The Infinite “I”
The word “I” is the most frequently used word in the English langueage … or in any language. Usually, when people use the word “I”, they are refering to ‘me and my story’ — the conditioned entity — the fiction that I identify with as ‘me.’
But there is a deeper meaning to “I” — that is, the delusion of “I” — the delusion of (the egoic) self. For ultimately, “I” is a sacred word, (indicating the unborn, eternal Self).
This is what Jesus referred to when he said, “Before Abraham was, I am.” Not, “Before Abraham was, I was already.” There is neither ‘was’ nor ‘will be’ in “I”, it IS eternal Presence — eternal ‘Nowness’. And this is what the Upanishad refers to also — it is the Formless, it is the Unconditioned.
It (the infinite unconditioned “I”) is known, but never in a subject/object relationship — it cannot be known in such a way. So one could say, it cannot be known at all — you can only BE it. Realise that you ARE it, but cannot know it as you know an object in consciousnesss.
For thousands of years, people have been trying to make God into an object in consciousness — the idea of God, the image of God, statements about (God) etc.
This is why the Upanishad says, “Not what people here adore” — that is not God — not that which you see, not that which you hear, not that which you think, not (even) that which you believe in, because belief is thought.
You believe in God — that also is “Not what people here adore” — it is a mental idol — ultimately, it is an ideology.
You believe in God and the person next to you believes in Communism — two ideologies! So it’s “Not what people here adore” — not that which the mind thinks, not that which the mind believes, but That which makes all thinking, all believing, all sense-perception possible. The Formless, out of which all forms arise.
And That is the innermost “I”, the (formless) Essence that gets mixed up in your life with forms — that is, the deepest innermost Self.
Transcribed from a talk given by Eckhart Tolle in Rishikesh, India, as recorded in DVD series, Touching the Eternal — Disk 3. entitled: The Power of Not Knowing. This DVD series is avaiable through our online store. To read the complete article: >>>Click Here.
