Book Review I am That

You are not a PUA, or a man, or even your body, instead you are the essence of the world and since you have never been born you can never die.


That’s the overall premise of the brilliant book I am that conversations with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj.

Maharaj supports no religion or ideology, instead choosing to express his ideas to all who come to him.

He was told by his guru to focus only on the feeling “I am” and says it led him to inner peace. Throughout the book there are constant references to I am as well as an overall strategy for achieving that which you already have. The book is more about peeling back the layers of falseness that we have identified with and revealing the truth, than about finding something external.

Often times I found my head feeling fuzzy while reading this book explaining in such simplicity things that seem so complex. I had to remind myself a few times to listen to what I was reading rather than letting myself cast jusgement on it.

This book is not for everyone, if you can’t stifle the urge to argue logically with the points Maharaj makes, you will not gain the insight this amazing book has to offer. If you are going to read this book make sure that you do so with an entirely open mind.

Here’s some ideas I really enjoyed:

Nothing lasts, the only way to immortality, is to accept death and see the end in the beginning and the beginning in the end.

We walk around unaware until something goes wrong and we become aware of pain or pleasure.When self control becomes second nature, we shift our focus to deeper levels of existence.

The state of craving keeps you from having what you want. Nothing of value can happen to a mind that knows what it wants.For nothing the mind can visualize is of much value.

Thought, feeling and action must be as one, and simultaneous with the situation that calls for them.

Self identifcation is the cause of bondage, as all identifications you make of yourself are fleeting and false. Just be.

Freedom from desire, means the compulsion to satisfy is absent.

Strive without seeking, struggle without greed.

Give up all questions except one “who am I” as the only fact we an be certain of is that you are.

The I am is certain, the I am this is not.

I don’t get flustered, I just do the needful. I do not worry about the future. A right reaction and response are my nature. I do not stop to think about what to do. I act and move on. Results do not affect me. I do not even care if they are good or bad. Whatever they are I deal with them. If they come back, I deal with them afresh.

Trust me when I say you are divine.

Your expectation of something dramatic and unique is merely hindering your self-realization.


You believe the world to be objective, when it is entirely a projection of your psyche. Do not confuse the inner for the outer or the outer for the inner.

It is your very search for happiness that makes you miserable.

Act and think in harmony with the whole.

Above all you love yourself and want yourself secure. Don’t be ashamed of that. Instead understand fully what you love. As it is not the body or the mind, it is life.

Whatever happens because I am, all reminds you that you are.

Love is will, the will to share your happiness with all.

Only contentment can make you happy. Desire fulfilled breeds more desire.

There is trouble only when you cling to something. When you hold onto nothing, no trouble arises. Give up all and you gain all.

Freedom from desire is eternity. All attachment implies fear, for all things are transient. And fear makes one a slave.

Self-knowledge is detachment. All craving is due to a sense of insufficiency. When you know that you lack nothing, desire ceases.

Before you were born, you expected to live according to a plan which you yourself had laid down. Your own will is the backbone of your destiny.

Suffering is due entirely to clinging or reisisting; it is a sign of our unwillingness to move on, to flow with life.

We seek pleasure while avoiding pain. Since pain is the the denial of the self, and the self stands in the way of true happiness, the wholehearted acceptance of pain releases the springs of happiness.

Your concerns with the future, is due to fear of pain and desire for pleasure.

It is only when you fully accept responsibility for the world you live in which has been projected onto you, by you your fear comes to an end. Only when you accept responsibility for the world you live in and watch it’s creation, preservation and destruction that you can escape from your imaginary bondage.

Faith is not blind, it is the willingness to try.

As long as you are pleases with the lesser, you cannot have the highest.

Abandon all desires, backgrounds, cultures, thinking patterns, even the idea of being a man, woman or human. Don’t think of yourself as anything. You are complete here and now. You need absolutely nothing.

Your outer life is unimportantl, it is what you are inwardly that matters. Your inner joy and peace, you have to earn.

What is limited in time and space and applicable to one person only is not real. The real is for all and forever.

You can have all the emotions you want, but beware of reactions of induced emotions. Be entirely self-determined and rule from within, and not from without.

Action delayed is action abandoned. All preparation is for the future, you cannot prepare for the present.

Do what you believe in and believe in what you do.



Overall, this may be the most amazing book I have ever read.

This book has helped me to develop a calm inside of myself and to detach myself from the outcome of interactions. I still enjoy them, but the constant trying to get, is gone. I don’t beat myself up anymore, because I know that I am complete and nothing can change that.

Highly recommended.

S