In Rehnadee Shum The-Sense-of-I is Naf. It is a sense just like our five senses but related to the perception of our being instead of the world.  A central tenet of Shummef–The Shum Perspective is the evolution of Naf where it develops spiritually over a span of lifetimes through four progressive stages. These stages are Naa, Na'a, Na'amm and Va,na'amm.

• Naf, Our Sixth Sense
• Naa – I am My Body
• – Naa as a Force of Nature
• – Naa as the Assertive-I 
• Na'a – I Think, Therefore I Am
• – Na'a as the Source of Civilisation
• – Na'a as the Affirmative-I
• Na'amm – I of My Quiet Mind
• – Na'amm the Source of I
• – Na'amm the Witness-I
• Va,na'amm – The-Less-I
• – Na'amm and Its Quest for Enlightenment
• – The Quest for Emkaeef;
• – Va,na'amm the I-Less-I
• Concluding Reflections

Naf, Our Sixth Sense

The Sense-of-I is what we use to perceive ourselves. It is like our other senses–hearing, sight, smell, touch and taste–which are the five-senses that we use to perceive our surroundings. However in our daily lives we take Naf for granted to apply only to our physical body where our 'I-ness' is an attribution to the body that carries our name, preferences, character and actions/history. The incessant nature of life on Earth that keeps us fully engaged in our daily activities from the time we wake from sleep and back to bed leaves little time for us to ponder on the grander design of our being. It is only when we quiet the mind and turn inwards can we begin to uncover our Sense-of-I, Naf and realise that it is an extra-corporeal part of our being that gives us the ability to develop spiritually. Until we bring ourselves to this point in life Naf remains hidden in our daily acitivity as I, me or mine–that lives and seemingly dies with the body.
The Sense-of-I is a word coined in Shum Sanctuary and is a translation of Rehnadee Shum's Naf. Naf is a Fifth-Dimensional Image-Portrait that is nestled in the Second Chakra and is essential to our lives because it carries our life. The energy that flows out of Naf enlivens our body and mind that in turn grows our life. We are actually Naf, our most powerful sense and it is our core that does not die even as the physical body is laid down. As Naf we transmigrate from life to life to experience as many lives as we need to for Naf to ultimately uncover itself and evolve from the state of being that is enamoured by I, me and mine to one that is souful and cognisant of its Divine origins. 
The evolution of Naf is the stepping stone that begins an aspirant mystic's journey inward. Just read any guru or Eastern Mysticism spiritual master or mystic's biography and the primordial question of their identity and purpose of life will be central to their quest. It invariably leads to the discovery of a sense of self that is subtle yet powerful that lies beyond the hum and drum of daily life that usually occupies the mind. This being may at first will seem like inert energy that is too basic to be the source of our colourful 'I-ness' will drive a meditator's spiritual ambition for further exploration of his or her Sense-of-I.  
For me my first ever experience of Naf occured when I was at my guru's monastery for a two month retreat before varsity. At that time I hadn't decided to become a monk in the monastery, I just wanted to learn as much meditation as I could before I had to continue my studies. I learned Shum meditation for the first time during this retreat though the mystic experience of Naf did not occur to me during a meditation. I was raking some lush Mondo-grass that was planted around the monastery off of leaves when I was struck with a vision that lasted for not more than a few seconds. It was a vision of all the chakras in my body from the base of my spine to the crown of my head and I was looking at myself from inside myself. The vision filled me with energy that also brought to bear for the first time the reality of the Innerverse within myself and a sense of being that was different from how I normally felt of myself. The aftermath of this experience grew a conviction within me to pursue spiritual enlightenment as the primary goal of my life and influenced my decision to become a monk. 
Naf is an experience that is only hidden to us because of our preoccupation with day to day living. This life saturates our body and mind with activity that we seldom stop to appreciate the quiet part of our self. If you want to feel your Sense-of-I at its most rudimentary level, just pause what you are doing right now–even reading this article–and think 'I' and be quiet in your mind. Ponder for a bit on your 'I' and there you have it, you can feel Naf. When your body and mind are quiet–while you are awake and alert, the quietness that you feel in yourself is your Sense-of-I. If you want to take this experience of Naf into a more profound experience of your 'I-ness', here are some simple steps.

• Sit down somewhere you are comfortable.
• Calm your mind until it becomes quiet and disengaged from any thoughts or other sense stimulation.
• Concentrate on your breathing and just relax.
• Remain in this state.
• In this state your body is quiet, so is your mind. 
• Now here is the tricky part, before even starting this meditation give and instruction to yourself that you are going to uncover your Sense-of-I.
• Without breaking into thought just realise that you are in the quiet of your mind.
• This is your Naf, your Sense-of-I.

This simple meditation on Naf can be more challenging than it seems because our education and culture is geared toward material productivity. This culture underrates a quiet mind as being unproductive and can cause a challenge when the mind is drawn in on itself. However these challenges can be overcome by developing Mystic Skills that help us to gradually be comfortable in a quiet mind where Naf can draw on energy of the body and mind to grow spiritually and develop the ability to explore the Innerverse. In Rehnadee Shum this evolution of Naf is explained in the Second Truth of Shummef–Naf~ Shummef~ –that teaches the stages of development of Naf that starts from the most rudimentary Sense-of-I which is known as Naa, to its most evolved form which is Va,na'amm. 

In Naf~ Shummef~ there are four stages in the evolution of Naf–The Sense-of-I. In this list Naf gets progressively more spiritual as you go down:

1. The Assertive-I which identifies exclusively with ones physical being is Naa in Rehnadee Shum.
2. The Affirmative-I which identifies with ones inner personality and the physical being is Na'a in Rehnadee Shum.
3. The Witness-I, is the Pure Awareness that animates life in the body and mind, and is able to traverse all Dimensions of Reality is Na'amm in Rehnadee Shum.
4. The I-less-I, is Na'amm identified with the developing body of the soul that happens post-Emkaeef;  is Va,na'amm in Rehnadee Shum. 

