My teacher told me to hold on to the sense ‘I am’ tenaciously and not to swerve from it even for a moment. I did my best to follow his advice and in a comparatively short time I realized within myself the truth of his teaching. This brought an end to the mind; in the stillness of the mind I saw myself as I am – unbound.

I simply followed (my teacher’s) instruction which was to focus the mind on pure being, ‘I am’, and stay in it. I used to sit for hours together, with nothing but the ‘I am’ in my mind, and soon peace and joy and a deep all-embracing love became my normal state. In it, all disappeared – myself, the life I lived, the world around me. Only peace remained, and unfathomable silence.

 Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, 1897 –1981 indian non dualist teacher