What do you mean when you say "I AM"?

I use it to express my most essential awareness of being, as a point of view, just consciousness, without truly being anything that might follow those two words in description- ".human.....a woman....a this or that....sad, happy, smart, stupid, doing this or that...".

The real truth of my being is as a point of perception, all the rest is trappings that change in the material and physical world.

Acknowledging this anchor of essential being is also what allows me to be capable of change without fear of ceasing to exist.

Originally posted by RealTruthSeeker
It seems that alot of people are using the term "I AM" in their post as well as their usernames. What is the reason for this? When Jesus said "I AM" I understand what He means. When God said "I AM" I also understand what He means. But when other people use this term in association with themselves I have no clue what they mean or what they are referring to.

If you use this term alot please help me understand the reason behind it.

I know a lot of people won't agree with this, but it's true: the God of the Old Testament is the Jesus of the New Testament. The term "I Am" is basically referring to the fact that He simply "is". When the Pharisees asked Him how He could know Abraham when He was not yet 50 years old, He told them that even before Abraham was, "I AM". It is a way of saying that He existed in the beginning, He existed in the present (for them at the time He said that), and He will exist forevermore. "I AM".

Originally posted by RealTruthSeeker
It seems that alot of people are using the term "I AM" in their post as well as their usernames. What is the reason for this? When Jesus said "I AM" I understand what He means. When God said "I AM" I also understand what He means. But when other people use this term in association with themselves I have no clue what they mean or what they are referring to.

If you use this term alot please help me understand the reason behind it.

When Moses was on top of the mountain and the ANGEL came down and gave him the ten commandments the ANGEL Said, "I speak from the great I AM (GOD)" I AM is a "code" within the Universe and represents GOD / PRIME CREATER...( I AM the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end). When "I" say it, as a single person, I AM acknowledging that I AM a piece of GOD and the UNIVERSE and that we are ONE. By recognizing this gives you an immediate blessing.

Back in the days of antiquity it was a sacred saying and prohibited by just ANYONE to say. If you were caught saying this you were persecuted and punished for it. Somewhere along the way its gotten lost. However I teach this in my spiritual teachings. And I'm gong to ask you to try this yourself and see what happens, I dare you!

Tomorrow, when you wake up in the morning before you start your day, look in the mirror and say "3" times.....I AM, THAT I AM, THAT I AM.....that is 1....etc.. You want to say it in the mirror because it bounces between "you and you" for infinity until you walk away!
Then just sit back and watch what happens. With an open mind.....say it everyday for the next "7" days, I promise you will not be disappointed. And I want you to send me a private message or make a new thread.....and tell us ALL what experiences you had THAT week. Keep testing it and just see if things don't start changing in your life for the better....again.....I DARE YOU!

You may find yourself syaing this everyday for the rest of your life!

they dont even know what it means.

Truthseeker, it's a little confusing when you ask that question as it's hard to nail down what you are after. We can't really answer for others' reasons as to what they mean when they use that phrase. And then it sort of puts us in the position of telling you what we think it means universally when you didn't ask what it means in a universal way. Like you didn't say,"what does I Am mean?"

reply to post by rseymore21


NO you are correct. Most don't know what it means. Because it is not just words...it's an experience. And unless you've had it, you couldnn't possibly understand what it meant.

Originally posted by RealTruthSeeker
It seems that alot of people are using the term "I AM" in their post as well as their usernames. What is the reason for this? When Jesus said "I AM" I understand what He means. When God said "I AM" I also understand what He means. But when other people use this term in association with themselves I have no clue what they mean or what they are referring to.

If you use this term alot please help me understand the reason behind it.

I've always believed that I am is what you are and vice versa. Here is a following link:

www.gty.org...

Originally posted by Angelicdefender2012

Originally posted by RealTruthSeeker
It seems that alot of people are using the term "I AM" in their post as well as their usernames. What is the reason for this? When Jesus said "I AM" I understand what He means. When God said "I AM" I also understand what He means. But when other people use this term in association with themselves I have no clue what they mean or what they are referring to.

If you use this term alot please help me understand the reason behind it.

When Moses was on top of the mountain and the ANGEL came down and gave him the ten commandments the ANGEL Said, "I speak from the great I AM (GOD)" I AM is a "code" within the Universe and represents GOD / PRIME CREATER...( I AM the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end). When "I" say it, as a single person, I AM acknowledging that I AM a piece of GOD and the UNIVERSE and that we are ONE. By recognizing this gives you an immediate blessing.

Back in the days of antiquity it was a sacred saying and prohibited by just ANYONE to say. If you were caught saying this you were persecuted and punished for it. Somewhere along the way its gotten lost. However I teach this in my spiritual teachings. And I'm gong to ask you to try this yourself and see what happens, I dare you!