As previously stated Naf is immortal. Even when we drop the physical body Naf remains at whichever stage of development that it had achieved and carries that achievement to the next life however small or big that development maybe. This creates continuity in the evolution of Naf as it transmigrates from one life to the next. The number of lifetimes on Earth that is required for Naf to reach its ultimate stage of Va,na'amm is not known for certainty. Eastern mystical schools that teach reincarnation provide a wide range of numbers from thousands to hundreds of thousands of lifetimes. In Shummef this number is irrelavant except for the ratio of time spent from one stage of development to the next. Naf spends most of its lifetimes in the first two stages of Naa and Na'a. The least amount of lifetimes is spent in Na'amm and Va,na'amm. Imagine the entire cycle of reincarnation compressed into one-hour of a clock. Naf will start in Naa and develop fully into Na'a until the the 55th minute. The remaining 5 minutes to the hour is Na'amm and Va,na'amm's time.  

Naa is the most rudimentary stage of Naf. It is the down-to-earth belief that 'I am my body,' and is the default Sense-of-I. Naa forms in the body from the earliest time while still in the mother's womb. Naa expresses itself through the genes that we are made of, enlivening what applies to us from based on our previous life karmas and extent of development of Naf. Naa is also a force of nature that drives life and our planet. It is a very potent force that breaths life into all living beings and also makes our planet go around. Naa is a 3rd Dimension Image-Portrait in Rehnadee Shum indicating that it can traverse the first three Dimensions (which are of the Universe) freely.

Naa as a Force of Nature
From the time of conception in the mother's womb (or egg or seed as it may be), Naa is forged into the being of animals, plants and even microbes. As a fundemental force of nature that is connected to all laws of Creation, both physical and spiritual Naa brings a being into existence on Earth. For all life on Earth, Naa, drives existence. These drives can be organsised into four parts. The first is the drive to live, the second is the drive to protect, then there is the drive to grow and the drive to embellish.
The drive to live runs the automatic functions that keep our body alive. They makes us breathe, get hungry and thirsty. Naa becomes fully incorporated into the body with the first impulse that draws breath into the body and then the demand for food and water begins. This is the base of all life and creates the fight to survive and the second driver of existence which is the drive to protect. Life on Earth is based on limited resources and the quest for resources can cause competition and to win in this competition life needs tenacity. The drive to protect is therefore as potent a force as the drive to live. These two forces of life on earth, when seen from the overview of life on planet Earth is this observation of amazing biologically balanced ecosystems that are filled with colourful and beautiful variety of life in every corner of Earth. However when these forces play out in its micro scale it can be quite brutal, where the race to survive creates winners and losers but also drives innate biological innovations that is the source of creatures on Earth as majestic as soaring birds to those at the mundane levels like fungi that recycle biomass.
The drive to grow creates the biomass of our planet. Every creature that is successful in survival is driven to create more of itself. This is nature's life force that is incessant and enduring. As soon as Earth became even slightly tolerant to life, microscopic life that could tolerate harsh conditions of nature billions of years ago emerged and thrived. Even though there have been five mass extinctions in Earth's scientific records life's resilience has only hardened. These three drivers of life emanate from the rudimentary Sense-of-I that all beings use consciously to move on and ahead in life. The fouth drive which is the drive to embellish has as much to do with the celebration of life as purely scientific forces. It is the innate nature of nature itself that brings to life the mind-blowing variety to life that we see all around us. There is an explosion of shapes, forms, functionality, colours and characters in life that seems to have no bounds in diversity of species in all the kingdoms of life. There isn't just one kind of fish, or bird or flower or anything. Diversity in life is how nature celebrates itself.
Nature is not just about life and living things there are also geographical sturctures, plaentary systems such as weather, tectonic movemets and extra planetary forces of gravity, magnetism and space objects that affect Earth and life. These are at the macro level, at the micro level we have atomic elements and their interactions. These forces of nature are the bedrock that allows for life to emerge and be sustained.   Naa also extends to non-living things too. Naa also exists within all these non-living things and forces however it doesn't form a condensate of consciousness that creates self-identity, instead among non-living things a pervasive fabric of consciousness flows through everything. The drivers of life that animate living things also does so for non-living things, however elements and other non-living forces go through cycles of existence that spans mega-eons of time far beyond our comprehension and measurements that we cannot see them play out as life to our understanding. Naa at this level contains knowledge of how nature works and as humans we take full advantage of this by creating all sorts of technology and tools. The mathematical and scientic knowledge that human civilisations have gathered over its existence comes from innate curiorsity within Naa to want to understand nature. 

