Pradeep Apte - The Nisargadatta Gita

130. There are no techniques except the
technique that ‘I am’ – that is, the firm
conviction that ‘I am’ means only ‘I am’.
Again, the Guru places emphasis on his technique
and teaching, or initiation, as mentioned earlier.
The only technique prescribed is abidance in ‘I
am’ and developing the firm conviction that ‘I am’.
What does this conviction mean? It means that
when you abide in the ‘I am’, It is ONLY the ‘I am’
and nothing else - the ‘I am’ in its purity. You
should be completely infused with the knowledge ‘I
am’, everywhere and at all times. Then and only
then you stand a chance of transcending it.
131. This conviction can be strengthened
by meditation and meditation means
when the knowledge ‘I am’ remains in
that knowledge.
How did the conviction that ‘I am the body’ or ‘I
am so-and-so’ come? It was because you were
reminded of these again and again by the people
around you. This is the convention, the tradition,
part of the conditioning, and you believe ‘I am
born as a body in this world’. What the Guru is
saying is quite contradictory to the conviction you
have developed through your conditioning. When