Descartes’ famous statement, “I think, therefore I am (Cogito ergo sum)” could be debatable. By this criterion, a tree does not exist because it does not think. A human in a coma, who does not have the capacity to think, does not exist. So right away we get into difficulties with what exactly what Descartes was trying to say.
If he is referring to the time-bound human ego, then “i think, therefore I am” makes sense. We begin to accumulate memories and conditioning when we are babies. From this collection, we construct a person with a name, cultural background, and parental teaching and examples. We then believe that this is who are are and therefore, “I am.” We create something solid out of a constantly changing whirl of atoms and we call it “me.”
It is more accurate to say, “I embody the eternal Soul of the Universe, therefore I am.” The smaller ego-me, consisting of thoughts, memories, opinions, fears, and beliefs is a transitory thing. It is changeable and constantly evolving. Are we going to call something that is in a continual state of flux “me?” But there is something that exists beyond our cognitive abilities: The Soul. It is the eternal principle of the Universe, contained in each one of us and it is beyond the limitations of thought.
If he is referring to the time-bound human ego, then “i think, therefore I am” makes sense. We begin to accumulate memories and conditioning when we are babies. From this collection, we construct a person with a name, cultural background, and parental teaching and examples. We then believe that this is who are are and therefore, “I am.” We create something solid out of a constantly changing whirl of atoms and we call it “me.”
It is more accurate to say, “I embody the eternal Soul of the Universe, therefore I am.” The smaller ego-me, consisting of thoughts, memories, opinions, fears, and beliefs is a transitory thing. It is changeable and constantly evolving. Are we going to call something that is in a continual state of flux “me?” But there is something that exists beyond our cognitive abilities: The Soul. It is the eternal principle of the Universe, contained in each one of us and it is beyond the limitations of thought.
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