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in between. They have given their own meaning to it.
In John 8: 24 we read: "Except ye believe that I am he, ye shall die in your sins..." But here the word 'he' is not found in the original manuscript at all. The early translators were puzzled by the absence of an object, and thus they simply assumed that a word was missing. They changed the statement: "Except ye believe that I AM" -- this is the original statement -- "Except ye believe that I am." They had to change it; it looked incomplete: "Who are you, just saying 'I am'? It looks incomplete." So they made it read: "Except ye believe that I am he -- I am God."
Thus the beauty and the immense significance of the original was lost. It is still that way in the Bible: "I am he." Jesus is simply saying: "I am!" That I-amness is the very quality of existence. He is not saying "I am God" -- because if you say "I am God," you have already accepted the duality of 'I' and 'God'. Then the 'am' is only a bridge between the duality.
When Jesus says "I am" he is simply saying that you can call it God or you can call it 1. It is the same thing -- two ways of ex-pressing the same thing.
This is far better, far superior to the Upanishadic statement that says: "Thou art that." It has accepted the duality. To deny, it has accepted. It denies; it says "Thou art that," but the duality is accepted. Jesus is far superior in his statement when he says "I am."
Moses asked God when he met him on the mountain-top, "People will ask me about you. How am I to say anything about you?"
And he said, "Just go and tell them that God says: I am that I am.
Strange words, but of great significance.
When Jesus speaks, he speaks from HIS consciousness; he pours his consciousness into it. But when it reaches you, only the empty word roaches. His spirit is lost on the way. Then you fill that empty word with your ox n spirit, and you say that you have read it in the Bible or you have read it in the Koran or in the Veda, but you are reading only yourself.
ALL scriptures function as mirrors -- you see only your face. And remember: if a monkey looks into a mirror, he is not going to find an
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