The illusion of a separate ‘I’ - Transcending the Body, Mind & Intellect

The primary hurdle in the experience of the Self is the assumed individual identity, which you refer to as ‘I’. When an individual identity is assumed, it gives birth to the illusion of a separate ‘I’, confined within the boundaries of your body. With the birth of this illusory separate ‘I’, whatever happens with your body-mind, seems to happen to a ‘me’, whatever belongs at the body-level becomes ‘mine’.

Whatever is inside the skin is considered as ‘me’ and everything else outside is assumed to be ‘not me’. We have been living with this myth without questioning it, because we find everyone else around us living with the same illusion.

This illusion is complete when the flip side of “I… me… mine” is also imagined into existence. Whatever is ‘not me’ is perceived as ‘you… we… they… it’. This illusion is the root cause of all suffering, struggle and various defilements such as fear, anger, hatred, ill will, and jealousy. It shrouds the experience of who-you-truly-are.

Forgetfulness of who-you-truly-are leads to false identification with who you are not. You’ve become so addicted to the beliefs and stories that constitute the false personality that you continually try to improve and better this personality. But you are not this personality. It appears to be so due to the illusion of the mind.

The mind is a bundle of thoughts in which each thought is linked to a point of reference – the ‘I’. This point of reference called ‘I’ is a false notion that keeps changing every moment.

If you carefully observe how you use the ‘I’ in your daily life, you will realize its fallacy. Consider the following sentences that one commonly speaks.

My hand was wounded when I had been to the workshop.

I was scared when I found that my hand was bleeding profusely.

I then thought of visiting the doctor to dress up the wound.

When one says, “I had been to the workshop”, the word ‘I’ is being used to refer to the body. You keep saying many such things during the day by assuming yourself as the body. I had food, I climbed the stairs, I laughed etc. Here ‘I’ refers to the body.

The same sentence also says, ‘My hand was wounded’. Whom does the ‘My’ refer to? If the earlier identification with the body were to be used, one would have said, “I was wounded.” When you say, ‘My hand was wounded’, you consider yourself the owner of your body. It is only when you assume yourself to be separate from the body that you can say ‘My hand’. Thus, you can see that the point of reference for the ‘I’ has shifted from the body to the owner of the body.

When you say, “I was scared”, the ‘I’ in this context refers to the mind. The body cannot feel scared. The mind feels scared just as it also feels sad or elated, moody or ecstatic.

“I thought of visiting the doctor.” Here again, the reference has shifted from the mind to the intellect. Thinking is considered an intellectual faculty. Here you assume yourself to be the intellect.

From this example, you can understand how the point of reference is false and also how it keeps changing. The use of the words ‘I’, ‘Me’, ‘Mine’ differs in various contexts. This was an example of only three sentences.

Upon deeper reflection, you will come across innumerable identities of ‘I’. Different identities of ‘I’ spring into awareness at different points in time. However, due to delusion, you always believe it to be the same ‘I’. Being lost in this delusion, the real ‘I’ remains in the dark. Your true nature never gets an opportunity to shine forth as it is eclipsed by these false identities.

So long as you are entrapped in these false identities, the experience of the Self-remains shrouded.

Summary:

When an individual identity is assumed, it gives birth to the illusion of a separate ‘I’, confined within the boundaries of your body. Different identities of ‘I’ spring into awareness at different points in time. However, due to delusion, you always believe it to be the same ‘I’. Being lost in this delusion, the real ‘I’ remains in the dark. Your true nature never gets an opportunity to shine forth as it is eclipsed by these false identities.

So long as you are entrapped in these false identities, the experience of the Self-remains shrouded.