Francis, I feel the sense of “I am” very strongly, and even though I dont feel as lost or confused as I used to, I feel there is something still unresolved, a sort of confusion, in that I dont know if I am being tricked, other Advaita teachers say there is no me! so what feels the sense " I AM" if there is no me? and if there is no me, as the Advaita teachers claim, then why do they respond to their name?
Thank you so much for this great means of asking you a question!! wonderful!! LLOYD
Dear Lloyd,
When you say “I feel the sense of”I am" very strongly" there is on the one hand the “I” who feels the sense of “I am”, and on the other hand the sense of “I am” which is being felt. Which one are you? Obviously you are the former, the perceiver, not the latter which is simply something perceived. When some Advaita teachers say there is no “me”, they mean that the perceived “me” is not the real “me”, the perceiver. It may also be the case that some so-called Advaita teachers don’t speak from the experience of their true Self, in which case it is useless to try to figure out what they mean!
Now, because the real “me” is the perceiver and. as such, is never perceived as an object, any belief or feeling we have that it is some how limited, personal, mortal is not based on our experience and therefore has no value. As a result of this understanding, we are open to the possibility that our real “I” is unlimited and eternal. This makes possible the discovery of our true nature, which can be sometimes expressed by the sentence “there is no (limited, personal, mortal)”me“.
Warmest regards,
Francis
P.S. I was forgetting: “If there is no me, as the Advaita teachers claim, then why do they respond to their name?”
They know they are not their body, or their mind. They know or ascertain what the caller means as he/she calls their name, whether he/she means their body, their mind or consciousness, and they respond accordingly. Very simple. The argument according to which their answering their name would establish their ignorance of their true nature simply comes from a misunderstanding of the condition of a realized being. Ramana Maharshi, Atmananda and Jean Klein would answer their name. Not to do it would be quite rude and unloving.
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