Focused “I Am” Meditation – Nisargadatta Maharaj

Focused I amMeditation

1. The ‘I am’ came first, it’s ever present, ever available, refuse all thoughts except ‘I am’, stay there.

2. Just stay put firmly and establish yourself in the ‘I am’, reject all that does not go with ‘I am’

3. Consistently and with perseverance separate the ‘I am’ from ‘this’ or ‘that’, just keep in mind the feeling ‘I am’

4. Only the ‘I am’ is certain, it’s impersonal, all knowledge stems from it, it’s the root, hold on to it and let all else go.

5. You are sure of the ‘I am’, it’s the totality of being, remember ‘I am’ and it’s enough to heal your mind and take you beyond.

6. The ‘I am’ is, it’s ever fresh, all else is inference, when the ‘I am’ goes all that remains is the Absolute.

7. Give all your attention to the ‘I am’, which is timeless presence, the ‘I am’ applies to all, come back to it repeatedly.

8. Hang on to the ‘I am’ and go beyond it, without the ‘I am’ you are at peace and happy.

9. Hold on to the ‘I am’ to the exclusion of everything else, the ‘I am’ in movement creates the world, the ‘I am’ at peace becomes the Absolute.

10. Immortality is freedom from the feeling ‘I am’, to have that freedom remain in the sense ‘I am’, it’s simple, it’s crude, yet it works!

11. The ‘I am’ is unreal and real, unreal when identified with body, real when wordless and used to go beyond.

12. The ‘I am’ has brought you in, the ‘I am’ will take you out, the ‘I am’ is the door, stay at it! It’s open!

13. You have to be there before you can say ‘I am’, the ‘I am’ is the root of all appearance.

14. The ‘I am’ is the permanent link in the succession of events called life, be at the link ‘I am’ only and go beyond it.

15. The ‘I am’ is the sum total of all that you perceive, it’s time‐bound, the ‘I am’ itself is an illusion, you are not the ‘I am’ you are prior to it.

16. The ‘I am’ is your greatest foe and greatest friend, foe when binding to the illusion as body, friend when taking out of the illusion as body.

17. The beginning and the end of knowledge is the ‘I am’, be attentive to the ‘I am’, once you understand it, you are apart from it.

18. You must meditate on the ‘I am’ without holding on to the body‐mind, the ‘I am’ is the first ignorance, persist on it and you will go beyond it.

19. Your Guru, your God, is the ‘I am’, with its coming came duality and all activity, stay on the ‘I am’, you are before the ‘I am’ appeared.

20. The ‘I am’ concept is the last outpost of the illusion, hold on to it, stabilize in the ‘I am’, then you are no more an individual.

21. Without doing anything you have the knowledge ‘I am’, it has come spontaneously and unwillingly on you, stay there and put an axe to the ‘I am’.

22. Your only capital is the ‘I am’, it’s the only tool you can use to solve the riddle of life, the ‘I am’ is in all and movement inherent in it.

23. Only be the ‘I am’, just be, the ‘I am’ has appeared on your homogeneous state, the one free of the ‘I am’ is liberated, you are prior to the ‘I am’.

24. Worship the indwelling ‘I am’ in you, it is the ‘I am’ that is born, it is the ‘I am’ that will die, you are not that ‘I am’.

25. Remain focused on the ‘I am’ till it goes into oblivion, then the eternal is, Absolute is, Parabrahman is.

26. The knowledge ‘I am’ is the birth principle, investigate it and you’ll finally stabilize in the Absolute Parabrahman.

27. All knowledge including the ‘I am’ is formless, throw out the ‘I am’ and stay put in quietude

28. Prior to birth where was the ‘I am’? Don’t contaminate the ‘I am’ with the body idea, I as the Absolute am not the ‘I am’

29. In the absence of ‘I am’ nothing is required, the ‘I am’ will go with the body, what remains is the Absolute.

30. You must not only have the conviction that ‘I am’ but also that you are free from the ‘I am’.

31. Remember the knowledge ‘I am’ only and give up the rest, staying in the ‘I am’ you would realize that it is unreal.

32. Understand that the knowledge ‘I am’ has dawned on you and all are its manifestations, in this understanding you realize you are not the ‘I am’.

33. When this concept ‘I am’ departs there would be no memory left that ‘I was’ and ‘I had’ those experiences, the very memory will be erased.

