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Question No. 3243 31 August 2022 Official answer by Master Ali Saei (Abdullah Meshkat) verified Content level: Intermediate

Who or What Am I?

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The essence and first answer at a glance (60-word summary)

The “I” is the existential reality of every being, prior to any who or what. It is the essential identity of each individual, free from all attachments. This reality lies beyond fixedness and beneath every change, hidden from the senses and the faculties of perception.

Answer by Master Ali Saei (Abdullah Meshkat)

Teacher and researcher in the intellectual tradition of wisdom and the Ahl al-Bayt | Soroush Bamdadān Cultural Center

“‘I’, in one sense, is the ‘one’ in every being—the principle by which beings admit of no duality, and the eternal witness borne by each in affirming the oneness and unity of the One, the Unique, Lord.

“‘I’ precedes every how and what: a reality beyond all that is established, untouched by change.

“‘I’ is the identity and essence of every individual, free of attachments.

“‘I’ is hidden from the horizons of the senses and perceptions. ‘I’ is that which experiences pleasure or suffering.”

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