61463114-Theosophy-Rudolph-Steiner-1910-247pgs-SPT

CONSTITUTION OF THE HUMAN BEING 43 an "occurrence taking place only in the veiled holy of holies of a man," for with his "I" man is quite alone . And this "I" is the man himself . That justifies him in regarding his ego as his true being . He may, therefore, describe his body and his soul as the "SHEATHS" or "VEILS" within which he lives ; and he may describe them as his TOOLS through which he acts . In the course of his evolution he learns to regard these tools ever more and more as the servants of his ego . The little word "I" (German ich) as it is used, for example, in the English and German languages, is a name which differs from all other names. Anyone who reflects in an appropriate manner on the nature of this name will find that it forms an avenue to the understanding of the human being in the deeper sense.

Any other name can be applied to its corresponding object by all men in the same way.

Anybody can call a table "table" or' a chair "chair," but this is not so with the name I .

No one can use it in referring to another person ; each one can call only himself "I ."

Never can the name "I" reach my ears from outside when it refers to ME. Only from