Naa as the Assertive-I
Whatever the language that we use to speak and communicate it will have words for I and you. These words point to the body as our primary identity. When a child is born a name is given as an identity for the child which becomes his or her 'I.' When we speak 'I' in conversations we refer to our body using this word instead of our name. Every single 'I' in this world, no matter the language, carries the same meaning but refers to the tangible difference that each and everyone of us know as our individuality.
Rehnadee Shum is not a language that we use for conversation, instead it is a language for naming faculties, spaces and mystic experiences in our mind that is common to all of us. In it 'I' is a faculty of our being that carries the Sense-of-I which is Naf. Naf is the totality of our individualness and it is a condensate of pervasive consciousness that emerges from Naa as a force of Nature. Therefore the most basic form of Naf that arises out of Naa as a force of Nature is also Naa. Naa is the default Sense-of-I that Nature provides all living beings to differentiate each other from one another. Naa is influenced directly by the four drives that foster life, protection, growth and embellishment. In its most rudimentary form The Assertive-I of humans can be equated to the Naa of animals, especially mammals. It provides us with the basic impulses and intelligence to survive and grow into simple communities. Among mammals we can see this Naa most clearly in animals that live in primate groups, herds, packs and prides. However as humans have taken a different trajectory in its evolution compared to other animals and this is reflected most in how the force of Nature Naa allocates energy to our brain. The human brain consumes 10 times more energy than its muscle mass, whereas in animals this energy equation is reversed, where the muscle mass consumes much more energy than the brain in proportions that estimated at about one to four of brain to muscle energy. On top of this calculation according to the National Institutes of Health communication consumes 35 times more energy than computation in a human brain's cortex. Thus from the very beginning of humanity as hunter gatherers, forest and cave dwellers a natural urge for complex communication among each other became a hallmark of our species. Speech differntiates us most from other animals and through speech and language we are able to articulate our individuality through which our Naf can evolve from its rudimentary origins as Naa to its most refined state of Va.na'amm.  
The Assertive-I is the I when we speak. This 'I' is identified with our body and the name given to us. It is the 'I' that we use in speech to distinguish ourselves and also assert our needs. When we are not speaking our body stands in as Naa. The basic characteristics of our Naa form from the time of birth. In the early days of life as a baby Naa just follows the impulse of our body's senses and functions. Naa at this stage hasn't differentiated much from the force of Nature and communicates mainly through simple sounds, facial gesture and crying and laughing. As soon as Naa associates itself with the name given to the baby the Assertive-I emerges and the learning of language for communication begins, first through identifying people and things; and then to articulating feelings and impulses. Naa is fully formed by the time a child is six or seven years old. Naa's, main aim in life is firstly survival and secondly the fulfillment of desire created by the five senses. Its need for protection brings people together to form communities that become tribes, and intelligence at this level is guided by the instincts of the body and observation of nature. During the Naa period of Naf's evolution the charactersitics of a person is like that of a child exploring the world for the first time. It seeks to fulfill the desires arising from the five senses without inhibition. Naa usually rebels against cutural curbs to fulfill its wants and it learns self-control slowly through negative consequences brought on by the law of cause and effect. 
This is the earliest stage of Naf's evolution that starts from its first birth as a human. Driven by the natural instincts of the body and desires of the senses it seeks temporal fulfillment in life and doesn't feel drawn to culture or spirituality but feels strong affinity with his or her community and its identity.  In terms of lifetimes, Naf spends from 10% to 20% of its soujourns to Earth as Naa. Each lifetime fosters incremental growth for Naa where it mainly accumulates karma by having no concern for consequence of its actions.     
 

Human intelligence is special among all life on Earth. It distinguishes us from all other life by enhancing our capabilities and ingenuity. This intelligence also gives Naf the unique ability to grow beyond the confines of the natural self-identity of Naa which limits the intelligence level of other creatures. Human Naf can evolve and its next stage after Naa matures is Na'a. In Na'a the mind comes into prominence and becomes central to our self-identity. Through Na'a the Sense-of-I grows in strength to be able to  access deeper understanding of Nature and its forces which is nestled within the first three dimensions that it otherwise wasn't able to in Naa. Na'a can also enter the Fourth Dimension, therefore it is a Fourth Dimensional Image-Portrait. The Fourth Dimension brings heartfulness into Na'a's ambit so its perspective can expand to incorporate universal concepts beyond tribalism and segregation.    

Na'a as the Source of Civilisation
Civilisation is a set of sophisticated rules by which human societies are formed. These rules are agreed upon by all the members of a society and sets freedoms and limits in the way members live. Rules are created using language through which we can express intelligence, record history and progress. In human history civilisation is a relatively recent development, according to anthropological data the first Homo sapiens appeared about 233,000 years ago. Within this history human civilisation only appeared about 6,000 years ago by the oldest accepted archaeological findings. Thus for the biggest part of human history we have lived in small tribal communities most likely as hunter gatherer and communicating with each other in spoken languages that was expressed as paintings on rock hewn walls. Thus relative to our 200 thousand year history we have only recently progressed from Naa to Na'a. However in that short 6,000 years that was initiated by the advent of scribed language, domestication of animals and farming we have progressed to reaching for the stars with ambitions to become a space-faring and extra-planetary civilisation. These immense capabilities and developments that we have reached and are experiencing is happening as Na'a continues to expand its exploration of intelligence connected to our Universe.
The precursor to unlocking the enhanced abilities of Na'a, compared to Naa, was the development of sophisticated languages that could be written, preserved and passed on. Rudimentary languages that were passed on through oral transmission only would have developed early in human history as we organised into tribes. However oral transmission is fragile to the ravages of time, especially in our primitive prehistory when entire tribes could disappear from the perils they faced from natural disasters, disease and warring tribes. Knowledge that were built up for generations could easily disappear in one catastrophic event if the keepers of the knowledge in the community died without an heir for the knowledge. This weakness was traversed by humanity as our brain power expanded into Na'a and we burst into writing out our thoughts. Knowledge can now be transcribed out from the domain of the mind into manuscripts that could be replicated and passed around for others to assimilate at their own pace. Manuscripts made education more efficient for the literate and it also created continuity of knowledge from one generation to the next through the preservation of manuscripts. Manuscripts also became the foundation for evolution of knowledge through research and ingenuity, whereby new knowledge and innovations accelerated progress in all fields of life. As this process continued from generation to generation we are where we are today as a successful and innovative population that shares knowledge. 
The sciences and arts, culture and laws, history and community, technology and systems that we have today are the products of Na'a's curiorsity that enjoys the intrigue of research and the joys of discovery. Inculcating them into each and everyone of us through equal education mandates of modern society has made us the dominant species on the planet with the power to manipulate nature to our benefit and even contemplate and create the facility to become extra-terrastrial beings.
Yet Na'a's amazing ability to uncover knowledge of the inner workings of Nature does not mean that it has risen above the forces of Nature. Na'a is no less driven by the forces of Nature than Naa is, it just expanded on its powers of observation of Nature and massively expanded its ability to make tools by leveraging on its evolution to communicate with one another not just by speaking but also writing. Writing allows for records of communication which in turn creates history and history allows knowledge to advance and turn to all sorts of technology. Whatever technology and civil society that has emerged from Na'a, it is still meant to fulfill the four drives of Nature which are survival, protection, growth and embellishment.     

