The I AM Meditation

Self Realization is based on one simple idea - to recognize and reside as that which you are - the Self. And that Self is NOT the body, NOT the thoughts, NOT the emotions, NOT your dreams, NOT your political or social views. In fact there are far more 'NOT's here than there are anything else, because basically anything you relate TO is not the Self.

You could relate to it as Presence, Consciousness, Awareness, the Absolute, but until it's recognized or REALized, those are also just concepts, though they give more of a clue. 

One thing that does point quite well, is the phrase "I AM".  Even in the Bible there is a reference to "I AM": 

  

"Moses said to God, 'Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, ' What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?  God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you."

So, even God describes Himself as 'I AM', as 'I AM' is prior to and beyond any and all descriptions. Similarly, who you truly are is beyond and transcends all concepts and descriptions. Some terms for God that might get close could include Presence, Consciousness, Awareness, the Absolute.  Are you getting the point here?  Thus anything that we 'think' of ourselves as being, just as anything we 'think' of God as being, comes far short of the Reality.  And yet, it IS what we are!

Various teachers have suggested that you just 'Reside as you are' or 'focus on the Self', which sounds wonderful, but may leave you saying, "HOW?"  How do I just reside or focus on my Self if I don't know what it is?  Or you think of your self as your body, or your ideas, your dreams and so on.  You might even think of your Self as your 'higher' thoughts and ideals, your 'astral' self, your dream self.  But I AM is prior to all of that. 

Although I hate to use the word 'technique', one 'technique' for recognizing the Self is the "I AM" meditation.  This is simply the repetition of the words - I AM.  It can be done with the breath "I" (in) "AM" (out).  It can be done while walking. It can be done while eating. Basically it can be done anywhere and anytime. 

Ideally, like any meditation, it's not so much about the words "I AM", but rather what they point to.  With each repetition, it's essentially asking you to consider and recognize just WHAT that "I' is.  Remember, I AM are only more words, but when you seek what or who is the experiencer of those words, the thinker of those words, the one to whom the words are arising, you may directly realize that Self. 

It's a little like pointing your finger at the Moon and repeating "Moon, moon, moon".  It's neither the finger pointing, nor the word 'Moon', but it may get you to look beyond the finger and the words to the direct experience of the Moon.  It's not the words "I AM", nor the breath, nor the technique, but it guides you in the direction of the Presence of I AM...which by the way, is always and already Present!

Here's how Nisargadatta Maharaja described his own Awakening: "When I met my Guru, he told me, 'You are not what you take yourself to be. Find out what you are. Watch the sense I AM, find your real Self…' I did as he told me. All my spare time I would spend looking at myself in silence…and what a difference it made, and how soon! It took me only three years to realize my true nature."

So, PLEASE, take this opportunity that human life has offered us, to KNOW THY SELF!

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