In his book “I am not I”, the philosopher Jacob Needleman writes: „Among the great questions of the human heart, none is more central than the question, “Who am I?” And among the great answers of the human spirit, none is more central than the experience of “I Am.” In fact, in the course of an intensely lived human life — a normal human life filled with the search for Truth — this question and this answer eventually run parallel to each other, coming closer and closer together until the question becomes the answer and the answer becomes the question.“
Reading Jacob Needleman’s words, I felt like exploring them as a breathing practice: Letting the air flow into the body through the nose on the inhale, I can ask myself „Who am I?“ and state to myself „I am“ on letting the air flow out through the nose on the exhale. I imagine this would be the habitual order of this question/answer pair: the inspiring question and the collected answer, with the breath pause informing us as to the effect of the practice. But equally one can turn it around, stating „I am“ on the inhale and „Who am I?“ on the exhale. Trying it out both ways creates a direct experience of what Jacob Needleman describes, the question becoming the answer and the answer becoming the question.
Source: Jacob Needleman, I am not I, North Atlantic Books, 2016