No man ever steps out of nothingness. From the moment of his birth he is someone, somewhere—a conscious, thinking, feeling, desiring, knowing, willing, and having the power to act. This being is what is traditionally called I, the subject of inquiry, the subject of discourse, the subject of criticism, the subject of analysis. He is not a subject of discourse who has no other subject to discourse about. I is not an existent that has no existence outside of the mind of the knower. I am not an existence that is only potential, neither am I an essence that is only actual. I am the subject of introspection, the subject of contemplation, the subject of self-knowledge.
There is nothing to explain about my essence or reality. All else, including essence and reality, is merely a concept. It is not in the mind to be or to exist. It is not in the mind to be known or not to be known. It only stands as a thought, a projection of the knower onto the subject of thought, not as an essence or reality existing independently of the knower. It stands and endures as long as the knower breathes. As long as it stands, there is consciousness, and with consciousness comes the possibility of knowledge.