Abide in the I AM – Nisargadatta’s Radical Teaching

The famous sage of India, Nisargadatta Maharaj, was known for his teaching of abiding in one’s I Amness.

In this article, I want to explain what he meant by that and how it solves one of the most difficult problems we face in our spiritual practice, which is to allow everything to be as it is.

In my last article I talked about letting go, and how the force that tries to let go of something is also the force that’s holding on to it.

So whenever we try to let go of something, whenever we force ourselves to accept something, it doesn’t usually go well, since this very force is responsible for us holding on to it in the first place.

This can lead to us meditating and being torn between wanting to let go, wanting to accept, and not being able to do so.

I think most people — especially if you are stuck at the mindfulness level — are facing this issue.

They think they can get enlightened if they purify themselves enough, if they are able to let go of EVERYTHING, but actually they are just wrestling with thoughts in their mind.

And since they usually are not successful with it, they get frustrated and stuck at this very level.

Mindfulness just means watching objects appear and disappear in our awareness. It’s only focusing on the objects, coming and going.

It is necessary for meditation to have enough concentration to become aware of the objects that appear within us at any moment, but if we stay at that level, we just watch an infinite number of objects appear and disappear. It’s never-ending. Whenever we achieve some kind of peace doing mindfulness meditation, it will come to an end for sure, since this peace is only relative, only coming and going. Everything we think we achieved during meditation doing mindfulness will definitely come to an end.

So staying at this level of practice does not lead us to who we really are.

And this is where we have to put our awareness.

Instead of staying focused on the objects, thoughts, feelings, and perceptions that appear and disappear within us at any moment, we turn our awareness around.

We turn our awareness from the object to ourselves.

And this is where the teaching of Nisargadatta Maharaj can be applied.

I won’t go too much into who he was and what he did, so if you’re interested just Google him or buy his book “I Am That”, but I really want to focus on his basic teaching here.

When he was about 30 years old, he met his guru and the guru told him to abide in the I Amness. Nisargadatta followed this teaching, doing it whenever he could, and became enlightened after only 3 years of doing this practice.

Before I get into the practice itself, I just wanted to mention another thing that was really important to him — which was earnestness.

He said that it all depends on our earnestness, our sincerity to practice. When we just sit around and daydream during our meditation practice, we can do that forever and it won’t get us anywhere. I mean, it gets us somewhere — but only further into illusion.

So it’s very important to have a sincere mind and to practice with earnestness. Otherwise, the practice itself, or meditation, will only be a waste of time.

But if we are sincere, we may be able to “advance” on our spiritual paths very quickly, as was the case with Nisargadatta.

Alright, so let’s get into this practice. Actually, it’s quite simple: you abide in your I Amness.

This was his main teaching and he expressed it in different ways but always pointing to this simple practice.

So what we do, during meditation or during our daily life, is that we practice turning our attention towards our felt sense of I Amness.

Just pause this video and try it for yourself right now.

What does this even mean?

Sensing into our I Amness.

Rather than forcing yourself to achieve a certain state or to find this I Amness with 100% certainty, rather sense into it. It’s more about being completely open, being completely available, and just looking or sensing into it.

It’s not about making a definite statement about this I Amness, about finding and claiming it. This is our relative mind trying to achieve something and being disappointed if it doesn’t achieve that.

With this practice, however, we just sense into it. We openly and curiously dive into our felt sense of I Amness, of presence, of being here.

Imagine, when you wake up from being asleep, you immediately know that YOU ARE. You don’t need any thoughts for it. You don’t need any emotion for it. You just intuitively sense that you are, that you exist.

So what is this feeling?

What tells you that you are right now? That you exist?

It’s as if you are walking into a room—when you walk into it, you immediately recognize if it’s light or dark in the room, if the light is on or off. You don’t have to produce a thought that goes like “Ah, I opened the door and there is black. Black means it’s dark…” No, it’s a sudden recognition of there being light or not. Then, as you see that there is light in the room—which means you intuitively sense into the I amness—you can look at where the light comes from. With the room analogy, as you walk in, you may only look at a wall or an object, but you can clearly see that the room is lit, since the light is reflected everywhere. And now, you are trying to look at the source of the light. You trace it back.

It’s just a subtle feeling that’s there, making us aware that we are. And we go back to it again and again and again.

So, when you meditate—or even when you just go through your life—you return your focus to your sense of I Amness.

As I said earlier, earnestness is really important here, and if one is earnest, it doesn’t matter whether you sit on a cushion or go through your daily life—you can always practice it.

Sure, thoughts will come up and interrupt you, you might get sucked into a fantasy or overwhelmed by feelings, but once we wake up from that, once we see that we have been tied up with it, we return our focus to the I Amness.

We don’t have to resolve the thoughts or inner conflict coming up. We don’t even have to heal the feelings that come up. We just recognize them and then shift our focus.

Remember what I discussed in my last video where I referred to a quote from Adyashanti, where he said that the very thing that wants to let go is also the very thing that’s holding on.

So, instead of struggling with letting go—or with letting go of the holding on—we really just let it be. Whatever comes up, we acknowledge it, but we don’t interfere, and we go back to our I Amness.

If you do this earnestly, if you really practice this, you will notice that your sense of presence—your I Amness, your center—will grow. It will become stronger, you will be more rooted in this presence, and the very things that used to disturb you or distract you will become weaker.

Imagine your I Amness as a sun radiating in all directions and the thoughts and feelings as clouds appearing before this sun. Once the sun grows bigger and stronger, the clouds just evaporate.

But we don’t do that, we don’t even try to achieve that—we just practice going back to our I Amness.

In the beginning, you may need some faith that it really works, and also courage to shift your focus from the compelling story in your mind back to your I Amness.

But once you practice that earnestly, it will get easier and easier and you’ll become more rooted in your sense of I Amness.

So, that’s pretty much it.

A very simple practice, and also very effective. Nisargadatta got enlightened doing this for only 3 years, BUT he practiced it with utmost earnestness—so this will be the deciding factor.

Also, just to throw in some concepts about it: this presence, this sense of I Amness, is not the end of it.

This I Amness can be compared to the first thing coming into being—just existence. It’s called Brahman Saguna in Advaita, or Ishwara. It symbolizes the manifest God, the first principle, the seed of consciousness.

However, according to the scriptures and fully realized masters, this is not the end of it. This I Amness will also vanish, leaving only what is—which can’t be talked about.

So, don’t get stuck with the idea that this I Amness is the absolute truth.

You don’t have to figure it out or think about it—your practice is just to return to your I Amness and do that again and again. That’s it.

So, if this resonates with you, I invite you to practice it.

I wish you all the best,

your friend of the way,

Bye.