In the deepest meditation, everything becomes very quiet. There is no longer any identification, no separation, no duality. The personal recedes into the background, and what remains is an open, boundless presence.
To make this experience accessible and open to inquiry, my Guruji recently shared this meditation with us over the past weeks. Not as a theory, but as a direct invitation to self-inquiry.
Direct Experience of I AM and Advaita Vedanta
Advaita Vedanta literally means “not-two.” It points to the fact that the separation between you and the world, between observer and observed, ultimately has no real existence. Advaita does not invite belief, but direct self-inquiry (ātma-vichāra).
The sense of I AM refers to the most fundamental awareness of being: the simple knowing that you exist, prior to thoughts, stories, and identity. In this tradition, I AM is not glorified as a final goal, but used as a tool to stabilize attention and release identification.
The six steps follow a classical Advaita progression:
- Abiding in the Sense of I AM
- Seeing the Impermanence of I AM
- Releasing identification with body and mind
- Consciousness as a Phenomenon
- Transcending All Concepts an IAM
- Resting in the Absolute
The purpose is not to achieve or improve anything. It is about subtly shifting attention and recognizing what is always present, the quiet, impersonal presence that does not depend on experience or understanding.
Take these steps slowly, without hurry. Allow each step to do its work, and be ready to let go of even what is understood along the way.
Step 1. Abiding in the Sense of I AM
Prepare for meditation and sit upright. Bring your attention to the sense of I AM. This sense of I AM has no shape or size. It is a deep, direct sense of being.
Focus deeply on the sense of I AM. Let this awareness be your anchor, dissociating from any identity. Remain aware without associating with any role, name, or form. Stay centred in the centre of your pure being.
Meditate on the I AM without words and without attachment to identity. Simply be aware of this sense of being. Dwell deeply in the sense of I AM, without distraction. Rest in the awareness of being, without striving for any outcome.
Hold gently to the sense of I AM and do not allow attention to be diverted. The I AM is the only certainty.The sense of I AM is the root of all appearance, yet it is not you. It is a tool for knowing. Once its purpose is served, it too must be let go.
Step 2. Seeing the Impermanence of I AM
Sit upright, make gyan mudra and go deeply inward; there is no need to open the eyes, as nothing is outside.
This practice is to understand the transient nature of I AM. Recognise that the sense of I AM appears and disappears. It is not your essence.
Understand that you are the One beyond, The One who remains untouched by its coming and going. When the I is conditioned or programmed, it is unreal.
Then inquire:
Who knows that the I is unreal?
Who is aware of this impermanence?
This knowing is within you. That which knows change must itself be changeless and permanent.
The sense of I AM is the root of all appearance, yet it is not you. It is a tool for knowing. Once its purpose is served, it too must be let go.
Step 3. Dis‑identification from Body, Mind, and Consciousness
Recall:
In Step 1, the sense of I AM was used as a tool.
In Step 2, the I was seen as impermanent and released.
Here in Step 3, attention turns to observing the body, the breath, and the mind as objects of perception, and to recognising that you are not these objects, but the witnessing presence that perceives them.
Sit upright. Let the body be still, so its nature can be clearly seen. Close your eyes.
Dis‑identify from the body and the mind. Observe the body, the breath, and the mind as objects of perception. Know that you are not these objects, but the witness of them.
Stabilise in this witnessing. Allow detachment from body and mind to occur naturally.
You can observe the body, therefore you are not the body. You can observe the breath, therefore you are not the vital force. In the same way, you are not consciousness.
Yet, allow yourself to become one with consciousness. As you stabilise in consciousness, attachment to the body and its expressions dissolves naturally.
The body and mind are instruments. You are not what is perceived, but that which perceives.
Whatever happens, happens to the body and the mind. Let it happen; remain aware without identification.
Step 4. Consciousness as a Phenomenon
Observe consciousness as a phenomenon. Once you have stabilised in consciousness, take the next step: observe it.
Do not become entangled in the content of consciousness. Recognise that you are beyond it, as the absolute witness.
Observe all the play that is happening within consciousness. Understand that consciousness itself is a phenomenon. Beaware of it without being caught up in it.
You are beyond consciousness as the absolute witness.
To know what you are, you must first see what you are not. Observe how consciousness behaves and recognise that you are not its content. Remain in this state.
Step 5. Transcending All Concepts
Transcend all concepts, including the sense of I AM. These are merely tools, and ultimately they are limitations.
Let go of all identification and remain in your natural, unlimited state. Understand that even this understanding must eventually be discarded.
There is a principle that remains whether the world is or is not. This principle antedates the world.
All concepts, even the concept of I AM, are limitations. Transcend all such limitations and remain in your natural state.
You must abandon all that you think you are, and all that you think the world is.
That which is truly real is beyond concepts and names.
Step 6. Resting in the Absolute
Rest in the Absolute, where there is nothing to gain or lose. It is the state beyond all needs, desires, and identification.
Simply be, without striving.
When knowingness dissolves, the Absolute does not know the I AM. Appearance and disappearance, birth and death, These are qualities of beingness, not your qualities.
The Absolute is beyond all experience and beyond consciousness itself.It is the state where nothing is, and where nothing is needed.
Remain in that state where there is no need for anything. The state with no needs, no desires, and no identification. That is the Absolute.
When you realise that you are not the person, but the witness only, and when you realise that awareness is your true nature, freedom is revealed.
You know yourself not as an object in consciousness, but as the changeless, unchanging background upon which consciousness appears and disappears.
When awareness shifts back toward experience, remain with the simple sense of I AM, without adding anything to it.
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