[note translator: The Book I (I is i capitalized, and is not the number 1) was originally written by the White Emperor, who was the last Immortal Emperor. The term "I" is used here in the third sense. The Book and the terms used in it stand on it themselves, but for purpose of the reader one could equal the term "I" with what is presently know as the Self, the true inner divine being present in all of us.
This text is not always easy reading. Therefore read slowly and also read with your spirit. It demands flexibility in your ability to understand concepts that are so simple that for modern man it might be difficult to grasp. Nevertheless it is very important reading material as it concerns understanding about who you really are.
Original text is copyrighted by Jan-Anton van Hoek.]
 

The Book I
of the White Emperor

Any sovereignty is I, and in I is present in all rulership. Per [note translator: Per is the name for the Divine] is sovereign over All; All is sovereign over the Cosmos; the Cosmos is sovereign over the Nearby; the Nearby is sovereign over the Outer; the Outer is sovereign over the Inner. All these ruler ships however are present in the own I, and this I is part of the I of Per, as well as Per's I has part of the I of every living being of any kind, be it in the flesh or not.
The I only tolerates one ruler ship, and that is the one of the I. The I encompasses the All and is in Per.
When one says: "I am", then one speaks with empty words. When one says: "I is", then one echoes the truth. When one says: "I have", his language has been worn out. When one says: " I has", then his language is full of blossom. For the eye, I is reasonable and limited - for the Vision it is unlimited and all fulfilling.
I is present in the inner Being, and not outside of it. I is in unity with I: The Outer with the Inner, with the Cosmos, with the All, with Per. There one sound is present - the sound of I. There one vibration is present - the vibration of I.
Pure being in I, is hearing the echoes of the spirit like drops of water, falling in a basin of rock. Pure being in I, that is mystical knowledge. And mystical knowledge is the All-encompassing knowledge of the measure of things.
I is inconjurable, undiscussable, undeceivable, because I is I, and is own and free of slavery. I is unenslavable, indestructible, untorturable, because the own I is free from slavery. It is I, free and sovereign, from Per to the smallest living beings in the All.
It shall not be said: "thus is I", because the I is not discussable, not determinable. Nothing that is sovereign, is determinable, and the I is unspeakable; nothing is impossible for the I because the sovereignty of the I by itself contains a limitation: therefore the I, within sovereignty, condenses itself to immeasurable and all-penetrating power. Therefore I is at the same time limited and unlimited, it remains within itself and it penetrates the All at the same time.
He who undergoes his sovereignty, is reaching further than those who exercise it, because the I expands its own right the best and does not want to be hindered. Does the I not stretch itself to the outer limits of infinity? A zither's tone sounds longer than a swords' blow, how necessary this last one may be. Swordsman's fight and zither's play are both in I, because I is all-encompassing: does it not contain the Unlimited? Embrace is more permanent than strangulation, and it brings forth life.
In its multiplicity I is unlimited, but in return it determines the Unlimited, because of its freedom of will and choice: free not only from all the rest, but also from itself. In I is concealed all the rest it is present itself in the Self. It is in essence Self: a crystal of All-I and of Per-All.
Who realizes I? He realizes I who is present in the own I, because he is carrying the key himself, and he knows how to open doors. Therefore: he who handles the key, realizes I. On him rest the smile of the Gods and Spirits, all in I, all are part of him, and he of them.
He who realizes I, will know I: ruler ship will rest with him and he will be sovereign and one with the Inner. Therefore he shall take part of the All and he shall be I in the I of Per.
 
