Core tenet of Rastafari
Jah lives in every person.
I and I: the divine is not out there but in here — the phrase collapses the distance between God, self, and other.
Understanding it — context, not catechism: how this passage is held
Rastafari's grammar carries its theology: "I and I" replaces both "we" and "me," asserting that God is present in the speaker and in the person addressed, so that no conversation is ever merely between two humans. The movement systematically edits words — "downpression" for oppression, since nothing about it presses down — treating language as an instrument of Babylon that must be corrected. It is one of the most linguistically self-aware religious movements anywhere.
The same ground, other faiths
claims that share this one's ideas
G
Guru Nanak — the first light.
Sikhism · figure
Meet them →
Bwa Kayiman.
Haitian Vodou · story
Read it in full →
Sound rightly spoken has power.
Vedic Religion
Go deeper →
Holi — the festival of color.
Hinduism · rite
Go deeper →
V
Vairocana — the cosmic buddha.
Buddhism · figure
Meet them →
The fourfold sangha.
Jainism · community
Go deeper →
Sign in to open the first thread. Everything here is attributed.