What can such a statement mean? We are encouraged by Ramana to inquire, “Who am I?” This is the very process whereby the I is used to remove the I to recognize the I. We begin as I, the person, asking the question, “Who am I?” This can quickly lead us to the experience of I as the sense of “I am.” This sense of “I am” is a boundless presence, silence, space, but it is still a something. This I is an experience while we are awake, but disappears at night with sleep. While it is subtle, it is not our eternal essence.

What happens if we drop the “am” and rest as “I”? We experience a further shift of identity to a more universal state of existence. We are now boundless awareness, the subtlest state of existence. This I, however, is still a state; it is still a thought.

Finally, we must drop this I to become that which is beyond thought and prior to description, modifier, or objectification. We are pure subject, pure I, absolute, nothing. This is the eternal I. The I prior to the concept of I.

This is not meant to be a philosophical description; it is meant as a direct pointer to Pure I. Experience the sense “I am,” now drop the “am” to experience “I.” Finally, drop even the “I.”

Namaste, Steve and Bec