Na'a as the Affirmative-I  
As Na'a, the Sense-of-I begins to incorporate the mind with the body in its understanding of itself. The Affirmative-I is the 'I' that we use to address ourselves in our thoughts, it is the 'I' of our mind that comes into existence each time we create a thought and speak it silently in the mind. Of course in Naa the 'I' of the mind also exists but because we were still very much enthralled by the wonders of the world around us and consumed by the impulses of the five senses with very little to no restraint only a small amount of energy is available for the mind to develop. It takes lifetimes for the wonderments of the world to loosen its grip a little so more energy can be directed into the mind. Na'a is the same condensate of consciousness that is Naa but it has grown from the lessons of its lifetimes as Naa that it starts to use the faculties of the mind instead of just being led by the forces of Nature. As Na'a the swirl of energy in the mind instigates curiorsity of wanting to know how the forces of Nature work. This curiorsity which can be born of many reasons such as from the need to collect resources more efficiently, or to be able to protect the tribe better, or to cure disease and heal wounds, or simply to enjoy life more, causes Na'a to investigate and uncover knowledge. Another essential characteristic that is embedded in Na'a is the need to share knowledge with others. This characteristic is caused by the wonderment of generating thoughts and sharing these thoughts with others–a very human endeavour that opens a new dimension of reality where our thoughts become ambassadors of our Sense-of-I–thus the Affirmative-I that reacts to how these ambassadors are accepted, cherished, challenged or rejected by others through their ambassadorial thoughts. Life becomes more and more centered within our mind and as Na'a becomes stronger through lifetimes of accumulating knowledge. Human personality transforms itself to identify more with its mind where the body becomes the mind's vehicle which is a role reversal from Naa. 
This role reversal reengineers human society from one that would prioritise brawn over brain in the tribes of Naa to brain over brawn in the communities of Na'a. The emergence of permanent human settlements where agriculture and domestication of animals replaced the nomadic life of hunter gatherers would provide enough stability in basic resources to allow for the population of a settlement to grow much bigger than a tribe is capable of supporting. Hunter-gatherer tribes were smaller because of the limitation of natural resources available in their immediate location. Without the need to periodically uproot or ever break apart as it got bigger like in the tribes, successful human settlements across our planet grew into cities and cities became civilisations of the ancients. These cities would attract nomads who preferred their stability and caused the decline of tribal society in ancient times in places where settlements thrived. In these early cities language was the unifying factor that kept the fabric of society together. A common language through which rules and announcements could be made by the leaders for its citizen would eventually became part of the identity of the city. The language carried not just rules and pronouncements but culture, history and religion. Recording all of these in manuscripts kept in libraries of the cities guaranteed transmission of knowledge and traditions across generations. These are the early cities that eventually became the foundation of Nations. As more cities sprang up that used the same language, had the same culture and read the same books nationality developed. Today every flag and language on our planet marks the evolutionary growth of Na'a that has been ongoing over millennia since the emergence of the first civilisations.  
Nation building is one of the most complex endeavours of humanity. Today apart from Antartica there is not a continent one Earth that isn't carved up with imaginary lines that delineate the boundries of Nations. Modern Nations also consists of diverse populations from different ethnicities, language and religion who have learned to live and work together in varying types of social contracts for the common good of a Nation. This is a far cry from the tribalism of Naa which are mono-cultral and mono-ethnic. The flexibility of mind and psyche required to live together in harmony among diverse populations as a single Nation is a function of Na'a's ability to traverse into the Fouth Dimension.
In Rehnadee Shum Na'a is a Fourth Dimensional Image-Portrait, where as Naa is a Third Dimensional Image-Portrait. The dimension number of Na'a and Naa indicate the maximum extent that the particular Naf can traverse within the 10 Dimensions of Rehnadee Shum, thus Na'a has the ability to avail itself to all the faculties and functions of the mind contained within the first Four Dimensions while Naa is limited to the first three. The First and Second Dimensions contain all the scientific forces and sensory stimulation driven by Nature, whereas the Third Dimension holds the faculties of the mind that express intelligence and ingenuity. The Fourth Dimension is the Dimension of the Heart that understand sacrifice and the value of the greater good among other spiritual attributes. The access into the Fourth Dimension gives Na'a the ability to bring down greater consideration and acceptance to create the atmosphere of harmony through common prosperity among people of diverse backgrounds. Differences can be appreciated, cooperation built on diverse skills and talents, and working together for the common good that transcends differences are the influence of the Fourth Dimension on Na'a. Through the Fourth Dimension also complex arrangements among society to do with occupation, trade and governance can be done. The arts, philosophy, culture and religion which enriches humanity in its interacations and experiences of life is also the function of the Fourth Dimension flowing through Na'a.
Lifetimes in Na'a provide's Naf with opportunities to live many iterations of life–from different occupations to different cultures to different levels of society with all their pleasurable and painful trappings. These experiences allow for a lot of karmas created during its soujourn to Earth as Naa to be resolved and creation of new karmas that are usually of a more complex and ecclectc nature driven by higher processing of thoughts and emotions. The end result of these wildly varied types of life that Na'a goes through during its cycle creates a maturity that begins to question its purpose on Earth. Towards the end of the Na'a cycle, material life would have been  more or less fully explored and its curiousness of the material world that had gripped Na'a into enjoying intelligence in all its interactions with the Universe turns inwards, in on Na'a itself. Spirituality starts to dawn in Na'a's consciousness as it enters the mystical stage of Naf that is Na'amm.

A mystic is a someone who feels drawn to quietness in the mind. He or she is curious about their origins and purpose of life, and are driven by an innate knowing that the answers to their curiosity lies within the domain of the quiet mind. Their Naf has matured in Na'a through lifetimes of worldly pursuits that the draw of the Universe begins to wane and the energies that used to flow outward to the world at large is gradually changing polarity to flow inwards towards the quietness of the mind. This switch inwards presents challenges to Naf because of the culture of extroversion that it is used to. To meaningfully direct energies of the mind in on itself is to develop mysticism. This is the next stage of growth of Naf from Na'a which is to uncover Na'amm, the Witness-I. Na'amm is a Sixth Dimensional Image-Portrait that extends Naf's reach from the ceiling of the Fourth Dimension in Na'a to the Sixth Dimension. It's range across the mystical dimensions of the Innerverse opens Na'amm to exploration of the incredible variety of experiences hidden in the deceptively quiet realms of our being.    