34. With the arrival of the primary concept ‘I am’, time began, with its departure time would end, you the Absolute are not the primary concept ‘I am.

35. When you know both the ‘I am’ and the ‘I am not’ then you are the Absolute which transcends both knowingness and no‐knowingness.

36. Appearance and disappearance, birth and death these are qualities of ‘I am’, they do not belong to you, the Absolute.

37. Out of the nothingness, the ‘I am ‘ or beingness has come, there is no individual, the knowledge ‘I am’‐ not the individual – has to go back to its source.

38. By meditating on the knowledge ‘I am’ it gradually settles down at its source and disappears, then, you are the Absolute.

39. Go on to know the ‘I am’ without words, you must be that and not deviate from it for even a moment, and then it would disappear.

40. With the dropping off of the primary experience ‘I am’ all experiences would vanish and only the Absolute remains.

41. On your true state has arisen this subtle principle ‘I am’, which is the cause of all mischief, no ‘I am’, and no question of mischief.

42. Whatever you try to become that is not you, before even the words ‘I am’ were said, that is you.

43. The root habit is the ‘I am’ and it has arisen from the domain five elements and three qualities which are unreal.

44. Abide in the knowledge ‘I am’ without identifying with the body, how did you function before the arrival of the knowledge ‘I am’?

45. The state of being, that is the message ‘I am’, without words, is common to all, change begins only with the mind‐flow.

46. The belief in the ‘I am’ to be something as a body, as an individual is the cause of all fear, in the absence of the ‘I am’, who is to fear what?

47. Try to stabilize in the primary concept ‘I am’ in order to lose that and be free from all other concepts, in understating the unreality of the ‘I am’ you are totally free.

48. Sitting quietly, being one with the knowledge ‘I am’, you would lose all concern with the world, then the ‘I am’ would also go, leaving you as the Absolute.

49. Putting aside everything, stabilize in the ‘I am’ ‐ as you continue with this practice – in the process you will transcend the ‘I am’.

50. The very core of this consciousness is the quality ‘I am’, there is no personality or individual there, reside there and transcend it.

51. Worship the knowledge ‘I am’ as God, as your Guru, the message ‘I am’ is there, the mind‐flow is there, stay in the ‘I am’ realize you are neither.

52. Presently you are sustaining the memory ‘I am’, you are not that ‘I am’, you are the Absolute, prior to that ‘I am’.

53. You feel the ‘I am’ due to the five elements and three qualities, when they go the ‘I am’ goes but you are still there.

54. Keep focused on the ‘I am’ till you become a witness to it, then you stand apart, you have reached the highest.

55. This knowledge ‘I am’ has come out of the state prior to it and now is the cause of all suffering, before the ‘I am’ came you were happy, so revert.

56. When you remain in the ‘I am’ you will realize everything else is useless, then you are Parabrahman, the Absolute.

57. One who abides in that principle by which he knows ‘I am’, then he knows all and does not require anything.

58. Just sit and know that ‘you are’, the ‘I am’ without words, nothing else has to be done, shortly you will arrive to your natural Absolute state.

59. Erroneously you have handed over this knowledge’ I am’ to the body thereby reduced the limitless to the limited, hence you are afraid of dying.

60. You have to realize that you are not the body nor the knowledge ‘I am’, you as the Absolute are neither nor do you require them.

61. Inquire into the validity of the fundamental concept of your individuality the ‘I am’ and it will disappear, then you are Parabrahman, the Absolute.

62. The essential thing to be convinced about is that the original concept ‘I am’ is false, only accept that which is conducive to this development.

63. Before you occurred to yourself as ‘I am’ you were the highest ‐ Parabrahman – now, until the impurity of ‘I am the body’ goes stay put in the ‘I am’ quietude.

64. Your fall started with the appearance of ‘I am’, then you blundered by embracing the body as ‘I am’, all that gathered thereafter is unreal.

65. This is no joke, but you can become Parabrahman right now! You are Parabrahman right now! Just focus your attention on the ‘I am’.

66.Who has the knowledge ‘I am’? Somebody in you knows the knowledge ‘I am’, ‘you are’, who is it?

67. Who can know the illusory state ‘I am’? Only a non‐illusory state can do so, it’s the Awareness, the Parabrahman, the Absolute.

