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

the consciousness, which is the product of the five elements. And
one who transcends that, who knows the ‘turiya’, is ‘turiyatita’. In
order to stabilize in ‘turiya’, you must know the birth principle.
‘Turiya’ is always described as the witness state that sees through
waking, dreaming and sleeping. And ‘turiyatita’ is even beyond
that.
367
This ‘I am’ concept was not there prior to what you call ‘birth’. So
as this concept has appeared, it will also go away. How am I
affected? In no way whatsoever, because it is not true. This applies
to all concepts. Prior to birth and after birth, whatever knowledge I
have, my own, without hearing it from any one, that is the only
true knowledge I accept. And the proof lies in my guru’s words.
368
The body dies. This means what? It means only the thought ‘I am’,
that concept, has disappeared. Nothing has happened to the knower
of the whole happening. So long as the basic concept ‘I am’ is
there, the conceptual element cannot disappear. It is the concept
itself that has given various names to itself, but it is still the same
concept. Before this concept of ‘I am’ came on you, were you
happy or unhappy? Was there even any feeling of happiness or
unhappiness or any of the dualities? In the absence of the basic
concept ‘I am’, there is no thought, no awareness, and no
consciousness of one’s existence.
369
Originally, I am untainted – uncovered by anything, without
stigma – since nobody existed prior to me. Nor do I entertain any
concepts about somebody existing, before me. Everything is in the
form of the manifested world, after the appearance of the