Na'amm the Source of I
Lets start with some basics. Ask yourself, who am I? The most obvious answer to this is, your name and your body. The answer is as clear as day. Now lets go into what the body the name, names is. Ultimately our body is a collection of matter made up of trillions upon trillions of atomic elements joined together and that work together through biology, chemistry and physics to animate the body. Each of these ultra-microscopic atom is a ball of tightly packed energy that is filled more with space than anything solid like a spherical marble or stone. This is true not only of our body but everything we can see and touch on earth. Our body and the world around us consists more of the empty space of the Universe than the solid reality that we perceive through our senses. This means the world that we are constantly abosorbed in through the stages of Naa and Na'a is a relative reality. This relativity is provided by the limits of our bodies senses. Our eyes for instance can only see upto a certain magnification. It does not have the power to see microscopic life, let alone atoms and sub-atomic particles. Our finger can actually touch something and not sink into it though what is touched and the finger are essentially empty space. It is still a mystery to science how precisely touch works, but it does and it is the foundation for the reality that we perceive in the world around us. This is the default reality of Naa where 'I am my body,' is central to life.
Na'a also follows the same principles of perception driven by the five senses of Naa. However Na'a adds to the reality of Naa by manifesting intelligence from within the mind onto the world. Where does this intelligence come from scientifically we cannot absolutely say, but what we can say for sure is that knowledge is not displayed in the world or readily available. For instance by observation alone we cannot know why an apple has red skin and white flesh while a mango has yellow skin and orange flesh. We need to discover the answer to such questions through sophisticated methods of uncovering knowledge. Knowledge becomes useful when we can apply it practically to affect our lives positively. As a species on Earth this has been our magical ability that has manifested amazing technology of all sorts. Beyond practical knowledge Na'a also uses the mind as a tool of for entertainment by manipulating the thinking process to create art, stories and games. This gives the mind its own perception of reality as it can affect human interactions and emotions through its creative manipulation of thinking. This way Na'a expands the reality that we perceive in the external world to include the mind.
In these modern times we are as much beings of the mind as we are human beings. Education and occupation is tied to life and heavily influences the direction of life as much as the the forces of Nature. For Na'a the question of identity, of 'Who am I?'is a more complex answer that still points to the body but also includes to its identity attainments and history borne of the mind. We are not only the body but also what we do and have done. 
We could live as Naa and Na'a lifetime after lifetime until the evolution of Naf begs from the question of 'Who am I?' not just an answer about identity but also of the purpose to life. 'Why am I here?' is inextricably tied to this question (Who am I?) because nobody who asks about their identity isn't clear about who they are, but they are for one reason or another facing a quandry trying to figure out a deeper purpose to life than that of Nature's priorities. Once Na'a reaches its peak maturity one of the signs that the energies flowing through it is switching its polarity is a pecularity where the world begins to encourage its inward movement. I will explain more about this process in the next segment of this article, suffice to say that mystical curiorsity emerged in Naf as Na'a'a maturity reaches peak. 
From Shummef–The Shum Perspective, life arises from Nature and Nature arises from the All-Pervasive-Consciousness that is known as The One Mind–SuhSeemfNakaee~ Shummef~. This One Mind is present in all Dimensions of Reality and gives rise to Naf. Naf is a condensate of the One Mind. What this means is that Naf emerges from the One Mind as a distinct entity but is still inherently connected to the One Mind through its core. It's just like condensing water droplet of dew in the morning. That dew is evaporated water from a larger body of water somewhere and though its location may be thousands of miles away from the water source it is still the same water repackaged as dew. Naf is repackaged One Mind that gives it the distinct ability to generate the Sense-of-I, thus within Naf lies the Source-of-I which is Na'amm that we experience as the mystic Witness-I.  

Na'amm the Witness-I
Before we move on with this article, allow me a recap on all the terms of I in this segment about Na'amm. In the last sentence there are three terms–the Sense-of-I, the Source-of-I and the Witness-I. In Rehnadee Shum there are two terms connected to these which are Naf and Na'amm. The three terms of I and Naf and Na'amm are so intricately interwoven with each other that only an Advanced Mystic can differentiate between the three. For the sake of categorising these three terms logically we will define them as such:

• Naf, The Sense-of-I, is used as a placeholder for a term to describe the evolution of 'I' through its four stages which is what this article is about. In the intrroduction to this article there is a guide for a simple meditation to experience Naf. This experience is synonymous with Na'amm.
• Na'amm, the Witness-I, is the same mystic experience of Naf but it does not contain the process of its evolution, just the experience of I as the Witness, which is at the third stage of I's evolution.  Following is another type of meditation that comes from a different perspective that will bring you to the experience of Na'amm. This is a thought based meditation. Read this short passage,
  "A mystic sees the world around him or her from within. What does this mean? We see with our eyes, close the eyes and the world dissappears in a veil of darkness behind the eyelids. What is there to see in this dark world of the closed eye? This is the 'within', the domain of the mind, but what is there to see here; the soft glow of light that is filtering through the eyelids that bounces off the retina to turn to fractalising specks of dim light. Now at anytime that you are gazing in your mind before you get hijacked by your thoughts open your eyes."
  That moment when you were silent in your mind and gazing in the darkend space within yourself you were Na'amm the witness of the proceedings of the mind. The state of Na'amm is very fragile, as soon as thoughts appear and you engage with them through the I of your mind, Na'amm fades into the background.  
• Na'amm has another characteristic which is the Source-of-I. If you manage to hold steady in Na'amm what you will feel is energy building within yourself. This energy originates from the biological processes of the mind that forms into thoughts. It takes sometime in the practice of meditation to quiet and channel this energy deeper within oneself. When this is done the energy of the mind opens the door to a higher dimension where energy that animates life can be felt as a scintillating force emerging from our core. This is the same energy that is the All-Pervasive-Consciousness and it is also Na'amm. When Na'amm as the Source-of-I becomes encapsulated by Naf the distinct Sense-of-I comes into being.    

