The First Sense of I-am-ness

[MUSIC PLAYING]

When we wake up in the morning, what’s the first sense that comes to us, or what is that sense with which we wake up? Is it just that I am a body, or I have a body? Not really, not these theoretical senses. But the sense that I feel good after a good sleep, or I really didn’t have a good sleep, or I did get a muscle cramp, or perhaps, what does that which I have to do in the course of the day?

What does that mean? It means that we all have a sense of a self, and the sense of that self which we have is not just a theoretical construct, but it is the very first sense with which we wake up. In fact, it is the very first sense, perhaps, which causes us to wake up. All of our daily life events are centered around that very first sense of self, me and myself.

The very first sense is that “I-am-ness.” It’s always a distinct subject. And without that distinct subject, no objective knowledge, and not even an experience, is possible for us. Our memories, experiences gathered from the past, and sensations [INAUDIBLE] the present world for us every day. Every day is a new day and enlivened by ourself.

Our first sense of the self is also associated with a sense of joy, or peace, or bodily calm. The first moment of self-awareness, if we closely reflect and retrace, it’s not a part or a feeling, but a non-conceptual organic sense of myself. It is the “I-am-ness” that perceives the body sense and reflexive state of mind that we call as the self-sense.

Self-sense is fundamental and subliminal to all our interactions. It is there as a hidden factor. But without that hidden factor, we cannot move, we cannot think.