The Sense of "I am" (Consciousness) - Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

When I met my Guru, he told me: "You are not what you take yourself to be. Find out what you are. Watch the sense 'I am', find your real Self."

I obeyed him, because I trusted him. I did as he told me. All my spare time I would spend looking at myself in silence. And what a difference it made, and how soon!

My guru 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. All I did was to remember his teaching, his face, and his words constantly. This brought an end to the mind; in the stillness of the mind I saw myself as I am -- Unbound

I simply followed my Guru'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, my Guru, the life I lived, the world around me. Only peace remained and unfathomable silence.

There is nothing to practice. To know yourself, be yourself. To be yourself, stop imagining yourself to be this or that. Just be. Let your true nature emerge. Don't disturb your mind with seeking.