What I Really Am (and so are you and Jesus)

Education Articles | April 12, 2006

A playful yet controversial view that our true and timeless nature does not need to be confirmed by the great realizers that have come before us.

I’ve been good and I’ve been bad. I’ve been loving, and I’ve been full of hate. I’ve been open and kind and generous, and I’ve been closed and cruel and greedy. The common factor of all I’ve been… is what I AM.

What I AM, is AM-ness.

"What does that mean?" you ask.

What I AM is often obscured by what the mind and body produce as their natural function, which is combinations of thought, emotion, and sensation interacting with the environment. These combinations are called ‘experiences’, and seem to produce an ‘experiencer’ called ‘me’.

The ‘me’ is made of all I call ‘mine’
"My sensations, my feelings, my thoughts".
"My memories, my body, my mind, my life".
"My family, my lover, my hopes, my world".
All that I believe is ‘mine’ is what makes ‘me’.
But what am ‘I’ when I subtract or lose or ‘give away’ all that is ‘mine’?

(As if any of it is really ‘mine’ to lose or ‘give away’).

What am ‘I’ then?

What I AM, is ‘AM-ness’ or simply pure PRESENCE.
PRESENCE is prior to the ‘me’ or ‘mine’ thought,
and is the open space within which the ‘me’ and ‘mine’ arise.

PRESENCE is NOW, most obvious when the mind is STILL, when experience is DIRECT, and when the story of ‘me’ is ABSENT. When ‘me’ is absent, AM-ness is present as PRESENCE.

This is experienced as a Fullness of the Heart that radiates outward, prior to labeling, judging, thinking, or ‘doing’ anything at all. The Heart is ever present and complete as the Presence prior to the ‘me’. What I AM could also be called Freedom.

I AM that Heart Fullness.
I AM that Freedom.
I AM that PRESENCE. (and so are you!)

I think Jesus said something like, "Before Abraham was, I Am" which means he had found his timeless and true nature. The same timeless and true nature found by many before and many since.

'I AM' stands on it's own and has no need of outside confirmation, much less is it dependent upon another's prior realization. If there was no Buddha, no Jesus, no Lao Tzu, No Ramana, no Nisargadatta, No Plotinus, No Eckhart Tolle, the I AM would still stand free without need of validation. I Am ... IS!

www.wakinguptolife.com

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Aaron has studied and taught Eastern and Western approaches to Life, healing and development for over 15 years. In that time, he has had the opportunity to share his understanding with thousands of others through a variety of forums including workshops, private consultations and written publications.

With a mission to help people live their lives more attentively, joyfully and passionately, Aaron McNaught founded Aaron McNaught Education/ Consultations in 2003. In addition to serving as the company's president, Aaron is also known to many as their transformational wake-up call. An experienced educator, author, healer practiced in both Eastern and Western philosophies, Aaron McNaught is your transformational wake-up call. www.wakinguptolife.com