Thursday, October 25, 2007

First Person Personal Pronouns and their Psychic Referents

"Then Moses said to God, 'If they … ask me, "What is his name?" what shall I say to them?' God said to Moses, 'I am who I am' (Exodus, 3, 13-14).

Para vivir no quiero islas, palacios, torres. !Que alegría más alta: vivir en los pronombres! Quítate ya los trajes las señas, los retratos; yo no te quiero así, disfrazada de otra, hija siempre de algo. Te quiero pura, libre, irreductible: tú. Sé que cuando te llame entre todas las gentes del mundo sólo tú serás tú Y cuando me preguntes quién es el que te llama, el que te quiere suya, enterraré los nombres, los rótulos, la historia. Iré rompiendo todo lo que encima me echaron desde antes de nacer. Y vuelto ya al anónimo eterno del desnudo, de la piedra, del mundo, te diré: 'yo te quiero, soy yo.' "

Ana-Maria Rizzuto


From Wikipedia:

"I am that I am" (Hebrew: אהיה אשר אהיה, pronounced Ehyeh asher ehyeh) is one English translation of the response God used in the Bible when Moses asked for His name (Exodus 3:14). It is one of the most famous verses in the Torah. Hayah means "existed" or "was" in Hebrew; ehyeh is the first person singular present/future form. Ehyeh asher ehyeh is generally interpreted to mean "I am that I am" (King James Bible and others), yet, is most literally translated as "I-shall-be that I-shall-be."
The word "Ehyeh" is used a total of 43 places in the Old Testament, where it is usually translated as "I will be" or "I shall be," as is the case for its final occurrence in Zechariah 8:8. It stems from the Hebrew conception of monotheism that God exists within each and everyone and by Himself, the uncreated Creator who does not depend on anything or anyone; therefore "I am who I am".

Theologians have many different explanations for the meaning behind this phrase. Many theologians explain that "I am that I am" is better translated to "I be that I be". The ancient Hebrew language does not have a past, present, or future tense. Instead, it has an imperfective aspect and perfective aspect as indicators of time, with no actual determined time.
Perfective aspect is something that is completed, or will be definitely completed. Imperfective is something that has not been completed, might be completed or might be completed in the future (there is no definite).
"Ehyeh" is in the imperfective aspect, and can be understood as God saying that He is "in the process of being", a reference saying that He exists in all times, constantly, eternally.

According to traditional Christian interpretation, the New Testament testifies that Jesus Christ declared He is the great “I Am” (the Self) of the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible).

The revelation of the ineffable name "I AM WHO AM" contains then the truth that God (the Self) alone IS. The Greek Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Scriptures understood the divine name in this sense: God is the fullness of Being and of every perfection, without origin and without end. All creatures receive all that they are and have from Him; but He alone is His very being, and He is of himself everything that He is.

In Advaita Vedanta, the "I am" is an abstraction in the mind of the Stateless State, of the Absolute, or the Supreme Reality, called Parabrahman. It is pure awareness, prior to thoughts, free from perceptions, associations, memories.

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