I and I philosophy
 
The concept of I and I


From my early youth on I was fascinated by reggae music. I like all kinds of music but there is something within reggae what cooperated with my internal rhythm. In most (roots-)reggae songs the heartbeat is, hidden or not, the base of the rhythm.
Second are the lyrics. There was something in the lyrics which deeply appealed to me. The lyrics in those day’s wailed about freedom and equality. I became very interested in the universal message of rastafari. I spoke with a lot of musicians and Rastafarians from Jamaica and spent most of my time reading about, listening to and playing this.
 
There was something within the message of the Rasta man which revealed maybe the deepest truth of mankind, no life itself. Rasta’s labelled themselves as I and I. No second person. Just I and I, no us and them, me or you. This concept of I and I started at the very basis of the movement when the mystic Leonard Howell start to preach the I-vinity (poorly translated as divinity) of Ras Tafar I Makonnen, Emperor Haile Selassie I from Ethiopia. Haile Selassie I who was given the same titles as mentioned in the famous bible book revelation, kings of kings, lords of lords, conquering lion of the tribe of Judah.
 
But what most people failed to understand is the deepest meaning of this message of Leonard Howell. He preached his messages to former slaves on the island of Jamaica. The deeper impact of his message was that the downtrodden black people of the earth, found themselves a symbol of the highest to achieve in life; a king of kings a lord of lords, an emperor with a black skin like themselves.
 
The earliest rasta I-dren (brethren or sistren)came to understand that hidden under the Babylonian concept, based on division, there is a deeper divine unity. If only they could put aside their ego, which stands for division, they found, due to the practise of unlearning Babylonian colonial concepts and meditation, something as divine as the King of Kings. For it was as the I-dren utter Rastafar I, Selassie I, in the deepest sense they were Haile Selassie I, the I in his name suggested this also.
 
The early Rasta’s choose to live in harmony with nature. Mystics as they were, they were convinced of the divinity of all life. Rasta shunned the christian colonial idea of a sky-god somewhere far away. If the divine is to be found in the structure of a tiny man as the Emperor, certainly the divine is within themselves and all forms of live. Where colonialism preached in-equality and division, rasta rediscovered the ancient African tradition of Oneness.
 
Soon those Rasta’s changed their diet into I-talfood. As the name suggests I-tal means natural, natural in the sense that animals got the same divine I within themselves and therefore should not be killed.
 
It is this concept of I and I, the most radical form of equality I ever witnessed that transformed and moulded my life. If I see another person, I see under the outer differences myself. If I see an animal, I recognise I self. Within I and I, I came to realise that this earth is the living paradise if only I and I could remove the veils from I and I minds and see the under woven I-nity of life.
 
It is from I and I, I and I is living, working, eating, writing, making music, enjoying live to the fullest and last but not least healing I and I selves. There are no others, no us and them, no groups, nationalities, religions, races, tribes, political parties or whatsoever, there is only I and I, no one higher, no one below.......


One Love


I and I


Deep hidden within
under curtains of ignorance
you might call it sin
is found a treasure to discover
living without this over and over
would mean you live your live in vain
nothing of what you call me
is sustainable enough to really see


Under hate, fear, judgement, the lies
there is something beyond the word nice
it is there since creation
calling unto you, please come
you are not what you think you are
all what you think you are
is society’s scar
no don’t deal with that bundle of fools
claiming to be you


You are not you
this conception of you
will finally disappear
nothing left than a tear
how long you withstand the fire burning
before finally you give in
get up get burned
nothing to lose, tables are turned


under your misconception 
TRUTHS the real zion
if you throw away your egos jacket
finally you see you haven’t live yet
For it is I who is calling you
cast away the last taboo
Jah has never been far away
just in your heart He’ll stay


Now you know your real self
no longer hidden in that shell
It is I and everywhere
You see another I there
For it is I and I
no one higher, no one below
watching this magic mirrors glow
been there since creation
I and I Rastafar I Selassie I
where not is Zion?


©Roland van Reenen
From Qererto