Around the year 700 B.C. the following Hindu Creation tale or myth appeared in the pages of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad:

In the beginning there was only the Self.

He reflected, and saw that there was nothing but Himself, whereupon he exclaimed:

“I Am!”

Ever since, He has been known within as “I.” even now, when announcing oneself, one says, “I am…” and then gives the name that one bears.

The reason why I mention this quote is because of the importance of the phrase “I am.” We use it all the time. I am bored. I am stupid. I am so sick and tired of this job. I am happy. I am feeling so awesome today. I am so in love with my girlfriend. And on and on and on and on and on…

As you can see, we can be negative or positive using this phrase. But there is one very important thing that we always seem to forget about using this phrase. We use it with a sense of disconnect from what we say after it. How often do you pay attention to what you are saying when you say “I am” followed by anything after it?

This quote above to me means that we are not the name that we give after we use the phrase I Am. Instead we are a spiritual self. Something greater and bigger than just our physical bodies. We are spiritual beings in a physical world. We are all connected with the creative force that built the planet that we all live on and the other planets that we can see in space. We are that creative force.

Recently I had an experience at a funeral service that made me think. It was for a man who was very inspiring to me and to my community. He was a very kind and generous man. I truly loved and respected this man, however, when I went up to the casket to pay my respects I expected to feel some sort of sorrow or grief as I had been feeling other points during the processions and since I had heard of his passing. I didn’t feel a thing. Later that day I was thinking about how odd that seemed to me. Why did I feel nothing as I went up there and said my final farewell the this man whom I loved and respected? Was I a jerk who didn’t feel anything? Was I becoming a douchebag who didn’t feel emotions? What was wrong with me?

I have heard a lot of various spiritual thinkers of our time discuss how we are not our physical bodies but instead we are the spiritual beings that inhabit these bodies for a while. As I was talking to someone close to me in the car ride home about this strange occurrence and how I didn’t feel anything, it struck me. I didn’t feel anything because this mans spirit was now somewhere else. His spirit was in my joyous memories of him. When I thought of him I felt sad that I would never speak to him again. Because that’s where his spirit is, not necessarily only in the physical body in which we as a society gave this individual a name. He wasn’t his name or his body. His spirit had inhabited this body for almost 80 years, but now it had gone elsewhere. Which means that he was not just his name. He had a spirit.

I am not the Greek Guru Guy. That is a name that I use for this website, because if we all call ourselves “I am” then that just gets confusing. But when we are saying “I am” we are literally defining who we are and creating our lives. Every phrase you say helps create your life. If you say you are bored all the time, well then guess what, you are going to be finding yourself being very bored until you stop saying and thinking that you are always so bored!!

When you use the phrase “I Am” you are defining who you are. You may want to be careful about how you use that phrase then. The book The Power of Intention by popular self help guru Wayne Dyer also speaks of this same topic in a similar fashion. I wish and hope that all of us can stop using negative language that is not helpful to our present moment and our futures. It starts with watching how you use the phrase I Am.

I Am Blessed.

God bless you.

Namaste.

Στην υγεία σας.

-Greek Guru Guy