musings about I AM....

Honza · #1 14-05-2017, 12:23 PM

You new age guys have no idea what can of worms you have opened with the I AM principle and practice!!

It is a huge subject.

Lets go back 5000 years. On earth there was no understanding I AM. There were primitive tribes that worshipped God/Gods/Nature etc.

The first I AM probably started in India with early Hinduism. Once some people start practicing I AM the word starts to spread.

Primitive cultures often don't even have a word for "I". They live in the "other" or the nameless expanse.

Societies which start practicing I AM together often get very organised and strong - but also militant. Like the Roman, Greek, Persian and Chinese empires. You need a collective I AM to build an empire. I AM spreads outwards from its centre to reach others.

I'm not just talking about cosmic consciousness but the whole enfilade of "I" "I am" and "I AM". I'm talking of anything to do with the "I".

It goes on......

Baile · #2 14-05-2017, 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Honza

Lets go back 5000 years. On earth there was no understanding I AM. There were primitive tribes that worshipped God/Gods/Nature etc.

That's only if you believe the mainstream scientific/religious narrative. The linear-evolution narrative. The spiritual-occult narrative is much different. There is no "primitive tribes that only knew..." sort of thing in the spiritual-occult narrative. The spiritual-occult narrative is one of timeless and eternal expansion and contraction. Physical-material reality has come and gone, many times over. And it will always be this way.

That said, the relative truth is that human consciousness is forever evolving. That is our soul task in fact: to evolve our individual soul understanding in the same way master Jesus and Buddha did. And I AM is simply a natural and holistic progression from the group soul consciousness of the Pisces Age -- the age of external knowledge (religion) -- to the individual consciousness of the Aquarian Age -- the age of inner wisdom (self-realization).

Seawolf · #3 14-05-2017, 10:03 PM

From what I've seen you write, it would probably be benefiical to learn more about Hindu thinking on the subject of god. This idea that there's a thing called God and a separate thing called I AM is not accurate.

Hindus don't have such a black and white view of things like we do. They can talk like God is a person out there and God being us at the same time. It's very difficult for us to wrap our heads around it, and the way we interpret it is usually wrong. Much of the 'New Age' philosopgy is based on inaccurate western interpretations of eastern ideas. I wouldn't go by it, I would try to go more to the source.

Learn from respected teachers, like professors and people with Phd's on the subject of religion, not just from what people think and put out on the internet. And if possible, talking to an actual Hindu living in India would be ideal.

Honza · #4 15-05-2017, 03:51 AM

What my understanding is that Hindus call God I AM and also Hindus are happy to call the inner I God as well. You cannot separate God and I AM in Hindu terms because they are the same thing. It is my premise that they are NOT necessarily the same thing.
Scholars are interesting to study....but if you want to know how religion works then you need to talk to every day people. I've been here at SF over 10 years and the number of folk who have said "I am God" and "God and I are the same thing" is astonishing. These two phrases are both derived from Hinduism....

Honza · #5 15-05-2017, 03:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baile

Physical-material reality has come and gone, many times over. And it will always be this way.

What do you mean? The earth doesn't just vanish and come back again.

Honza · #6 15-05-2017, 04:06 AM

An interesting take upon I AM is to ask "what if I AM was banned or suppressed in society?" There would be no individualism. There would only be a collective "we".

It is this polarity between absolute I AM and no I AM that plays upon my mind. I need to find some middle ground.

Honza · #7 15-05-2017, 04:44 AM

What I'm looking for from the New Age and from Hinduism is some acknowledgement and awareness of 'others' and other people. Pure I AM is all very well but it somehow lacks the realistic awareness of other people's independence and freedom. We are not in a collective soup. Nor are we obliged to stop loving others and stop living social lives.
The I AM sounds like a giant being who wants everything his own way. The truth is that sometimes things go other people's way...

Seawolf · #8 15-05-2017, 08:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Honza

I've been here at SF over 10 years and the number of folk who have said "I am God" and "God and I are the same thing" is astonishing. These two phrases are both derived from Hinduism....

You seem to think you understand the Eastern concept of God, if so you're smarter than most of us. I don't know anyone who really understands it, because it's a completely different way of thinking. Have you considered that maybe you don't really understand it?

This isn't really about God and I AM though, I think it's about different cultures, and getting upset about a different culture invading your own with it's ideas. That's pretty comon among Christians. They see ideas that are different as threatening. I'm sure there are people in East that are same, they probably see our ideas as threatening. It's about cultures and our fears.

sky · #9 15-05-2017, 09:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Honza

What my understanding is that Hindus call God I AM and also Hindus are happy to call the inner I God as well. You cannot separate God and I AM in Hindu terms because they are the same thing. It is my premise that they are NOT necessarily the same thing.
Scholars are interesting to study....but if you want to know how religion works then you need to talk to every day people. I've been here at SF over 10 years and the number of folk who have said "I am God" and "God and I are the same thing" is astonishing. These two phrases are both derived from Hinduism....

Astonishing ???
Drop all religious beliefs and look inside. I am God, you are God, we all come from and return to the same source... It's a feeling deep inside of me that's as natural as breathing, I firmly believe we are all strands of the same DNA.

But... and it's a big but, it does depend who you think God is, or you could say, what is the idea of God to you..

Honza · #10 15-05-2017, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seawolf

You seem to think you understand the Eastern concept of God, if so you're smarter than most of us. I don't know anyone who really understands it, because it's a completely different way of thinking. Have you considered that maybe you don't really understand it?

This isn't really about God and I AM though, I think it's about different cultures, and getting upset about a different culture invading your own with it's ideas. That's pretty comon among Christians. They see ideas that are different as threatening. I'm sure there are people in East that are same, they probably see our ideas as threatening. It's about cultures and our fears.

I don't really believe that I understand the Eastern concept of God.....but do they understand our concept of God?

I'm not Christian but you are right in that I find their ideas quite threatening. "it's about cultures and our fears" - that is probably true.

The west has a social network which the east seems to lack. People talk about the divisions between the rich and the poor - but in the east it is far worse. There is no such think as the welfare state in India. The west has worked hard to get where it is today. Now it feels threatened. Just consider that Britain and America swung politically to the right out of fear. "America first" "Britain first"......people are protecting their own interests.