Lesson one - ‘I’, ‘me’ and ‘mine’

The first lesson begins from the time of birth itself. From a state of being a ‘nobody’ (where our past lives are neither remembered nor known), from the primordial egg we hatch to take birth. Birth takes place in much the same way that noise emerges from silence and the number one comes after zero.

Then miraculously we experience the sense of ‘I’, a strange experience of being. At birth, the first lesson is to become aware of the mystery of this ‘I’. This experience of ‘I’ begins from our early childhood and continues till the end. Till age seven the child thinks that everything revolves around it. It is the centre of attraction. Children feel important knowing the world serenades to their tune.

The lesson here is to understand the significance of one’s own being. It is a great mystery and there is tremendous joy in self discovery. The child first becomes aware of its body, then its personality. It starts understanding how to walk, talk, climb, jump and dance. It exults in self-discovery, “I can walk! I can sing! I can dance! Look at me”!

The twin concepts of ‘I’ (aham) and ‘my’ (mama) become apparent. “This is my mother and my father. These are my toys, and this is my house, my cat!” We discover our sense of being. We believe we are the most important people in the world and imagine that the immediate world is meant for our enjoyment. Though we experience the presence of others, we assume they cater to us only. Either they belong to us or we don’t notice them. Everything known to us belongs to us. We know nothing about anything else. “Whatever doesn’t belong to me like my neighbors or what lies at the periphery of my world means nothing to me.” In this way everything rotates around the sense of ‘I’.

(To be Continued)