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Originally Posted by sky
"Jesus said I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6).
This Verse puzzled me in my Youth, I personally don't think Jesus would say something like this, it seems like Religion Racism.
I wondered should " I found the way, the truth and the life " make more sense. Surely other belief systems have access to ' Our Father ' .
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Hi all,
«*Surely other belief systems have access to ' Our Father ‘*» :
Seems that history proves that affirmation.
All paths lead to God, but God isn’t the Path, shared the Wise.
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Originally Posted by Zeke55
States determine what you believe, experience is from I AM, outside produces churches made with hands and fake beliefs with fear, inside will free you as I AM that can't die.
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Is it sure that the I AM can’t die ?
Is this I AM not depending on bodies ?
Can we testify Being when died ?
Is it not recommended to say that the SELF - I - can not die, and the I AM, being trapped in time and space, dies with the bodies-minds ?
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Originally Posted by Still_Waters
The "I AM" is not well understood by the masses and I am glad that you brought that up especially in this thread. Understanding the "I AM " to at least some degree seems to have major implications in interpretation the Biblical passage being considered in this thread: "I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life".
In the east, the "I AM" is considered to be that which first emerges during the manifestation/creation process.
I would be interested in hearing more from you on the nature of the "I AM".
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Is the I AM understandable ? Or is it recognized when mind conceptualizations ends, then not reachable with our rationality ?
«*In the east, the "I AM" is considered to be that which first emerges during the manifestation/creation process.*» : perhaps to say that the I AM emerges simultaneously with the Manifestation/Creation would be more accurate.
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Originally Posted by Still_Waters
My sense is that the "I AM" is itself the key to understanding "I AM the way, the Truth, and the Light".
Try meditating on "I AM" with no other thoughts.
Both Nisargadatta Maharaj and Ramana Maharshi use that technique, and so do I. It is quite revealing.
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Bhagavan Ramana used to advice self-enquiry to reach the I AM whence Nisargadatta Maharaj showed an even more direct path by concentrating in the I AM alone.
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Originally Posted by ThatMan
Yes, glad you are aware of this! I AM - the way, the truth and the life.
This realisation is the REALISATION, the ultimate truth, though is primoridal all truths which are nothing but illusion.
I AM is right now, right here, in every moment, in every breath, in every blink of the eye.
If you think you have to do this or that to find I AM, you think, I AM is already found, it is in plain view.
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Is realizing the I AM really the ultimate truth ?
Or is it more the door to that Truth, beyond the I AM ?
If so, then I AM isn’t the Truth. Still being the Life, and A way.
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Originally Posted by Still_Waters
Well said. Note that as soon as one completes the sentence "I AM <something>", duality and separateness immediately arise.
... and yet there is that from which even the I AM arises. 
This is going very deep.  |
Some call that ground whence I AM arises Awareness.
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Originally Posted by AbodhiSky
thought is like somebody else's cat that wonders into my yard. it's all about what i make out of it. i can ignore it and go about my day. later i may look in the yard and the cat is gone. it left on it's own.
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«*thought does not give birth to illusion*» : thus, what does, if not thoughts ?
«*thought is just a natural product of the brain.*» : is it sure ?
Or thoughts just being channeled from the realm of ideas ?
«*which usually means me (consciousness)*» : are you sure to be the Consciousness , or is it not the ultimate false identification ?
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Originally Posted by Still_Waters
Regarding thoughts, Ramana Maharshi has said: “The degree of freedom from unwanted thoughts and the degree of concentration on a single thought are the measures to gauge spiritual progress."
"I AM" could be considered a "single thought".
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«*«*‘I AM’ could be considered a "single thought*»*»:
Perhaps then this I AM is just the root of all illusions, and false also.
Best regards,
R.