What we think about defines and characterizes us. Proverbially, from the Old Testament: “As you think, so you are.” And, famously, from Descartes: “I think, therefore I am.” Which begs the question: Who are we when we’re not thinking?
We are light emitters. Now, from a scientific point of view, all matter emits light, even stones, but ours is an extraordinary radiance, rapturously described in The Tibetan Book of the Dead as “the luminous splendour of the colourless light of Emptiness.” We think we are bodies going about the business of the body, but that’s vyakti, the outer self. The inner self, the vyakta, is pure light. I occasionally have the experience of seeing a soft white glow around the head of the man I am counselling. On those occasions I know again that all is well. There’s nothing he needs to do.
The true man is non-violent. This means that his level of self-concern is low to non-existent. He functions normally but one vacancy sets him apart: He has no interest in profit and loss.
Who am I? The answer is in the question. All else is who I am not.
When you say “I am”, don’t append a subject complement, that is, an identifier, e.g., father, son, doctor, lawyer, etcetera, ad infinitum. Just put a period on it and see how that feels.
Men's Work 