Nonduality | Ramana Maharshi | Self-realization
What is the Pure Consciousness of “I AM”?
[Updated January 28, 2024] “I Am” is the fundamental teaching of Ramana Maharshi, and it is not who you think you are.
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I Am That
Spiritual seekers who have explored Eastern traditions, especially Hinduism, are familiar with the teaching of “I Am”. It is often taught as “Tat Tvam Asi”, which is interpreted as thou art that, or you are that, or I am that. “That” refers to God/Source/the Absolute/the Universe, and in Advaita Vedanta (Hindu nondualism) the “Tat Tvam Asi” means the individual (I/me/you) is not separate from the Absolute (or ultimate reality).
In Advaita Vedanta (as well as the more western Neo-Advaita), self-realization (or enlightenment) is when the separate individual (or ego) drops away and only the Absolute remains. I often refer to this as a state of “Pure Awareness” and sometimes the “True Self”. But many other terms are used, including:
- the Field of Being, Pure Beingness, Oneness, Nonduality
- Emptiness (sunyata), No-self (anatta), the Tao, the Void, Nothingness, No Thing
