' The "I Am" is you '...

"When we examine the mind
of the average person,

we find that he usually identifies himself
with mind or body.

He either thinks that he is body
or that he is mind,

and therefore he can control
neither mind nor body.

The "I Am" in his nature is submerged
in a bundle of ideas,

some of which are true
and some of which are not,

and his thought is usually controlled
by those ideas

without receiving any direction whatever
from that principle within him

that alone was intended to give direction.
Such a man lives in the lower story

of human existence,

but as we can control life only
when we give directions from the upper story,

we discover just why the average person
neither understands his forces

nor has the power to use them.

He must first elevate himself
to the upper story of the human structure,

and the first and most important step
to be taken in this direction

is to recognize the "I Am" as the ruling principle,

and that the "I Am" is you."


- Christian D. Larson
from the book A Course In Materialization