Notes - Thoughts on I

October 2003

flat light in the morning
the joy of the minimal

the unknown empire
adumbrates.

~~~

In The Fourth Way, P.D. Ouspensky describes the plurality of ‘I’s in our being, and the absence of knowledge of a permanent ‘I’.

“Man in his ordinary state is a multiplicity of ‘I’s.”

‘I’s can act as groups. One group does not necessarily know of the existence of other ‘I’s, or other groups.

This ability of groups of ‘I’s to operate without the knowledge of other groups is termed “buffering”. Buffering is seen as being effective, ineffective, helpful and/or pathological.

We can see this as another way of looking at the “subconscious”: rather than as a (Freudian) mental layer, as myriad bufferings between ‘I’s and groups of ‘I’s.

~~~

However, in his description of ‘I’s, Ouspensky does not speak of the entity within which they arise.

This is the real ‘I’, the field of awareness, the matrix or deep structure.

Real I = Awareness = Field (matrix / deep structure)

Arthur Deikman’s essay on I = Awareness.

A deep structure (Flash animation, opens in a new window)

All content ©2000-2006 Ron Dowd