"
Aseitas - the English equivalent is a transliteration: aseity - simply means the power of a being to exist absolutely in
virtue of itself, not as caused by itself, but as requiring no cause, no other
justification for its existence except that its very nature is to exist. There can be only one such Being: that is
God. And to say that God exists
a se, of and by and by the reason of Himself, is merely to say that God is Being Itself.
Ego sum qui sum. And this means that God must enjoy 'complete
independence not only as regards everything outside but also as regards everything within Himself.'
This notion made such a profound
impression on me that I made a pencil note at the top of the page: "Aseity of God - God is being
per se." I observe it now on the page, for I brought the book to the
monastery with me, and although I was not sure where it had gone, I found it on the shelves in Father Abbot's room the other day, and I have it here before me."
From The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton