What it means to be still and know that, "I Am"

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj was once asked,

"You say that in our real being we are all equal. How is it that your experience is so different from ours?"

But he responded,

"My actual experience is not different. It is my evaluation and attitude that differ.

I see the same world as you do, but not the same way. There is nothing mysterious about it. Everyone sees the world through the idea he has of himself. As you think yourself to be, so you think the world to be. If you imagine yourself as separate from the world, the world will appear as separate from you and you will experience desire and fear.

I do not see the world as separate from me, and so there's nothing for me to desire or fear."

This "seeing" that Nisargadatta is referring to, is not just another subjective point of view. It's not based on opinions or beliefs. This is what he would refer to as taking your stand in the Absolute.

So, it's based on a primary fact, that is known to you as well. And this fact applies to all experience; every experience. And as the mind arrives on this conclusion that this is the primary fact, then the experiences need not change and do not change, but the standpoint from which they are received has changed. Has receded back to the absolute and unconditioned perspective.

This is the standpoint of Nonduality.

Every experience is nondual from here.

Take the instant when a gust of wind blows away all else from the mind. Blows away the thinking, and all the planning, and all the other sensing.

You could say that in that instant there's just the wind and you. But that is the duality.

To say, "I am feeling the wind," is missing what the wind is expressing. What is really taking place in that moment.

And to say that there is only the wind, is again missing what the wind is expressing. Both the normal view and the intellectual Nondualist view are wrong.

I Am.

The Wind.

These two seemingly separate facts are one in that moment.

In that instant, this fact; I Am, refers to the wind. Points to the wind. Means: The Wind. And the wind is expressing this fact that I Am.

That is what the wind IS. An expression of the fact that I Am. It is not that I become the wind, or the wind is all that I am, but in that instant the wind is the expression of what I am.

But there's never just the wind, is there?

There's that refreshing coldness. The textures of the sky. No single expression is I. But all of them is what I am, being expressed.

That is what all experience is expressing. That the world is not separate to You. That You are not separate to the world.

When you say, "I Am," that refers to all of it.

I Am refers to the whole of it.

You see there is this pointer that is given, to know that I Am. To meditate or be mindful of that, "I Am." But this can give the impression that this, "I Am," is separate to the experience in this moment.

That there's something else to be noticed. Something being missed. But that is not how Awareness really works.

You don't point Awareness at something to discover it.

That is the the concept of attention, which has a misunderstanding to it. The idea that you are something separate to Awareness and in control of It, is the sense of being able to pay attention. That is the the story the thoughts are telling to claim ownership of the mind.

That is not at all how it is.

Experience arises. And is noticed. As it is noticed, it communicates this most basic fact:

You Are.

This is Self-knowledge.

The Ground Truth. And it expresses Itself in infinite ways. No action is taken or required at any step. There's nothing being missed.

You are aware of everything You can be aware of in this moment. Nothing is being missed. All experience is nondual and is expressing this fact very clearly.

I Am.

Just consider the deepest meaning of this fact; this Self-knowledge.

"I," meaning the whole of it. All of it. The infinite possibility and the actual fact of it.

I Am.

I : meaning Reality. Not to be thought of as something apart from You.

Am : meaning to be.

As a matter of fact. As real as it gets.

So, you should arrive at this standpoint from where I Am is not a thought, not a feeling, not something conceptual, not something to be experienced, and not something extra or in addition to this experience.

I Am is the basis.

The fundamental fact being expressed by all experience. Every experience is expressing the fact that You Are. All that needs to be done is to receive the message. Consider what is really being expressed here.

What is this Ground Truth that underlies and supports all experience?

In the experience of pain, I am.

I Am. The Pain.

I Am. The Hurt.

I Am. Grief.

I Am. Joy.

I Am. Love.

I Am.

All of it!

The Totality. The infinite expressions of Reality. All that is, or was, or can be.

And their Timeless Foundation.

I Am refers to the indivisible Whole.

In knowing the true meaning of this message,

I Am. Fulfilled.

I Am. Complete.

I Am. Peace.

So, all that need be done is to be receptive. Don't try to find some new experience or knowledge, but be open to what is being expressed in every moment of this life, and every life.

I Am points to Infinity.

To Divinity.

The Ground Truth of your own Identity.

So, be still and know that I AM.