InI Am, 1 Without beginning, without end, Older than night or day, Younger than the new-born babe, Brighter than light, Darker than darkness, Beyond all things and creatures, Yet fixed in the heart of everyone. 2 From Me the shining worlds (stars & planets) flow forth, To Me all at last return, Yet to Me neither men nor angels May draw nigh, For InI am known only to MySelf. Ever the same is my innermost being; Absolutely one, complete, whole, perfect; Always itself; 3 Eternal, infinite, ultimate; Formless, indivisible, changeless. Of all existences I am the source, The continuation, and the end. I am the germ, I am the growth, I am the decay. All things and creatures InI send forth; InI support them while yet they stand without; And when the dream of separation ends, InI cause their return unto MySelf. I am the Life, And the Wheel of the Law, And the Way that leadeth to the Beyond. There is none else. 4 I am the Fire of Mind Which divideth itself Into the Superior and Inferior natures (flames), And putteth on a robe of flesh To come down, I am the vital principle of all that is. Nothing is that does not live. And of that life I am the source. As it is written: "First the stone, Then the plant, Then the animal, And then the man." But before the stone, InI am the FIRE, Distributed equally in space, Nowhere absent, filling all. And before the Fire, hidden within it, 5 InI am the pure KNOWING Whence all forms flow forth. Apart from Me, There is neither knowledge, Nor wisdom, nor understanding. Into every state of knowledge do InI enter. Into false knowledge as well as into true, So that I am not less the ignorance of the deluded, than the wisdom of the sage. For what thou callest ignorance and folly Is My pure knowing, Imperfectly expressed Through an uncompleted image Of My divine perfection. Woe unto them Who condemn these My works unfinished! Behold, they who presume to judge Are themselves incomplete. Through many of fiery trial of sorrow Must they pass, So that the clear beauty of my wisdom May shine from out their hearts, Like unto a light Burning in a lampstand brightly. 6 I am the doer of all. Nothing moveth but by My power. Mine is the healing influence Flowing down from consecrated hands. Mine the venom of the adder's fang. Nothing falleth but by Me And in whatsoever riseth Mine is the power that lifteth up. 7 My presence is the substance of all things. I am the virgin snow on mountain heights; I am the fruitful loam in valley depths. I am gold and silver of the temple vessels; I am the mire on sandals left by the faithful at the temple gate. See Me and regard Me equally in all, O Israel, And thou shalt see indeed. 8 For seeing thus, shall thou see, too. That nothing is, or can be, My antagonist. All, and in all Shall I fight MySelf? What hath power to limit or defeat The very source of power? Know then, that all thy sense of conflict is but the shadow-play of ignorance. Wait with patience on Me, thy Lord, And in my appointed time Will InI make clear what now is dark, And show before thee, straight and true, A path of safety In the very place where now an abyss of Terror seems to open at thy feet. 9 I am the beginning of all beginnings, Checked by neither time nor space, Held by no bonds of name or form. Present everywhere, Centering the full perfection Of my exhaustless power, InI am YHWH (thy Lord), O Israel, And YHWH Tzebaoth (Lord of countless hosts). Seek me in the Holy of Holies, In the heart of the true Temple (the righteous mind), On the Holy Mountain. Behold, I am with thee always, And InI never sleep. 10 I am the Height above all heights. My descent reacheth likewise below all depths. Yet am I poised forever between Height and Depth In perfect balance. Consider Me under the aspect of ALEF: There shalt thou find both Height and Depth And the path also which joineth them For descent and return. 11 ALEF in truth am I, The OX of solar fire Whose radiance lighteth all the world, Whose life-breath ebbeth and floweth In creatures great and small, Whose power taketh form In all the acts of men, of beasts, of plants Yea, and of things which seem inanimate, as well. ALEF am I, the patient burden-bearer Strong to carry the heavy load of the manifest. ALEF am I, the Eternal Worker By whose might all fields are tilled, And from whose life all seeds Derive their growth and increase. ALEF am I. The First and the Root. From My unfathomable Will The universe hath its beginning. In My boundless Wisdom Are the types and patterns of all things. Before all worlds I WAS; In all worlds I AM; And when worlds are but a memory, I SHALL BE. UNDERSTANDING ALEF A L E F, pronounced awlef. Transcribed as "A." The number 1. Meaning: Strong, steadfast like an Ox The Fiery (Supreme) Intelligence. 1 Throughout this text the proper name "Israel" should be understood as applying to the spiritual Israel. This name means "He shall rule as God", and thus the text is addressed to all who, by identifying themselves with the Divine Will became unobstructed channels for its expression. Thus they truly live the Divine Life, and consequently share in the Divine Rulership. 2 "To Me neither men nor angels may draw nigh." Nothing conscious of separateness can approach the Reality of the Absolute! When all at last return to the One, the differences that constitute various classes, such as plants, animals, men, and angels, will vanish. 3 "I am the vital principle of all that is." This is a reference to the attribution of Ruach to the letter ALEF. The Hebrew Ruach is analogous to Sanskrit Prana, Greek Preuma, and Latin Spiritus. Every one of these words means Breath, and every one means Life. The meditation says emphatically that this Life-Breath animates even those forms which are commonly regarded as being lifeless. 4 The phrase "My works unfinished" is a key to the whole philosophy of good and evil running through these meditations. In the thought of the author, we live in a dynamic, growing organism, which we call "the universe". The purpose for which that organism has been projected into relative manifestation is not yet fully achieved. It is not a finished mechanism, a thing made, once and for all. Rather it is a living Being, whose life includes innumerable lesser lives and lesserdegrees of knowledge.