But what stands in our way? Well, the fractured nature of the self. You see, we have the word “I” in English when referring to oneself. “I” did this. “I” am going to eat breakfast. “I” am going to go for a walk; “I,” “I,” “I,” “I,” “I,” “I.” We never stop to think or observe that it is not the same “I” from moment to moment.

You might have an “I” in you that says, “It would be good to get up early and start meditation or do some sit-ups.” You have this ‘I’ that makes a promise to itself and says, “Oh, sure, from now on, I'm going to start waking up at 4:00 am and do my sit-ups.” Then, you go to bed at night, the alarm goes off at 4:00, and you say, “To hell with this! I'm not going to wake up and do that!” Then off goes the alarm, and we say, “Oh well, I changed my mind.” Bullshit! You didn't change your mind. Another “I” jumped in and said, “No, I have decided I won't wake up now.” Later in the day, you look down and realize that you’re still a little pudgy and that previous ‘I’ comes back and says, you know we should do sit-ups, and the whole thing repeats.

There is a constant struggle in each of us between the various ‘I’s, and I'll tell you, it's not two or three of them; it's hundreds of them. And sometimes they'll make promises that your life can't keep. Now and then, you'll make a promise that impacts the rest of your life, and then you enter the realms of regret. You reflect on your decisions and say, “I wish I had done things differently.” People do this all the time. This is where regret comes from. So how is it that we can say ‘I’ to anything? A journey towards the esoteric indeed must begin with a journey into oneself and observation of these different ‘I’s in oneself to identify them.

Pierce!