Tomorrow, when you wake up in the morning before you start your day, look in the mirror and say "3" times.....I AM, THAT I AM, THAT I AM.....that is 1....etc.. You want to say it in the mirror because it bounces between "you and you" for infinity until you walk away!
Then just sit back and watch what happens. With an open mind.....say it everyday for the next "7" days, I promise you will not be disappointed. And I want you to send me a private message or make a new thread.....and tell us ALL what experiences you had THAT week. Keep testing it and just see if things don't start changing in your life for the better....again.....I DARE YOU!

You may find yourself syaing this everyday for the rest of your life!

edit on 22-10-2011 by Angelicdefender2012 because: (no reason given)

edit on 22-10-2011 by Angelicdefender2012 because: (no reason given)

I'm only interested in understanding the meaning of why other people use it towards themselves. Far be it from me to make such a claim or perform those chants on a daily basis. I get excellent results from prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, I don't see how praising myself will get me anywhere.

I AM... what my experiences dictate. Nothing More... at least in this life!

I'm surprised this Member hasn't joined the conversation:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

(Patiently awaiting his input on this thread....)

Originally posted by rseymore21
they dont even know what it means.

I'm starting to think the same. Kinda strange that none of the members who normally post who have "I AM" in their username have not made a singe post. Do they find this thread offensive?

reply to post by RealTruthSeeker


Oh ok I think I know where you are coming from. You'll have to ask yourself a lot of questions and learn who you really are. This is called self-inquiry. read up on it and learn what is said about it. It all boils down to one thing with I Am. You should examine all of your roles. I am (insert role). I'm a father, mother, son, daughter, worker, husband, observer, student, etc,...When done right, you'll come up with hundreds. After that it becomes easier to see that you've put yourself into so many roles, that you can realize that you are really none of those, you know, .... in reality. You are also not your body or your mind. When you get past all that you naturally fall into I AM and this kind of goes into, and I know it's a stretch right now, you are part of God (in that God is looking through your eyes) like a wave is a part of the ocean. This can explain why Jesus said he was before Abraham.

It's about shifting your identity from the body to the mind and from the mind to the true self and from that to the Absolute. This sort of the process to death and is the reverse when you are born. When you are born and maybe even before that, you are. Then as you age you get further and further away from that. You need to go back to the source within and this is where you find the I AM. This is also why Jesus said he wanted folks to come to him as little children. Just study up on what I said.

I Am refers to the part of you which exists before your mind and body. It is the part of you which recognizes your thoughts and feelings.

www.youtube.com...

reply to post by msdesertrat

Originally posted by msdesertrat
I Am refers to the part of you which exists before your mind and body. It is the part of you which recognizes your thoughts and feelings.

www.youtube.com...

edit on 22-10-2011 by msdesertrat because: can't seem to embed the video for some reason

I watched this and have just one question, maybe two. What I AM is he referring to? And where is he getting this knowledge?

reply to post by RealTruthSeeker


For me, "I Am" represents the only truth out there; everything could be (and probably is) an illusion, a dream.
A simple mind game:
Let's say you remove a leg from your body...you will still be "you", right?
Same if you (like the brave knight in M Python's Quest for the holy Grail) lost BOTH legs AND arms...or replaced just about every internal organs with implants, except the brain of course.
Thus - we "are" not our bodies.

But how about "Me", my person, my social being?

Well, let's say you had a really bad stroke, or got very senile...is it not rather easy to imagine that it would still be "You" being there, unable to speak, remember who your relatives are...or even your own name?...
I would argue that "I Am" not my person, nor my body, but someone, who simply experiences life/reality/whatever THROUGH my body and person. I Am that core, that node of excistance...the Soul...

I really apprechiate the assumption that this Soul really is a part of a far greater context, but right now, as we are bound to this existance called "Life" and "Reality", it is really hard to grasp that bigger belonging, like the wave on the ocean is a part of the ocean, and a flower of a tree is a part of that tree.

Some said that "Life is a expression of the creation wanting to experience and understand itself". I like that.

So "I Am" is really all you could be really sure about. You excist and experience. Descartes said also: "Cognito ergo sum", "I experience, therefore I am".

Greetings

Ps This was my first post on ATS, so forgive me if I musunderstood any rules of the Forum, and correct me if needed. Ds

reply to post by RealTruthSeeker


He's referring to your own sense of I AM. Like when you stop and think to yourself and ask yourself who or what you are. You have to go inside your thoughts.

Try this. If you cut off your arm, are you still you? If you cut off any part of you, are you still you? If you get an organ transplant, are you still you? Where could you point and say, "Ok. This is me."? This is how you rule out the possibility that you are the body.

The mind is similar, but takes a little longer. You are not your thoughts.

Where does he get this? I know that certain aspects of Hinduism, Advaita Vedanta for example teach this. Also Buddhism will go into it as well. Probably more so.

reply to post by Hitsuzen


Right on...simply put...in the days of his "Christ" arrival...it was a man who was in control...so obviously a woman would never have been accepted...all is an illusion and if you assign gender to anything related, you are missing the point. the point is the message not the gender of the messenger.

Gender is so limiting and there is no limit to God.

I believe this guy explains it the best.

www.youtube.com...

reply to post by RealTruthSeeker


It means I AM FOREVER (Invincible)