The power of assertion is in I: at the lower end it leads to tyranny, at the higher end it leads to sovereignty. Tyranny turns against the ruler by force, and corrupts the I: the I becomes filthy and closes itself off. Sovereignty is the help for the true Lord, and it keeps the I pure: the I blossoms and it opens.
Therefore: one has to lead to drive to exert oneself through high sluices. Avoid bad foods and drinks; bad company; bad hours; bad smells and sounds - because those path the long way. Choose the right things for the mouth, the nose, the ear and the skin, and choose well time, circumstance and company, because well chosen paths form the elevated path.
As the ruler correspondingly wakes over the Empire, thus man should wake over his family and have it penetrated with I, in purity and with reason; from this the force is derived to strengthen the I. As each person holds the own I in the All-I, thus he preserves the own I and does not let it wane, nor let it be absorbed by the sum-I of others. I is I, and it is a right! Thus one holds a temple for the I in one's own being, and one does not let it be entered unless by the own spirit, because the I demands its deserved offers, and those one brings in the protected loneliness of this temple and not outside of it. Be it a temple with open gates, that nevertheless does not welcome anyone but its own.
Because the I is not in what is concealed but in the purity of spirit, guard and protect it, so the I can be guardian and protector; it is not the eyes of the seer which want to profanely peek in it, but it is always those of the blind, with desecrating stare. Then be priest of the own I and and chase the perpetrators from the garden, with commanding raised hand and with flaming look! The temple of the I must be preserved undamaged, but he who fails and tolerates desecration, must purify the temple of the I and if necessary to recreate it completely into a holy unity of own identity and will.
The higher will is indeed from I, the lower will is from the negation of I. The higher will only serves the perfection of the I: to penetrate the All into Per.
The lower will subjugates other lower wills, or it subjugates itself to other lower wills; both activities can be its object or one of both. The higher will does not serve, but it sovereign, because it is from I, and I is not a servant of the true ruler.
Thus I demands its toll of the caretaker of its temple: unlimited recognition and absolutely protecting the Own. I demands true renunciation of the limitations of society, because those are not related to the I, and they are never a goal, and they are very seldom a virtuous means to obtain any goal. I does not count gold pieces, words of praise or rank in society! Even earthly civilization is outside I. For the I, society is worth less than a pack of wolves: the fiction of the necessity of life is lacking in the clarity of I.
The Emperor has I, but every other person, even the slave, can posses the I. Even the criminal who has been convicted to death, on the point of being torn up by horses, can posses the I. Everybody is able to have the I if they have erected a temple and maintained it, because this temple service is the first Quieting, leading to the Own Sovereignty, and to the All and to Per. Thus even the most miserable person, on the threshold of the transition, of even after that, will be able to learn and cherish his return to the temple, and act accordingly.
Who possesses I? He possesses I who has gained I and has guarded over I, because, having gained he knows the value and the power of I as the ever purifying source of greatest and highest self perfection into eternity. He who possesses I, shall know from I and from all of which its path goes through I. He will be a ruler in the Cosmos and an adept in the All. Therefore he will be in concordance with the I of the I, with Per.
Undesirable is the anti-I, because it seeks to crowd the I. The anti-I is never the I of an other being, but it is the entirely fictitious "I" that arises from the collective. Collectives are the enemy of the own development, yes even of the own identity. The fictitious "I" of the collective is not I, but it is the anti-I. It is a danger, that must be observed calmly, and be fought.
Having respect for a roaring lion shows that one has insight. Having respect for a gang of a thousand mice shows cowardice. Nevertheless the anti-I is ruling clearer than the I. I is ruling from the pure, blinding many; the anti-I is ruling from the troubling, causing sleep.
The nature of the collective rocks to sleep. It provides for a pleasurable sensation. But appearance deceives! Man is lonely, and will strive and progress lonely. Every negation hereof is self-deception: no collective can bring salvation. The tiger roars in loneliness, wild dogs bark in their pack.
No anti-I will remain upright; only I will survive the times up to their last phases. Anti-I numbs; I stimulates. One should not join any community if one wants to perfect the soul, and be free and strong.
One should not be influenced by any "master", if one wants to perfect oneself and live in un-bound power of spirit.
One should not be part nor master of any collective, be it large or small. One should be oneself in his multiplicity be it a collective and be master thereof.
Then I blossoms, and anti-I is silent. Anti-I will shrivel and fall off from the plant of life, like a sick leaf. Only the unity is important: only the unity can possess spirit power, and spirit power is undividable.
Only the unity has Will; collective "will" is an illusion. He who breathes and sees and observes, knows the Will. He knows that nobody else will breathe his breath, will blink his eye and perform his observations. Who else will do the breathing, seeing and observations than he himself, for himself? Is he not his own Self and his I?
The subjugation of his own I in its inner being to another I is also not a matter of wisdom, because I must be free in order to be able to judge and to go the path to perfection.
The maintenance of I is necessary, without preventing its melting into Zero. No Zero is without I, but Zero is at the end of everything. Then I will not be anymore, but only Zero. Therefore, in the end I is Zero, and Zero is in I. Is not the fullness of things their emptiness? Zero is in Per, and Per is in Zero. And I is, throughout All and Per, in Zero, at the end of all the All.