The I

The I is, in Martinus's analysis, the eternal and unchangeable centre of the living being. It is distinguished from the visible expression produced through the being's creative activity. Martinus describes the I as the fixed point from which the being's movement can be measured.

The I and the triune principle

Martinus describes the living being as a triune principle consisting of the I, the faculty to create and that which is created. He also refers to these principles as X1, X2 and X3. The three are inseparable aspects of one living reality: without the I there is no one to direct the creative faculty, without that faculty there can be no creation, and without that which is created there is no manifestation through which life can be experienced.

In this terminology, X1 is the I, X2 is the I's creative faculty, and X3 is the result of that faculty and the outer, visible expression of the I. The visible expression is therefore not the I itself; it is what makes the otherwise invisible creative activity perceptible.

The same triune principle can be applied both to an individual and to the Godhead. Martinus says that the Christian expressions Father, son and holy spirit symbolically correspond to X1, X2 and X3. In this passage, those religious expressions are symbols for the inseparable principles of the living being.

X1: the nameless I

Martinus calls the I the “causeless cause” because it stands behind thought, will and manifestation rather than being an effect produced by an earlier cause. An effect is a movement or created result; the I is that which thinks, creates and manifests. It is consequently described as the absolute first cause in the living being's existence.

X1 cannot be analysed like a created object. It has no weight, volume, colour or measurable size, and is not itself a physical or spiritual form. Martinus therefore gives it the minimal analysis “something that is”. X1 is the invisible originator of the manifestations that can be observed, while created forms are the products of the creator.

The I is not, in Martinus's view, an empty abstraction. It is the experiencing centre around which sensory impressions are gathered and from which decisions and acts of will are experienced as originating. Martinus argues that the brain and other bodily organs are tools involved in this process, not the experiencing subject itself.

Martinus contrasts this account with explanations that treat the brain as the origin of experience. In his analysis, the brain, nerves, eyes and other organs are instruments. He uses the contrast between a tool and its user to argue that the organism cannot by itself account for the “something” that experiences, wills and directs it.

X2: creative faculty and superconsciousness

X2 is the creative faculty through which the I organises energy into experienceable forms. Martinus relates this faculty to the individual's superconsciousness, including the “body of eternity” and its fate-element. He says that creative ability originates in this higher organism, which exists before and survives the particular bodies of manifestation.

The relation between X1 and X2 is described by Martinus as the individual and the tool through which the individual creates. The I is the originator, while the creative faculty regulates movement, forms thoughts and produces manifestations. Martinus also describes will as regulation of thinking: primordial desire becomes will, will regulates thought, and the resulting combination of movements is creation.

The superconsciousness is not the I itself. It is the living being's most important tool because it organises the energies used in its manifestation. It contains talent-kernels in the fate-element, representing acquired abilities and skills, and remains a tool for the individual.

Martinus distinguishes this eternal structure from the subconsciousness. The latter consists of the physical body together with the five other bodies used for manifestation, whereas the superconsciousness and its fate-element provide the higher basis from which those instruments are organised. These bodies are subordinate organs through which the I controls the corresponding basic energies.

Automatic functions of the superconsciousness arise from earlier conscious acts of will and practised ways of manifesting. Present choices can therefore influence the future character of the being's creative expression, whether as developed abilities or as harmful tendencies.

X3: creation, organism and visibility

X3 is the created result and outer, visible expression of creative activity. It includes changing forms and manifestations through which the I becomes perceptible, including matter and the organism as instruments. The physical organism is therefore one expression within the wider field of X3; X3 is not limited to one physical body.

The organism is both expression and tool. Through it the I senses and creates in physical matter, while its organs make particular forms of experience of life and action possible. The visible brain, nerves, blood, musculature, glands and other organs are tools used by the invisible centre; the tools would also be helpless without that centre's directing activity.

The superconsciousness gathers experience, knowledge, skills and abilities. From this “eternal body” the being creates new physical bodies and transfers abilities from life to life. The changing organism is therefore not the complete identity of the living being, but a renewed instrument shaped by its accumulated creative history.

This is also where talent kernels become relevant. The sources describe them as enduring seeds or stored abilities in the fate-element. They preserve developed abilities and dispositions, allowing these to influence later organisms and forms of manifestation.

The I, death and continued existence

Martinus distinguishes the I from the particular physical body. The body begins, develops, reaches maximum usefulness, undergoes wear and tear and eventually breaks down. The I is not destroyed, because the body is a created tool and not the eternal subject that uses it.

Physical death is therefore the separation of the I from its physical body and the cessation of the manifestation possible through that body. The other bodies and the superconsciousness continue to provide means for the I to function, experience and create. Martinus connects this renewal of bodies explicitly with the living being's creation of its own reincarnation.

Martinus insists that the living being remains the unity of the three principles. What changes is the particular organism and mode of manifestation, not the underlying I and its creative capacity.

The I as fixed point and centre of experience

The fixed point is the I as the unchanging reference centre in relation to which movement, matter and experience appear. Martinus says that everything sensed is peripheral to this centre, while the centre itself cannot be reached as an object by ordinary sensory perception. He also describes the I and its superconsciousness as eternal and beyond time and space.

In the chain of cause and effect, causes can be traced to earlier causes, but each such cause is also an effect. Martinus distinguishes the I as the cause that is not itself an effect. The I regulates thought and movement and gives the creative process its direction, while movement and created forms remain subordinate expressions.

At advanced stages of development, Martinus says, the I feels itself as the fixed point while matter obeys thought directly. This is presented as a culmination of creative ability: created matter becomes increasingly responsive to thought, while the I remains the still centre.

Thus, in Martinus's analysis, “the I” is the eternal subject of experience, the originator of will and the user of organisms. X1, X2 and X3 describe the complete living being: the nameless I, its creative faculty and the created manifestation through which it experiences life. None of these principles is meaningful in isolation, and the visible organism is one changing expression within this eternal triune relationship.

See also

• The Living Being
• Livets Bog
• The Eternal World Picture
• Superconsciousness
• Reincarnation