Embodiment · “Being Precedes Having”
Enthroning the 'I Am'
Step into the standpoint of the ‘I Am’ — the directing self that is above and distinct from passing thoughts, moods, and the body — so that you act from a place of self-command rather than being identified with whatever state arises.
Take a few minutes daily to feel yourself as the “I Am” — the self that is above and distinct from your thoughts, moods, and body. Affirm silently “I Am,” and enthrone that as the ruling principle of your world. Through the day, recognise that it’s the “I Am” that originates each thought and action; act “from the upper story,” not as body or mood. You are a soul that has a mind and body, not the reverse. Stand above your states in order to direct them.
What it is
Larson opens the entire book with this, because for him everything else depends on it: who you take yourself to be. He argues most people identify with mind or body — “submerged in a bundle of ideas” — and so can control neither.
The practice is to deliberately take the standpoint of the “I Am”: the ego or ruling principle, “the centre and source of individuality,” which is above and in a sense distinct from mind and body.
“If you wish to control and direct the forces you possess, you must act from the throne of your being… You must act, not as a body, not as a personality, not as a mind, but as the ‘I Am.’” It is a New Thought ancestor of what later traditions call the observing self or witness, but Larson’s version is active and governing, not merely watchful — you enthrone yourself in order to direct.
The Method
- Recognise the “I Am” in everything you do. “The first step… is to recognize the ‘I Am’ in everything you do, and to think always of the ‘I Am’ as being you — the supreme you. Whenever you think, realize that it is the ‘I Am’ that originated the thought. Whenever you act, realize that it is the ‘I Am’ that gives initiative to that action.”
- Affirm it silently, then enthrone. “Affirm silently in your own mind that you are the ‘I AM’… think of the ‘I Am’ as being the ruling principle in your whole world… distinct and above and superior to all else in your being.” Larson: “You thus lift yourself up… to the mountain top of masterful individuality; you enthrone yourself.”
- Isolate the “I Am” daily. “Take a few moments every day and try to feel that you — the ‘I Am’ — are not only above mind and body, but in a certain sense, distinct from mind and body; in fact, try to isolate the ‘I Am’ for a few moments every day from the rest of your organised being.” This builds “a perfect consciousness of your own individual ‘I Am.’”
- Act from the upper story. “We can control life only when we give directions from the upper story.” When you think or act, “feel that you stand with the ‘I Am,’ at the apex of mentality on the very heights of your existence.”
- Reverse the usual self-image. Stop saying “I have a soul” (which implies “I am a body”). “Train yourself to think that you are a soul… that you are master of mind and body, because you are above mind and body.”
- Carry it as a standing stance. The few-minutes practice trains a posture you then keep: “all your mental actions will, from that time on, come directly from the ‘I Am’; and if you will continue to stand above all such actions at all times, you will be able to control them and direct them completely.”
Source & Lineage
Your Forces and How to Use Them (1912), Chapter I, “The Ruling Principle in Man.” The “I Am” recurs as the seat of the will in Chapter XII. The motif is deep in New Thought (Troward’s ego/“I AM,” the biblical “I AM”); Larson makes it a daily identification drill.
Christian D. Larson (1874-1962). → (larson christian d).
Common refinements
Confusing it with dissociation. This is engaged command, not floating away. You stand above the state in order to direct it, while staying fully in your life.
- Using “above my body/feelings” to suppress. Don’t weaponise the stance to ignore pain, grief, or real need. Stand above the reaction, not above reality.
- Making it grandiose. “Enthrone yourself” is about self-command and responsibility, not superiority over others.
- Only doing the drill, never the stance. The few minutes train a posture you’re meant to carry into ordinary action.