Going Beyond "I Am"
An Exploration of the Eighth Fetter
Why am I totally free? Because I have understood the unreality of (the) ‘I am’.
Nisargadatta
When engaging in self inquiry, perhaps the most convincing message or conclusion that we confront is that “I Am” or “I Exist”. How or why we exist may elude us, but that we exist, and what might be described as a fundamental awareness, presence, beingness or consciousness, seems irrefutable.
In the Buddhist tradition, the “I Am” is in fact seen as an illusion, and the underlying reason we then identify with our bodies, our thoughts, our reactions and all else. It might be said that waking up from the illusion that “I Am” is the primary focus of the Buddhist path. One approach to seeing there is no “I Am” created by the Buddha is the ten fetters, which first describe the layers of what we identify with. Peeling those back, it lays bare the illusion of “I Am” (as the eighth such fetter) that we identify as. Once there is no longer any belief that “I Am”, we are able to discover and let go of the beliefs by which the notion “I Am” arose in the first place.
This is echoed in the teachings of Nisargadatta, who is widely seen as an important teacher in the nondual community, and is often referenced by contemporary teachers. Nisargadatta also described what can be seen as a two-step approach: we first realize that and how we identify as “I Am”, and then let go of all “I”, along with the sense of awareness, being and consciousness that make it seem as though “I Am”.
This is a set of short essays that explores the subtle illusion of “I Am”. I explore how and why the “I Am” appears to be a singularity, explore assumptions and methodologies that either affirm or dispel this illusion, and describe what it is to see through the illusion that “I Am”.
In the Buddhist tradition, the “I Am” is in fact seen as an illusion, and the underlying reason we then identify with our bodies, our thoughts, our reactions and all else. It might be said that waking up from the illusion that “I Am” is the primary focus of the Buddhist path. One approach to seeing there is no “I Am” created by the Buddha is the ten fetters, which first describe the layers of what we identify with. Peeling those back, it lays bare the illusion of “I Am” (as the eighth such fetter) that we identify as. Once there is no longer any belief that “I Am”, we are able to discover and let go of the beliefs by which the notion “I Am” arose in the first place.
This is echoed in the teachings of Nisargadatta, who is widely seen as an important teacher in the nondual community, and is often referenced by contemporary teachers. Nisargadatta also described what can be seen as a two-step approach: we first realize that and how we identify as “I Am”, and then let go of all “I”, along with the sense of awareness, being and consciousness that make it seem as though “I Am”.
This is a set of short essays that explores the subtle illusion of “I Am”. I explore how and why the “I Am” appears to be a singularity, explore assumptions and methodologies that either affirm or dispel this illusion, and describe what it is to see through the illusion that “I Am”.