Pragmatic Gita: Journey Home - Neti Meditation to discover 'Who Am I'

Welcome. There is a question that has haunted humanity since we first gazed at our own reflection... a question that lives in your heart right now… Who am I?

Today, we walk an ancient path together to find the answer. It is a path of sacred discovery, where we find the diamond of our true self by gently letting go of everything we are not.

When you're ready, softly close your eyes, feeling yourself opening up to the quiet infinity within. 

Let's now attune ourselves to the cosmic frequency through the rhythm of So Hum breathing. 

Breathing in slowly, please say in your mind ‘So’… feeling the air gradually flowing from your nostril to your heart and finally resting in your belly. Feel the air as you breathe. Now, breathe out gently, and say in your mind ‘Hum’… feeling the air flowing back from your belly through your chest and throat and out your nostrils. Repeat.

Here is the first truth for us to realize. If I can watch the breath, then I cannot be the breath. The observer cannot be the same as whatever they are observing. Let this truth sink deep into mind… I am not this breath.

Now, let's focus on our thoughts. See how they arise from nowhere, and disappear. Now, you are observing your thoughts, so you cannot be your thoughts. Tell yourself “ I am not my thoughts. I am the witness of my thoughts”.

Now, focus on your emotions. Remember any sad moment from your life. Then remember any joyful moment from your life. Just observe the emotions. Don’t engage with them. See how quickly they are able to appear and disappear. Now, you are observing your emotions, so you cannot be your emotions. Tell yourself… I am experiencing emotions but I am not my emotions.

Now we come to the most intimate illusion, this body you've so strongly identified with.

Bring your awareness to your hands, these have helped you perform innumerable activities. If they are your hands, who is the you that they belong to? If these hands were lost, wouldn’t you still be you? Tell yourself. These hands serve me, so I am not my hands.

Think of your legs in the same way. Your legs have carried you to countless places. If you lost your legs, you would still be you. Tell yourself… My legs carry me, but I am not my legs. I will still be Me even without my legs.

Now focus on your senses. You will realize how you always say “My eyes, My nose, My tongue, My ears….” So, your senses belong to you so you cannot be your senses. Tell yourself… My senses help me perceive the material world, but I am not my senses.

Feel your heart, sustainer of life. This heart has been your faithful companion, yet you know hearts can be transplanted. Another person’s heart can beat inside your chest and still, You will remain You. Tell yourself… My heart beats for me, but I am not my heart.

And now, the brain, the final frontier. This magnificent biocomputer processes data for you. It thinks for you. It asks questions and finds answers for you. But people have survived with half their brain removed, still referring to themselves as 'I'. Not as ‘half I’. There are people whose brains have totally stopped functioning and doctors say that the person is ‘brain dead’. But the person is still there. So we are not our brains either. Tell yourself… I am not even my brain."

Now tell yourself .. “I am not my breath, I am not my thoughts, I am not my emotions, I am not my body parts, I am not even my brain…” SO, If I am none of these…

WHO…AM…I !?

Say this affirmation in your mind… “I am the pure consciousness, I am the silent witness, I am eternal, pure, and free.”

From this place, slowly allow your awareness to flow back through the body, like sunlight streaming through a window. Take a deep breath. When you're ready, slowly open your eyes.

Remember what you touched upon here. You are not a human having a spiritual experience. You are Spirit having a human experience.

Tat Tvam Asi. That Thou Art.

The meditation is complete. The living practice now begins.

krsnadaasa (Servant of Krishna)