The Meaning of Self

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful...the Best Knower.
I bear witness that there is no god but Allah,
And I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.

I found myself in one of my "contemplative" moods early this morning, centered around the concept of "Self".

Bro. Jabril Muhammad wrote, in an article for the Final Call (Vol. 15, #27) titled, "The Root of God's Wisdom":
We've learned that this first man experienced pain - exactly what kind, I don't know - due to this process of His own Self-Creation. But we do know, from this teaching, that He was confronted by problems resulting from His own Supreme creative act of Self.
The meaning of "self" is huge.

I remember how that last sentence struck me when I first read it...difficult to put into words.

That was some years ago...but its affect on my mind has lingered since then.

Fast-forward to the present, and now I am sitting here, at my desk, contemplating "the meaning of self".

I wonder...could it be that, just as I am connected to and express myself through my body, and my body is a part of the Universe, itself; could it be that I am just as connected to the rest of the Universe as I am to my own body?

Should I not be able, by nature, to exert power over the rest of the Universe, just as I am able to exert power over that "part" of the Universe that is my body?

Is the Universe the "extended" "body" of the "I"?

RM