“I”, “I am”, “I am that” and “You are that”.

Have you ever been confused by the use of these words? I was reading a noted mystic the other day that in one part of his book dismissed the “that”, only to recommend it a few pages later.

Let me say this first. Any translation of one’s work into another language is fraught with the possibility of error. Even when we are interpreting one’s words with no translation necessary, there are misperceptions. The “voice” of the author may be intended in concrete terms or alternatively, intended to be metaphorical in nature, creating confusion. All we have to do is check Webster’s to find that most words have multiple meanings. The calculus of meaning can become almost insurmountable.

Back to the issue at hand, I have been confused with the “am” and the “that”. I can understand that the “I am” is supposed to convey being, however, the “am” reintroduces the body back into the discussion. The “that” points in a direction, so I am fine with its use, but isn’t it better to just say I, or mind’s eye or the eye of the I? Better yet, how about simple silence? But somehow that doesn’t satisfy, now does it? I guess we could add a smile to the silence, there we go – silence with a smile! Don’t the words just get in the way?

Reading the words or falling into a flow of loving intent?

Have you ever thought about how you read? Are you a trained speed reader? Do you prefer to read from the back forward? I first read as I was taught, each sentence for comprehension in the common vernacular.

There is another way I have found to be very rewarding, especially with spiritually oriented work. Try to look beneath the words, around the words and then beyond the words. Walk past the words, float amongst the words, watch the words fly by, until the words are no longer there and you are now only experiencing the true nature and intentions of the author. It is you and the author together sharing the actual ideas, not the translation by the mind anymore. The objective is for the words to come off the page directly into the consciousness without the ego’s reply. In its purest sense it is absorption, not translation.

At first it is somewhat difficult as there are vocabulary issues; some words are more commonly used in spiritual works. Each author may intend different meanings for words like mind, ego, duality, spirit, soul as well as God, devil, angels, demons. One author’s voice is metaphorical other’s may be concrete. But once past these obstacles, a rewarding experience is close at hand.