is my true name.
Whatever labels others might call me, "I" is what I call my self - the Self that lies behind all names and labels.
And "I" is also what you call yourself.
We all share the same inner name.
Since my innermost essence is the essence of all beings, and the essence of all creation, "I" is also the name of God.
My true name and the name of God are one,
God is "I";
"I" am the eye through which God sees the world.
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