Na'amm is not easy to experience for more than a few seconds for a novice meditator. This is because we have been trained to engage our life with interactions in our circle of associations as living and filling moments of solitude or quietness with thoughts and emotions. For most of humanity this is life, where we expend our mental and physical energies to the world around us. This is true of all cultures which encourages us to be productive members of society through occupation and raising families. This externalisation also amplifies our perpective of reality based on the five senses and the forces of Nature. Even our practice of religion and dabbling into the paranormal is geared towards worldly goals such as personal and communal prosperity and health, or divining the future in support of our life.  During the stages of Naa and Na'a all streams of energy that we have flow from within to without. 
Mysticism requires that we switch some of these streams of energy to flow from within to within. In other words the energy that our body produces and the energy emanating from Na'amm as the Source-of-I, is collected and redirected within. This process happens gradually and in phases which is codified in Rehnadee Shum's The Path of Enlightenment–TyaeeShaLeeUngTiiCha. However we can only step on this mystic path when Na'a is mature enough. The process of growth of Na'a in achieving its material goals will eventually come to a head as enough avenues of life on Earth has been explored and the world seems to encourage Naf to turn inwards. This can happen anytime in one's life mainly through random bursts of mystic experience that peaks curiorsity to turn inward. 
I will draw on my experiences as an example. My first mystic experience was of Na'amm though at the time couldn't identify it as such because I was around seven years old. I would have these random series of thoughts that occured occasionally during my quiet times.  I would think of my body that even though it was growing and that my address kept changing (as my family moved a lot those days) I am still the same person. I would declare to myself that I was alwasy as I am. That my I-ness would not be affected even as I grew up and did all sorts of things and went to all sorts of places. That feeling that I am always just I within myself which was unchanging and unperturbed by whatever happens was the precursor to my mystical ambitions. However I was a kid at that time so I just followed the natural flow of life with normal ambitions, though in the background especially when I got into my teens a longing for mystical experiences developed. I was quite a bit different from most of my friends growing up. I didn't care so much for fashion or pop-culture, I loved nature and made a point know the names of as many animals as there was. I wasn't an introvert in any way because I had many friends and enjoyed the outdoors and sports but in the background a desire to have mystic experiences never let go of me. Ultimately this background force led me to my guru and the Path of Enlightenment. This wasn't on my ambitions list as a kid nor did my family or community encourage me on this path, instead it just happened, as if the world had planned it for me. This is my story of how from Na'a I moved to Na'amm. Such stories can come from people of all walks of life and ages of turning inwards as Naa and Na'a loosen's their grip on Naf such that they feel a hint of Na'amm and their inner calling. 
In Rehnadee Shum, Na'amm is a important stepping stone in the progress of a mystic. It is an experience that is mastered in the Intermediate Level, though before that at the beginner level Mystic Skills neccessary are first mastered. A mystic who is beginning is first taught to become aware that they have been trained to direct the flow of their energy from within themselves to the world at large. Mysticism would demand that some of these flows be redirected within themselves and this requires training which are embodied in the Mystic Skills level of the Path of Enlightenment. These skills are focused on learning to be comfortable within and maintaining a quiet mind. This may seem very basic but we won't realise until we try meditation how much our training through education creates a mind that is habitually predisposed to being full of thoughts. From my experience of teaching meditation I have learned that for some a quiet mind can be a scary experience because they feel lost in the quietness. This is how strong the iterations of our 'I' in Naa and Na'a can be and they present the first challenge a meditator must overcome and on the Path of Enlightenment. This is done through small steps that slowly train the novice meditator to become accustomed to the quiet power within their being.
Na'amm is a mystic experience that is in the family of the Kaefs which are enlightenment experiences that resonate with the All-Pervasive-Consciousness that streches all across our Universe and all through the 14 Dimensions. Na'amm is among the first enlightenment goals of a mystic as it is the doorway to the mystical side of the Innerverse. The experience of Na'amm is simple, it is just being quiet in the mind and realising the we are this quietness. Within this quietness we can feel spiritual energy building, this is the potent energy that animates life in our body and mind. When this energy coalesces in Na'amm we will feel a scintillating force pulsating in and around our spine that feels absolutely refreshing and we will feel refreshed from the core on out. It is a wonderful state of enlightenment that portends deeper wonders of exploration of the Innerverse through Rehnadee Shum meditations.  
Na'amm is a Sixth Dimensional Image-Portrait that means it increases our ability to span across the Dimensions from the Four of Na'a to the Six of Na'amm. From the Fourth Dimension to the Sixth is a vast world of mystic experiences filled with many wonderous enlightenment experiences. A Rehnadee Shum mystic gains access to this realm when he or she starts with the Intermediate Level Meditation Maps. There is much to explore in these realms and a mystic will spend much time meditating while at this stage of spiritual growth. Each meditation will strengthen and establish the inward flow of energy and make Na'amm stronger, which builds on the Mystic Strength of the Rehnadee Shum mystic.  
Na'amm is our immortal identity that remains from one life to another and carries with it the wisdom and maturity that is filtered and accumulated through lifetimes. In each life we have to rebuild Naa and Na'a from birth but Na'amm remains in the background of life until we start our journey on the Path of Enlightenment. From there on Na'amm grows stronger through the practice of meditation and maintaining a culture of kindness and self-restraint as the Witness-I, who is also the master of the body and mind.    

Each and eveyone of us is a unique package of Primal Energy enveloped in a casing of Naf. Primal Energy is energy that appeared at the very beginning of time in the Creation of the Universe. This is spiritual energy before it appears in the physical world as the intense soup of pre-nuclear energy that would then go on to expand into space, create heat and subatomic particles. This Primal Energy can be called God or Cosmic Consciousness. In Rehnadee Shum Primal Energy are spiritual experiences that are catgorised in the States of Enlightenment which are of two types. The first is a multitude of experiences that are called The Kaeefs. The Kaeefs are experiences of Primal Energy or God or Cosmic Consciousness that we can encounter in various forms all through our practice of Rehnadee Shum Meditation. The Kaeef are used as goals for meditaition even in Beginner Meditation Maps, but more so in the Intermediate Meditation Maps. The second type of Primal Energy is basically the source of the Kaeefs and it is a singular experience called Emkaeef; . Emkaeef; is a paradoxical spiritual experience which not only lies beyond all comprehension and cognition of the mind, it lies beyond existence itself. In all mystical schools of meditation Emkaeef; is the most prized spiritual attainment. It is known by various names in the different schools and is the ultimate goal of spiritual enlightenment. In Rehnadee Shum too Emkaeef; is the highest possible achievement on The Path of Enlightenment. However the evolution of Naf, which covers the attainment of Emkaeef in the Advanced Level Meditation Maps, continues after the attainment of Emkaeef; into a post-enlightenment stage where Na'amm evolves to Va,na'amm. 

