I am that I am means?

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What do the five words - I am that I am - mean to you?

(What do those five words mean to you by themselves - outside of any non-profit religion interpretation)?

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http://www.beliefnet.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_that_I_Am

Unfortunately, you cannot go back. I cannot again see the city from the angle and with the eyes IO saw it when the family first frove here to settle. And I cannot properly work those words without associating to Genesis and to the Hebrew.

I will try not to get linguotechnical here - but to me I am that I am has no ENGLISH meaning - it is not English, and whatever the Hebrew meant when written does not adequately compute.

Now, I DO understand [and frequently say] I am WHAT I am [though I automatically jump to the traditional I YAM what I YAM, and even go to I yam what a yam.

Which equates roughly to "what you see is what you get, get over it" with reference to myself.

Well...

It seems to be a dependent clause, attribute or the verb "am"... It does not mean "I am what I am", there seem to be an ellipse, I woul say that the sentence should be : "I am the fact that I am", meaning that my existence can be only defined by its own reality.

I am and there is nothing else about me, no other way to define myself or my existence, the meaning of my existence is "to be" and my identity is "I am", not my name nor my lineage or anything else.

Some philosophers would argue that human beings exist, meaning that they can think and try to give/find a meaning to their existence, to stop "being" (eating, reproducting, sleeping - instinctive functions).

"stop telling me off"

To me, it means...

"I YAM WOT I YAM, AND DAT'S ALL DAT I YAM."

You said it, Popeye!