“What Am I?” and “What Is God?” Answer the First Question and You’ll Answer the Second.

Ramana Marharshi instructed us to ask the question:
“Who Am I?”

Would you choose to live in presence today?

“What Am I?” and “What is God?” are related questions. The Indian sage, Ramana Maharshi, pictured above, instructed us to ask the question “Who am I?” I prefer to ask “What Am I?” because it is less personal. The mind likes to stay wrapped up in the personal, so asking “What Am I?” takes us into the quiet much more quickly in my direct experience.

God is just a word that points. It is the direct experience of God as in the direct tasting of a peach that allows us to know God and to know what we are.

If you want to “know God,” do this exercise with a partner.

1. Ask your partner “What are you?”
2. Allow the other person to answer. They may say things like their name, what they do, that they are spirit, etc. It does not matter. Keep going.
3. Ask “If you are not limited to being that, what are you?”
4. Allow the other person to answer
5. Repeat step 3 by asking “And if you are not limited to being that, what are you?”
6. If the person fails to go wordlessly quiet, after about 8-12 word descriptions of what they are, ask them this: “If you are more than words, what are you?” Repeat this question if the words continue.
7. Keep asking question 3, even after they have gone silent. Slowly and quietly. It deepens the experience of what we are.

You will be astounded how quiet and transcendent your mind becomes if you do this sincerely. You will have the direct experience of what you are in the quiet. If your mind never quiets, it’s OK. Keep asking, whenever you have some time to sit quietly, “What am I?” Eventually the direct experience of what you are will come to you.

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Would you choose to live in presence today?

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The picture of Ramana Maharshi is from CarlosLG2007

2 Responses to “What Am I?” and “What Is God?” Answer the First Question and You’ll Answer the Second.

verna safran says:

February 15, 2015 at 9:12 pm

David,
I am in recovery from (1) a hip operation and (2) a fall down steps when I was in recovery from hip operation. Since I feel I’m at a point where I’m kind of starting my life all over again, I’d like to take you up on the “Who Am I?” phonecall. What is your phone number?

verna

David Durand says:

February 16, 2015 at 12:21 am

I’ll reach you by email and we’ll do the exercise together.