Na'amm and Its Quest for Enlightenment
Na'amm is only discovered by someone who is seeking it. The progression from Na'a to Na'amm is not a natural direction of Nature. Effort to discover Na'amm only happens when someone feels the relevance of questioning the purpose of life. This question originates from a deeper realm of the Innerverse that causes life-force to retrogate from moving outward to being drawn inward following the evolution of Naf. The discovery of Na'amm is an important milestone on the Path of Enlightenment. It is among the first enlightenment goals of a mystic that opens the Intermediate Level Meditation Maps for practice. The maps at this level are replete with varied and wonderours enlightenment experiences that are in the family of the Kaeefs. A mystic can spend many years in this level exploring the Innerversre that spans the Fourth Dimension to the 7th Dimension.
Na'amm is a 6th Dimensional Image-Portrait, however unlike Naa and Na'a that are limited in their movement across dimensions by their dimension count numbers both Na'amm and Va,na'amm's dimension count numbers equate to where their experience are centered. Both Na'amm and Va,na'amm can traverse more dimensions than their dimension count. As a mystic progresses in Na'amm there will come a point she will hit a ceiling. That ceiling is in the 7th Dimension and is within the 7th Chakra. This ceiling is actually a small physical obsctacle within the skull along the contact line of the two bones of the skull that meet on top of the head. The mystic will feel energy accumulate within the 7th Chakra and have the urge to release this accumulating spiritual energy to go beyond the 7th Chakra to a spiriutal space above it. This urge is a spiritual instinct that comes from reverse polarised energies looking to return to its ultimate source. This turns to the desire for Na'amm to attain the ultimate state of enlightenment that is Emkaeef; . Emkaeef; and the Kaeefs are the Primal Energy that make up the core of Naf. When Na'amm reaches a stage in its development of Mystic Strength it will reach a point where it will long for the experience of Emkaeef; . This longing feeling is as mysterious as how unmanifest energy, Emkaeef; is the source of manifest energy, Kaeef. This stage of Na'amm's spiritual evolution is marked by its progression from the Intermediate Level Meditation Maps to the Advanced Level Meditation Maps.    

The Quest for Emkaeef;
Emkaeef; is not an usual experience to want. Some people will describe this experience as The Void or Nothingness because it cannot be adequately described. You could say that you can just sit somewhere comfortably and idly, do nothing and say that I am experiencing nothing because I am also not thinking. However, even if all your sense are idle and your mind is still, there is still you–I. The Sense-of-I still exists.  Can anyone simulate Naf not being there? Naf keeps our body alive and mind working. Even when idle and seemingly doing nothing there is still life that makes us breathe and stay conscious. A definition of Emkaeef; is that it is beyond consciousness. What can be beyond consciousness? Is it death? No, absolutely not. I am still here writing and my guru who had experienced Emkaeef; for the first time in 1947 lived to inspire me. No, the Nothingness of Emkaeef; is not death. Death is the sloughing off of the body while the Sense-of-I remains in the Innerverse. To experience Emkaeef; Naf has to cross the Innerverse to get to the pinnacle of Creation in the 14th Dimension and go beyond it. This is Emkaeef; is a paradoxical experience of the mysterious unmanifest source of all Creation.
What you are reading might discourage you from wanting to have the experience of Emkaeef; , but it is not me or anybody else who can make you want Emkaeef; . It is you and only you who will make yourself go on the quest for Emkaeef; . This is the function of the evolution of Naf when the strength of Na'amm peaks to the point that it is ready for the rise of the Kundalini. The Kundalini is the only force capable of overcoming the obstacle in the Seventh Chakra to allow the energies of the body and mind to intensely flow into the 14th Dimension where Emkaeef; is situated. When a mystic reaches the maturity of Na'amm where they feel the deeper inner quest for Emkaeef; they will need direct guidance from a Shum Master to learn Advanced Meditation Maps. Unlike the Intermediate Meditation Maps where mystics can learn and practice most of the maps on their own with occasional guidance from a Shum Master or Shum Guide, the maps of the Advanced Level require discipleship directly from a Master. The maps they will learn will teach mystics about the Kundalini energy and how to contain and direct so it flows toward Emkaeef; .
As Kundalini flows from its origin at the base of the spine a mystic has to contain it within the channels of the spine. While moving upward Kundalini absorbs energy from all parts of the body and drives it with growing intensity to force an opening through the ceiling of Seventh Chakra. The Kundalini at this point will travers the Dimensions above the Seventh and disappear into Emkaeef; , taking with it Naf. Without Naf, the Sense-of-I, nothing can be perceived (pun intended).

