Knowing The Difference Between i and I

Knowing The Difference Between i and I

Seeker: What is compassion? How can one express it?

Amma: Love is our nature. When that love fills us and overflows into our words, looks and deeds, it is compassion. No special effort is needed to express it. Like a flower's fragrance, compassion is love's fragrance.

Why do many find it difficult to love selflessly?

Love is the basic nature of all beings. However, the ego stands in the way of its free expression. The ego is our creation, not God's. It can be removed only by negation, that is, by discriminating between the ephemeral and the eternal ­ in other words, by the “not this, not this“ process of negation.

Egoism is the attitude of `i' and `mine'. Actually , is there any meaning in saying `i' and `mine'? Who are we referring to when we say `i'? If it is the body , do we own the body? How can the body , conceived of by our parents and sustained by nature, be ours?

What do we give in compensation for the air, water and light we take from nature? How then can we say that this body , which is wholly indebted to others, is ours? If the `i' is in the name, where was it before our parents named us? And if we change our name, what happens to the `i'?

Similarly , what is the difference between my body and those of others?

Apart from superficial differences in shape and size, is there a fundamental difference? After the body dies, the body that we call `mine' will not be with us anymore. If the body were ours, wouldn't it remain with us always? If we were the mind, it should be under our control, but that is not the case. Sometimes, we are sad, some times happy , sometimes angry and sometimes lazy.

Thus, it has a different character at different times. Where is the real `I' in all this? Can we introduce ourselves to others by merely saying `i', without adding information pertaining to our occupation or the fact that we are someone's son or husband, or that we are from a certain place, our identity is not clear. Yet, are any of these permanent? No. Our job can change. Our address can change. We will lose our near and dear ones to day or tomorrow. So, do `i' not exist without them? If `i' do, who then am i? If we inquire within, we will understand that what we refer to as `i' is not the real `I'. It is the Atma (Self), the expansive `I' that inheres in everyone. We might say , `I'm Madhava' or `I'm Keshava' or `I'm Krishna'.

What is common is the `I'. Even though the refrigerator, fan and light ' seem different, there is no difference in the electric current that makes each one of them work. In the same way , the supreme consciousness that inheres in all of us is the same. That is the real `I'. When we recognise that `I', we will realise that all we see is the same `I'. One who recognises that, is no ordinary individual. His individual mind has become the universal mind. This realisation is not instantly possible for all. It is like striking the lottery . Some will attain this realisation quickly .

The obstacles of `i' and `mine', ' standing in the way of expressing love selflessly , will be absent in them. When a flower blossoms, its fragrance wafts away . It does not reclaim its fragrance.

In the same way , when love awakens in a person, it flows like a river to the rest of the world.

Om Namah Shivay