68. The primary concept ‘I am’ is dishonest, a cheat, it has deceived you, into believing what is not, sharply focus on the ‘I am’ and it’ll disappear.

69. Finally you have to transcend the ‘I am’ to enter the concept‐free Parabrahman state, where you do not even know you are!

70. The Absolute or the Parabrahman is prior to the ‘I am’, it’s the unborn state, so how can it have the knowledge ‘I am’?

71. Presently whatever you know is the ‘I am’ which is a product of the five elements, three qualities or the food body, but you are none of these.

72. One who has realized the knowledge ‘I am’ which means transcending it as well, for him there is no birth or death nor any karma.

73. The primary illusion is only this knowingness ‘I am’; it is liberation when the knowingness is transformed to non‐knowingness.

74. You are even before even you could say the words ‘I am’, witnessing happens to the state prior to your saying the words ‘I am’.

75. When the body dies the ‘I am’ goes into oblivion, only the Absolute remains, stay put there, nothing happens to you the Absolute.

76. From non‐being to being, how is it known? It’s by the knowledge ‘I am’, stay there in the ‘I am’, then you’ll revert from being to non‐being.

77. Right now, here, you are the Absolute, the Parabrahman, very firmly hold on to the ‘I am’, ever abide in it and it’ll dissolve, then you are as you are.

78. On the state of non‐beingness, beingness as the ‘I am’ has occurred, who is that is not important, the ‘I am’ is important, stay there.

79. First came the ‘aham’ as ‘I am’, then ‘aham‐akar’ (identification with body, ego), now revert back to ‘aham’, dwelling there realize ‘aham‐brahmasmi’

80. You are neither the ‘I am’ nor the activities carried out by the beingness, you as the Absolute are none of these.

81. With the transcendence of the knowledge ‘I am’, the Absolute prevails. The state is called Parabrahman, while the knowledge ‘I am’ is Brahman.

82. How were you prior to the message ‘I am’? In the absence of the message ‘I am’ only my eternal Absolute state prevails.

83. Who would have witnessed the message ‘I am’, if your prior state of non‐beingness were not there?

84. A true devotee, by abiding in the knowledge ‘I am’, transcends the experience of death and attains immortality.

85. Hold on to this knowingness ‘I am’ without words and every secret of your existence would be revealed to you.

86. What is it in you that understands this knowledge ‘I am’ without a name, title or word? Subside in that innermost center and witness the knowledge ‘I am’.

87. Totally accept the knowledge ‘I am’ as oneself and with full conviction and faith and firmly believe in the dictum ‘I am that by which I know I am’.

88. Reality prevails prior to the knowledge ‘I am’; you must stay put at the source of your creation, at the beginning of the knowledge ‘I am’.

89. When one is established in the final free Absolute state, the knowledge ‘I am’ becomes ‘non‐knowledge’.

90. The first witnessing is that of ‘I am’, the primary prerequisite for all further witnessing, but to whom is the first witnessing of ‘I am’ occurring?

91. The borderline of ‘I am’ (beingness) and ‘I am not’ (non‐beingness} is the precise location where the intellect subsides, its’ the ‘maha‐yoga’ state, be there.

92. Recognize the Atman by understanding the knowledge ‘I am’, the Atma‐jnana, which is all pervading, limitless and infinite.

93. To abide in the knowledge ‘I am’ is one’s true religion, give the highest honor due to it, doing so you will not undergo suffering or death.

94. Who says ‘I was not’ and ‘I would not be’ like the present ‘I am’? He is the one who was, is, and would be forever.

95. When you say ‘I was not prior to conception’ you actually mean not like the present ‘I am’, but the one to discern the absence of the present ‘I am’ was there.

96. Catch hold of the knowledge ‘I am’ in meditation and the realization would occur that ‘I ‘ the Absolute am not the ‘guna’ ‘I am’.

97. Do nothing but stay in the knowledge ‘I am’ – the ‘moolmaya’ – the primary illusion, then it will release its stranglehold on you and get lost.

98. In deep meditation, infused only with the knowledge ‘I am’, it would be intuitively revealed to you as to how this ‘I amness’ came to be.

99. The knowledge ‘I am’ means consciousness, God, Guru, Ishwara, but you the Absolute are none of these.

100. There is no ‘I am’ anymore, It’s the Parabrahman only…

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