Va,na'amm the I-Less-I
Va,na'amm is the consequence of Na'amm attaining Emkaeef; . Every time Na'amm goes into Emkaeef; it comes out with a cache of Primal Energy which will follow Na'amm from the 14th Dimension to the 7th Dimension. Primal Energy supercharges the development of the 7th Chakra. The 7th Chakra is only partially accessible to Na'amm until the day it attains Emkaeef. After Emkaeef; its Primal Energy causes the Chakra to bloom and provide more avenues to experience the states of enlightenment of the Kaeefs. These are the post-enlightenment experiences that goes beyond the 7th Chakra to develop the chakras above the 7th upto the 10th Chakra and also entails the growth of a spiritual body that expands Na'amm to become Va,na'amm.
Having attained Emkaeef; the advanced mystic moves to the Shum Guide's Meditation Maps. The maps in this library all start with the realisation of Emkaeef; and then goes on to explore from the 7th Dimension up to the 10th Dimension. Unlike the previous maps that start with preparation for meditation using Mystic Skills, the Shum Guide Meditations start with Emkaeef; as the preparation for meditation and then moves on to exploration of the Innerverse above the Crown of the head. This is the structure of post-enlightenment where meditation now starts from the ultimate spiritual experience and moves downwards. This pattern comes from the instruction that my guru gave me when he realised that I had realised Emkaeef; . He told me that after you've realised the Self you must keep realising the Self untill all parts of your body from head to toe has realised the Self.
Rehnadee Shum becomes invaluable to the Shum Guide because he can use it to build a habitual path to Emkaeef; and keep practicing that path until it becomes second nature to the Guide. The goal is to be able to attain Emkaeef; at will. Naturally in this post-enlightenment stage Emkaeef; becomes integral to the mystic as the source of his existence and the mystic realises that he is an immortal spiritual being who is on the tail-end of his soujourn on Earth. One of the most notable event in spiritual evolution at this stage of Naf's journey is the development the 8th Chakra. When a mystic initially attains Emkaeef; the Chakras above the 7th Chakra are not yet in existence. The 8th, 9th and 10th Chakras are still collapsed within the folds of the Crown Chakra which is why after Na'amm is propelled by Kundalini into Emkaeef; which is in the 14th Dimension, it returns to the 7th Chakra. The other Chakras above the 7th have not manifested yet. Once the development of the 7th Chakra reaches a stage the the Primal Energies following Emkaeef; initiates the awakening of the 8th Chakra. The 8th Chakra is the seat of Va,na'amm which is an 8th Dimensional Image-Portrait. Va,na'amm is the stage of Naf's evolution where a body begins to grow around Na'amm. As Primal Energy nourishes this Chakra it grows a spiritual body around Na'amm from the  condenssate of consciousness that it is. This spiritual body can be called the soul and it grows gradually as the mystic practices his meditations. This soul body along with its Na'amm core is Va,na'amm. The growth of Va,na'amm happens in tandem with the successive development of Chakras 8, 9 and 10. Va,na'amm's growth reaches its greatest extent possible in an Earthly life as the 10th Chakra emerges and unfurls. 
One of the experience that the Rehnadee Shum Guide will have during his meditation that signifies the developing soul body and the Chakras above his crown is feeling the Primal Energy from Emkaeef; getting dammed above the 7th Chakra. Whereas initially after Emkaeef; the Primal Energies following Na'amm would flow directly into the Crown Chakra and then to the rest of the physical body, the post-enlightenment meditations will cause Primal Energies to be contained above the head and cause Va,na'amm to grow. As Va,na'amm gets stronger Naf, the Sense-of-I anchors identity to the powerful, perfect and quintessential quietness that emanates from the Emkaeef; core of Va,na'amm. Naf reaches the zenith of its evolution, where the Sense-of-I exists as it is. It is now the I-less-I that does not require stimuli or validation to confirm its existence.
There is no more the need to chase for sense stimulations as when Naf was completely enamoured by the physical body in Naa, nor the need for constant mental fulfillment through incredible manipulation of the forces of Nature as when Naf was exploring the abilities of the mind in Na'a. Even Na'amm the self-effacing Witness-I, is an iteration of Naf that requires stimuli for its validation albeit the stimuli are spiritual experiences of enlightenment. Va,na'amm is as it is. It is not looking for anything nor wanting anything. For the mystic, he will feel himself as a being of dense spiritual energy that extends above his head up to his arms length. His sense is that this is his permanent body that is perfectly content in its most quiet Sense-of-I. When Va,na'amm reaches the 10th Dimension Naf will attain a supreme feeling that is born of the culmination of its many, many incarnations on Earth. This is a feeling of Completion. From thence the Shum Guide becomes a Rehnadee Shum Master.

Concluding Reflections
The telling of this process of evolution that Naf goes through is an innovation of Rehnadee Shum. When I was learning Shum from my guru individual awareness was called Nef. Nef as awareness (or individual awareness) was a fixed meaning that does not involve a process of evolution. There was only one iteration of Nef and that was Nemf which is defined as Nef moving from one area of the mind to another. There isn't any other functional difference between Nef and Nemf. Nef was awareness and Nemf was awareness moving from one part of the mind to another.
Naf is based on my experience of awareness as I progressed in my practice of Shum meditation. Naf came to me through a revelation that I had in the monastery. That day was different from our regular routine because Gurudeva had arranged for us to be audiences to a psychic event by one of his friends on the island who was a psychic medium,  Arthur Pacheco. When Mr. Pacheco entered his psychic medium mode, his voice changed and there was a palpable change in the atmosphere of the meditation room where we were all seated which felt more energised. Mr. Pacheco as a medium started talking in a thick British accent that was the voice of the late Sir Arthur Conan Doyle of Sherlock Holmes fame. It was a question and answer session prepared by the most senior monks to benefit us in understanding what life was like on the other side of earthly incarnations. As the session concluded I was struck by a strong thought, as if it was placed in me by an inner-being who was in attendance in the room. The thought was, "I am the I-less-I."
This event happened in 1999 by which time I had already attained Emkaeef; , yet I was still not cognizant of it. (Realising that you had experienced Emkaeef; is a process, you can learn more about this from this link.) That I was the I-less-I incubated in my mind until my personal meditation that night when the thought revealed its deeper dimensions that I have incorporated into Rehnadee Shum as the Evolution of Naf. Naf, the Sense-of-I broadens the definition of awareness from a static faculty of the mind to a being that encapsulates our identity and ties it to a process of maturing that occurs over lifetimes. The terms the Assertive-I, the Affirmative-I, the Witness-I and the I-less-I all occured to me during the course of that day in 1999. After you read this article you can gauge where you are in your spiritual evolution by equating your Naf to one of these I's. Can you just imagine all that you must have gone through to get to this point? You are the sum total of all the lives you lived through on Earth to this point and the nature that is hardwired into Naf will eventually make you seek the origins of your identity. Ultimately we are all mystics.    

Naf, The Sense-of-I Meditation Map Formats

Click on a Map for a pop-up gallery of these printable Meditation Maps, available in 3 formats.