The mind requires an identity that appears essential in the discharge of its Karma.  Karma and “I” seem to have a mutually sustaining relationship.  Karma often displays its independence to show the "I" that decision making is not the only influence on human life and that the internal clock does not listen to the thinking process, nor to the logical reasoning capability of the human brain   “I” and the opposites seem to have a mutually sustaining relationship.   The “I” sustains pain and pleasure in order to sustain itself. 

Karma and the Thought process function by creating this DUALITY.  The Puranas say that this sense of DUALITY is created by the MIND through a fictitious IDENTITY for the SELF.  THIS IDENTITY IS THE "I" OR THE EGO. 

The thought process, as long it is driven by Karmic forces, cannot function without the "I". 

Being an illusion, the "I" cannot make any decisions from the inputs that it receives.  It has to depend on Karma to show the preset course of action. 

Karma in its turn, uses its favorite tools, namely. Desire, Pleasure, Self Projection and Perpetuation to which are the sense organs as well as its embedded EGO to point to the course of action to be taken for its own fulfillment.

Karma seems more of being a hardwired creature with Time as the connecting thread.  “I” is the foundation of the software side of life.  

THE COMPONENTS OF THOUGHT DEVELOP FROM THE NEED TO ENACT KARMA.

Karma exposes the limitations of the “I” in dealing with the external world phenomena.   The “I” deals with the perceived world only by assigning its own characteristics to the perceived objects thereby making these perceived objects, an extension of itself.  Typically,  its emotions,  its self sustaining capability, its tendency to propogate itself,  desires,  the existence of motivations as an initiator of actions,  self analysis and development of solutions to solve its own problems.

“I” thrives on ownership.  Ownership is the tendency of the self to project itself on to all “alien”,  perceived objects in a bid to own them/control them and understand them.   The aim being to control them in order to propogate itself. 

OUR THOUGHT PROCESS TAKES OWNERSHIP OF ALL THAT IS PERCEIVED.  IT LOOKS AT ALL OBJECTS FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF "I" AND "MINE".  WHETHER IT IS IN REGARD TO FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS, PROPERTY OR ANY OTHER OBJECT THAT WE CAN PERCEIVE, THE MIND IMMEDIATELY ATTACHES A OWNERSHIP TAG, DEVELOPS A DESIRE TO RELATE TO A PERSON OR LIVING BEING  AND WANTS TO TAKE POSSESSION OF OBJECTS OF DESIRE.  MUCH OF OUR THOUGHT PROCESS TAKES ITS ROOTS FROM THESE DESIRES.  THE PARAMATHMA ADVOCATES VERY VERY STRONGLY THAT THE THOUGHT PROCESS SHOULD CLEANSE ITSELF OFF THIS "I" BASED FOUNDATION THAT IT USES AS THE ORIGIN OF ALL OUR THOUGHTS.

Any sense of ownership will lead to an illusion of attachment and consequently that object that we think we own will actually start occupying and dominating our thoughts by edging out everything else from our minds.  Examples would be fascinations with the furniture in our home, our vehicles,  a dear friend, a pet,  and most dangerously, with our own EGO! No Harm in legal ownership, as long as one is not mentally attached to these objects of desire.

Because the "I" is a false identity that attempts to take ownership of all that is perceived without actual knowledge of objects or events,  it creates a memory trail of events that it draws upon to make sense of the events.  Illusions of understanding and control help maintain  mental balance  through the assurance of comprehensability, which is an indirect form of ownership, control and a sense of belonging.

THE Paramathma says again and again that OWNERSHIP AND ATTACHMENT ARE THE TWO PRIME STUMBLING BLOCKS IN THE PATH TO REALIZATION.  More on this in the subsequent sections of this web page.