The complete 'I am' quotes of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj Pradeep Apte

256
The Ultimate you can never be lost; whatever you have lost, you
have lost only words. The Ultimate you knows or feels ‘I am’
without words. Through this ‘I am’ comes the world knowledge.
You are not in isolation; you are part and parcel of the world
knowledge.
257
Presently the feeling that you are is also memory. To sustain that
memory of ‘I am’, all these raw materials are necessary. You are
not that ‘I am’. You are as the Absolute, prior to this ‘I am’.
258
One cannot see rays of light, as such; they reflect only when they
encounter another object. Similarly ‘I amness’ is the interruption
because of these five elements and three ‘gunas’. That is why the
feeling ‘I am’ is felt; but without the feeling of ‘I am’, still you are.
259
Start with the body. From the body you get the knowledge ‘I am’.
In this process you become more and more subtle. When you are in
a position to witness the knowledge ‘I am’, you have reached the
highest. In this way you must try to understand, and the seeds of
knowledge will sprout in you.
260
Now what is it that we are concerned with? We are dealing with
the physical form, which is made up of, and fed by, the five
elements. In that form are operating the life force (the vital breath)
and this consciousness that is, the knowledge ‘I am’ or the sense of