Dear Ones,

We live in a world, in a society that encourages competition—and therefore separation—from an early age.

Starting with our educational systems; what is grading but an exercise in assessing, comparing and ranking children’s “performance” and intelligence.

Imagine a world without grading, without checking a box among four or five choices, without counting our rights and wrongs; what would it look like?

A world based on cooperation, goodwill and a willingness to help and support our next door classmate or athlete. A world where everyone would win. A world without the mental barriers a ‘separation society’ builds.

I am going that route today because of a beautiful poem a friend in Sri Lanka shared with us recently. It is about the “I,” this “I of ours” as I would call it, that we rarely attempt to circumvent or locate.

Instead of trying to answer an unanswerable question, who is this “I,” why don’t we use our time wisely, aiming for a world built on, and for, the WE?

Topic: May we venture together into the WE

Time: Thursday, April 23 @ 2:30 PM Eastern Time

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89087627284

Meeting ID: 890 8762 7284

A SELF INQUIRY

You ask me,

“Why am I here?

What is the purpose of my life?”

And I ask you—

“Who is this ‘I’

that wants to know?”

You think for a moment,

and say,

“I am my name, my alias.”

And I ask you—

before I was named, 

before I was known,

was I not?

If I change my name,

am I no longer me?

If I am called by many names,

how many of me are there?

And who answers to each name?

So how can I be my name?

Then you say—

“I am my heritage, my bloodline.”

And I ask you—

If I am my bloodline,

am I my father, am I my child?

Was I there before my first breath?

And will I still be after my death?

So how can I be my bloodline?

Then you say—

“I am my choices, my mistakes.”

And I ask you—

Before I made a single choice, was I not?

When I make a different choice, do I split?

When I change my mind,

correct a mistake—

do I become someone else?

So how can I be my choices?

Then you say—

“I am what I do, my calling, my titles—

a doctor, a lawyer, a teacher.”

And I ask you—

Before I did anything, was I not?

If I change what I do,

will a stranger walk in my shoes?

If I wear many titles

and answer to many callings,

which one is the true me?

And when all titles are stripped away,

when all doing stops,

who still remains?

So how can I be what I do?

Then you say—

“I am my roles, my responsibilities—

a mother, a daughter, a wife.”

And I ask you—

Before these roles began, was I not?

If they end, will I end?

If I stop being responsible,

will I crumble?

Do I cease to be

when no longer needed?

And if I play many roles,

how many of me walk this earth?

So how can I be my roles?

Then you say—

“I am my story, my history.”

And I ask you—

If I am my story, my history—

which version am I?

The one my family retells?

The one my wounded inner child still carries?

Or the one I adopted—

to be seen, to be safe,

to belong?

And if I lose all memory,

would I still be?

So how can I be my story, my history?

Then you say—

“I am my body, my senses.”

And I ask you—

If I call it “my” body,

am I not the one who has it,

but not it?

When my body grew tall, grew old—

was it me all along?

If I lose a limb, do I become less?

When sight or hearing fades, do I dim?

When the body sleeps at night,

with its senses at rest—

who dreams?

And if I am aware of my body—

if I can see it, sense it—

how can I be my body?

Then you say,

“I am my thoughts.”

And I ask you—

Before a thought arises, was I not?

If thoughts appear and disappear, 

do I flicker?

If thoughts contradict each other, 

which one is me?

If I can watch my thoughts pass by,

am I the one running with them,

or the one watching?

And if I am aware of thinking—

how can I be my thoughts?

Then you say—

“I am my mind.”

And I ask you—

If I call it “my” mind,

am I not the one who has it, but not it?

If the mind argues with itself,

blames itself, judges itself,

how many of me can there be?

If I change my mind,

am I a new me?

When my mind is empty,

do I cease to be?

And if the mind appears to me—

how can I be the mind?

Then, a long silence.

And you ask me—

“If I am none of these… who am I?”

Who remains… when I am not?

And I ask you again—

“Who is this ‘I’ that wants to know?”

~ Chami Hameed

02-04-2026

This poem was inspired by a beautiful video by my dear friend Pratap Bhatt. Please take a moment to listen to how simply he explains the path of self-inquiry and apprehends the timeless question, “Who am I?”