Dear James.
Many thanks for answering my previous questions.
If I have understood you correctly, then the I, when I say “I” is the SELF I’m looking for.
Now it gets confusing when I think; ‘I want something’ or ‘I am afraid of something’.
Is this the same I ?
James: That is correct. There is only one self so if a self is looking for the self, there is a confusion. You know well that there are not two of you. You are one simple conscious entity.
When I think about it further my conclusion is I am only the observer. The awareness of it all. Is ‘I’ the observer? Is this conclusion correct?
James: Yes. You are a conscious entity. You are aware. You observe thoughts, feelings and events. You observe the material world and intelligent life.
Then, that Me or I that gets mentioned is never personal?
James: That’s correct. When you are born you don’t know you’re a person with a name. You exist and you are conscious. Your existence is consciousness. You know that much. Nobody tells you that because it is clear to you. But immediately your parents personalize you. They give you a name and they treat you like a specific person because they think they are people. That person refers to your body, not to you the conscious observer. They don’t know they are creating a confusion for you. They think they are doing you a favor because you have to move you body here and there among many object and many people. At some point it becomes obvious that you are not a person and then life gets more complicated because to be authentic you need to get rid of the idea that you are a person. Of course you don’t throw the idea away because it is useful so you pretend you are a person to make life work and you just know in your mind that you, the observer, is free of the person. It’s a secret that only you and perhaps a few other “people” share.
Don’t ask why it’s that way because there is no answer except, “That’s just the way things are.”
Love,
James