DiotimosReading Desk

Mental life and practical action

I and Me

"I"; "Me"; "Self"; "not-me"

The I is the directing and witnessing aspect of self; the Me is the aspect in which impressions and mental forms are received and generated.

From the book

The Kybalion

Three Initiates · Diotimos Editions · 2026

Browse this book’s lexicon →

Orientation

At a Glance

  • The wordThe I is the directing and witnessing aspect of self; the Me is the aspect in which impressions and mental forms are received and generated.
  • In The KybalionV briefly introduces the pair as a human correspondence to cosmic creation.
  • In this editionQuotation marks around I and Me help distinguish the labels from ordinary pronouns.
  • A place to readV.15: … “mental generation is accomplished may be called the "Me" in distinction from the "I" which stands” …

Meaning

The I is the directing and witnessing aspect of self; the Me is the aspect in which impressions and mental forms are received and generated. XIV interprets the distinction through mental gender.

Use in the book

V briefly introduces the pair as a human correspondence to cosmic creation. XIV begins with the report I am and asks the pupil to separate the self from body, feelings, habits, and other things noticed as belonging to it. The Me then becomes a mental womb, capable of developing thoughts.

The I is described both as a power that wills a direction and as a witness able to stand aside from the process. The pair is mapped onto masculine and feminine, and onto being and becoming. In the later account of influence, another person's I may supply the impression that a Me accepts.

Places to read

  1. V The Mental Universe · Block 15… “mental generation is accomplished may be called the "Me" in distinction from the "I" which stands apart and witnesses and examines the thoughts, ideas and images of the "Me." "As above,” …
  2. XIV Mental Gender · Block 4… “at first there seems to be only an "I" existing, a more careful and closer examination reveals the fact that there exists an "I" and a "Me." These mental twins differ” …
  3. XIV Mental Gender · Block 7… “of consciousness he is able to disentangle his "Me" from his idea of body, and is able to think of his body as "belonging to" the mental part of him. But” …
  4. XIV Mental Gender · Block 8… “will find himself in conscious possession of a "Self" which may be considered in its "I" and "Me" dual aspects. The "Me" will be felt to be a Something mental in” …
  5. XIV Mental Gender · Block 9… “Something which is able to Will that the "Me" act along certain creative lines, and which is also able to stand aside and witness the mental creation. This part of himself” …
  6. XV Hermetic Axioms · Block 11“As we have explained in previous chapters, the Hermetists hold that the Principle of Rhythm manifests on the Mental Plane as well as on the Physical Plane, and that the bewildering” …

In this edition

Quotation marks around I and Me help distinguish the labels from ordinary pronouns. The forms concordance counts quoted labels, rather than every grammatical I in the prose.

Reading the argument

Directing and observing are themselves distinguishable functions. The existence of both in experience does not establish that they are one unchanging entity, or that the model exhausts mental life. The introspective exercise and the metaphysical interpretation should remain separate.

"I"

“"I"” — 12 occurrences in 6 text blocks: V.15; XIV.4, 8–10, 12.

"Me"

“"Me"” — 19 occurrences in 9 text blocks: V.15; XIV.5–10, 12, 14.

"Self"

“"Self"” — 2 occurrences in 2 text blocks: XIV.5, 8.

"not-me"

“"not-me"” — 1 occurrence in 1 text block: XIV.7.