I and Me

The theme for today is "I and Me".
as well as
"No Rush"

By "no rush" I mean
let there be space between things
in which their fullness can develop
and mind can enter
at a natural pace

Today I have more questions than answers.
but with "no rush", that can create a nice opening.

I think it's good occasionally to revisit this basic distinction
aspects of Self
called I and Me

to come to understand it
or be less confused by it
or know ways to practice it.

We might say something like
I am a subject, a knower
Me is an object, a known

This is to define it,
to treat it as an object, an It.

A more direct way to know this
is as two ways of knowing:
Having experience, the present experiencing
versus
being aware of it, as a thing,
or even more indirectly
saying things about it using language.

It's one thing to have a sense of I
another to have an sense of or idea about Me.

Some philosophers or teachers have recommended
to know oneself, or seek oneself.

Others have recommended to somehow be free of self
or realize that self is in some way empty.

Christian traditions
emphasize a form or self-abnegation
and I think we can still feel it percolating
through our cultures and attitudes
as a spiritual path
or a kind of agreement to attend better to Others.

Foucault in his later years
turned his attention from understanding "me",
how "me" was formed or oppressed by the world

to a concern for "care of self"
as a basis for ethics and relationships

What could he have meant by this?

We might say there's a difference
between sensing and knowing,
and between knowing and caring.

Let's wonder, or even sense into it
a bit more

What kind of relationship there is or could be
between I and Me.

How I can sense and know Me

How I can care for Me

And even, the other way around

What of Me
knows and cares for I?
How could that work?

All of these things are going on at the same time!
One way is "No Rush"

If we relax but stay alert and alive,
slow down
don't jump to conclusions and into habits
it creates space between I and Me
along with a change in the quality of experience
of knowing and acting.

Ueshiba, founder of the art of Aikido,
a fighter, an artist,
a very embodied teacher of mind / body / spirit
once said

Polish the heart,
free the six senses and let them function without obstruction,
and your entire body and soul will glow.

What could he have meant by this?
A kind of caring, or practice?

Depending on the state of I,
we can know "Me"
often known as a characteristic response to the world
that can change:
the same settings, the same soundscapes, the same relationships
become irritating, or energizing, or healing.

The I then becomes aware of, and steps into
subtle freedoms
and deeper appreciations.

Life goes on,
with many small steps and actions
gestures and glances.

Are there any recent experiences you would like to talk about
that you are curious about or interested in
or in which you sense these themes going on?