The sense of being, the feeling 'I Am', is the first step in self-realization.
Author
Based on Nisargadatta Maharaj's teachings
The foundation of Advaita Vedanta inquiry begins with the simple recognition of your own existence—the sense “I Am.”
अहम् अस्मि (Aham Asmi) - I Am
Nisargadatta Maharaj emphasized that spiritual practice begins with abiding in the sense of pure being. This is not a thought about existence, but the direct feeling of “I Am”—prior to any identification with body, mind, or personality.
सत्-चित्-आनन्द (Sat-Chit-Ananda)
Existence-Consciousness-Bliss
The practice is remarkably simple:
ब्रह्म सत्यम् जगत् मिथ्या (Brahma Satyam Jagat Mithya)
Brahman alone is real, the world is illusory
While the “I Am” is the starting point, Maharaj taught that even this sense of being is not the ultimate reality. The “I Am” appears and disappears (as in deep sleep), but That which you truly are is beyond even the sense of being.
The practice progresses:
तत् त्वम् असि (Tat Tvam Asi)
Thou Art That - Chandogya Upanishad
The “I Am” is:
What you are seeking is already present. The practice is not about becoming something new, but recognizing what has always been here.
साक्षी चेता केवलो निर्गुणश्च (Sakshi Cheta Kevalo Nirgunascha)
The witness is alone and without qualities - Ashtavakra Gita
You are not the doer, not the thinker, not the experiencer. You are the pure awareness in which all experience appears. The “I Am” is your doorway to this recognition.
Throughout the day, return to the simple feeling of being. Before thoughts arise, there is awareness. Before identifying as “someone,” there is the pure sense “I Am.” This is always accessible, always present.
नेति नेति (Neti Neti)
Not this, not this
Use this ancient method: Whatever appears in consciousness—thoughts, feelings, sensations—recognize “I am not this. I am the awareness of this.”
त्रि-विध अहम् (Tri-Vidha Aham)
The journey of understanding “I Am” has three stages:
Contaminated I Am (Mixed with identification)
Pure I Am (Beingness without qualification)
Beyond I Am (The Absolute)
रिभु-निदाघ संवाद (Ribhu-Nidagha Samvada)
The sage Ribhu had a student named Nidagha who had intellectual understanding but lacked direct realization. Years later, Ribhu visited Nidagha’s city in disguise as a village rustic.
Nidagha, now a learned scholar, was watching the king’s procession. The disguised Ribhu asked, “Which one is the king?”
Nidagha replied, “The one on the elephant.”
Ribhu asked, “You said ‘on the elephant’—which is the elephant and which is the king?”
Annoyed, Nidagha said, “The one on top is the king, the one below is the elephant.”
Ribhu asked, “What do you mean by ‘top’ and ‘below’? Please explain using me as an example.”
Nidagha, thinking the villager was ignorant, climbed on Ribhu’s shoulders and said, “Just like this—I am on top, you are below.”
Ribhu then asked the profound question: “You said ‘I’ am on top and ‘you’ are below—but who is this ‘I’ and who is ‘you’?”
In that instant, Nidagha realized: The “I” that he used so casually—what was it really? Investigating that “I,” he recognized the pure consciousness that is the source of all perception and all existence.
महाराज विधि (Maharaj Vidhi)
Nisargadatta Maharaj’s method was direct and simple:
Attend to the sense I Am
Reject all that you are not
Realize what remains
मैं वह हूँ (Main Vah Hun)
I Am That
अहम् उत्पत्ति (Aham Utpatti)
Maharaj taught something profound: Even the “I Am” has a birth. It arises when consciousness and the body come together. It disappears in deep sleep and death.
Before you were born, were you? Yet That which you truly are was there. After death, will you be? Yet That which you truly are will remain.
The “I Am” is the first thought, the root of all other thoughts. It is:
अहम् निष्ठा (Aham Nishtha)
The practice Maharaj emphasized most:
Morning: Upon waking, catch the first moment of “I Am” before thought arises
Throughout the day: Return repeatedly to the sense of pure being, wordless presence
Before sleep: Let everything dissolve back into pure “I Am”
In meditation: Sit with the feeling “I Am”—not as words, but as the very essence of being
Initially it requires effort. With practice, it becomes natural. Eventually, you realize you’ve always been this—you just forgot.
सोऽहम् (Soham)
I Am That
The breath itself speaks this truth:
What are you? You are not this body, not these thoughts, not this person. You are the conscious presence in which all of this appears. And even beyond that presence, you are the absolute reality—eternal, infinite, complete.
तत्त्वमसि (Tat Tvam Asi)
Thou Art That - Chandogya Upanishad
This is not something you will become. This is what you have always been. The “I Am” is your doorway home.