In my youth, when I began to think about "what am I?", A silent despair invariably crept into my soul ... ?
“How easy it must be for a materialist,” I thought, “for believing that“ he ”is just his bodily shell. Or a psychologist who sees the essence of the human personality in the stream of emotional and intellectual experiences. It is much more difficult to answer this question for an idealist philosopher, mystic or theologian, but they also cope with the task set before them, declaring the human "Ego" to be a particle of the Absolute Idea or some kind of Divine Spark. ?
The most interesting thing is that any of these definitions to some extent reflects the actual state of affairs, but like any reflection, it inevitably distorts the truth. Sometimes beyond recognition ... ?
... Now that the times of militant materialism are a thing of the past, the statement that "soul" and "body" are one and the same is unlikely to satisfy anyone. ??
And if an "ordinary" person, solving this issue, is forced to limit himself to speculative reasoning, then people who have experienced clinical death or have mastered at least the simplest method of "astral projection" are convinced of this by experience. The experience when you first see "yourself" from the outside, peacefully sleeping in bed or lying on the intensive care table, radically changes your entire subsequent life.
The fact that my emotions and my intellect (ie, my psyche) are far from my "Ego", I became convinced thanks to meditation.
When the sensations of the physical body gradually fade away, then any emotional experiences and thoughts or images generated by the mind, and when, despite this, the perception of one's own "I" remains (and even intensifies many times!), You begin to understand that experimental psychology is still very, very a young science and that if all its achievements and conclusions are not completely denied, it is still not worthwhile to accept them with great caution. ?
So what, after all, is this mysterious human "I" ?! Where is it hidden and what is its essence? 
Definitions such as "Divine Spark" or "Absolute Idea" are certainly wonderful, but do they answer the question posed directly, and do they not disguise our ignorance as knowledge, instead of really dispelling the fog covering our eyes? ..
Reflecting on your own, and not relying blindly on the "ready-made truths" presented to you, one cannot help but understand that the world is much more complex than we imagine it, and, at the same time, much simpler than the best minds of mankind describe it.
Even more amazing things are revealed to those who begin to comprehend the world, relying not only on the mind, but also on that “intuitive feeling” that the overwhelming majority of human individuals have in a dormant state and which opens to an inquiring mind, like a flash of lightning, completely turning it over ideas about reality. (In Zen Buddhism, this rebirth is called "Satori") ...
And what is "I" ("Ego") in your understanding? ..
Share your versions in the comments ... ?
“How easy it must be for a materialist,” I thought, “for believing that“ he ”is just his bodily shell. Or a psychologist who sees the essence of the human personality in the stream of emotional and intellectual experiences. It is much more difficult to answer this question for an idealist philosopher, mystic or theologian, but they also cope with the task set before them, declaring the human "Ego" to be a particle of the Absolute Idea or some kind of Divine Spark. ?
The most interesting thing is that any of these definitions to some extent reflects the actual state of affairs, but like any reflection, it inevitably distorts the truth. Sometimes beyond recognition ... ?
... Now that the times of militant materialism are a thing of the past, the statement that "soul" and "body" are one and the same is unlikely to satisfy anyone. ??
And if an "ordinary" person, solving this issue, is forced to limit himself to speculative reasoning, then people who have experienced clinical death or have mastered at least the simplest method of "astral projection" are convinced of this by experience. The experience when you first see "yourself" from the outside, peacefully sleeping in bed or lying on the intensive care table, radically changes your entire subsequent life.
The fact that my emotions and my intellect (ie, my psyche) are far from my "Ego", I became convinced thanks to meditation.
When the sensations of the physical body gradually fade away, then any emotional experiences and thoughts or images generated by the mind, and when, despite this, the perception of one's own "I" remains (and even intensifies many times!), You begin to understand that experimental psychology is still very, very a young science and that if all its achievements and conclusions are not completely denied, it is still not worthwhile to accept them with great caution. ?
So what, after all, is this mysterious human "I" ?! Where is it hidden and what is its essence? Definitions such as "Divine Spark" or "Absolute Idea" are certainly wonderful, but do they answer the question posed directly, and do they not disguise our ignorance as knowledge, instead of really dispelling the fog covering our eyes? ..
Reflecting on your own, and not relying blindly on the "ready-made truths" presented to you, one cannot help but understand that the world is much more complex than we imagine it, and, at the same time, much simpler than the best minds of mankind describe it.
Even more amazing things are revealed to those who begin to comprehend the world, relying not only on the mind, but also on that “intuitive feeling” that the overwhelming majority of human individuals have in a dormant state and which opens to an inquiring mind, like a flash of lightning, completely turning it over ideas about reality. (In Zen Buddhism, this rebirth is called "Satori") ...
And what is "I" ("Ego") in your understanding? .. Share your versions in the comments ... ?
