Aham Brahmasmi

The great Adi Shankara (first Shankaracharya) of the eighth century summarized the "Aham Brahmasmi" in six stanzas. When as a young boy of eight, while wandering in the Himalayas, seeking to find his guru, he encountered a sage who asked him, "Who are you?" The boy answered with these stanzas, which are known as "Nirvana Shatakam" or "Atma Shatakam." "Nirvana" is complete equanimity, peace, tranquility, freedom and joy. "Atma" is the True Self. The sage the boy was talking to was Swami Govindapada Acharya, who was, indeed, the teacher he was looking for.

These few sanskrit verses can be of tremendous value to progress in contemplation practices that lead to Self-Realization.

I am not mind,

nor intellect,

nor ego,

nor the reflections of inner self.

I am not the five senses.
I am beyond that.

I am not the ether, nor the earth, nor the fire, nor the wind.

I am indeed,

That eternal knowing and bliss, Shiva,

love and pure consciousness.

Neither can I be termed as energy

nor five types of breath

nor the seven material essences,

nor the five coverings

Neither am I the five instruments of elimination:

procreation, motion, grasping, or speaking.

I am indeed,

That eternal knowing and bliss, Shiva,

love and pure consciousness.

I have no hatred or dislike,

nor affiliation or liking,

nor greed,

nor delusion,

nor pride or haughtiness,

nor feelings of envy or jealousy.

I have no duty (dharma),

nor any money,

nor any desire,

nor even liberation.

I am indeed,

That eternal knowing and bliss, Shiva,

love and pure consciousness.

I do not commit sins or good deeds,

nor have happiness or sorrow,

pain or pleasure.

I do not need mantras, holy places,

scriptures, rituals or sacrifices.

I am none of the triad of

the observer or one who experiences,

the process of observing or experiencing,

or any object being observed or experienced.

I am indeed,

That eternal knowing and bliss, Shiva,

love and pure consciousness.

I do not have fear of death,

as I do not have death.

I have no separation from my true self,

no doubt about my existence,

nor have I discrimination on the basis of birth.

I have no father or mother,

nor did I have a birth.

I am not the relative,

nor the friend,

nor the guru,nor the disciple.

I am indeed,

That eternal knowing and bliss, Shiva,

love and pure consciousness.

I am all pervasive.

I am without any attributes,

and without any form.

I have neither attachment to the world,

nor to liberation.

I have no wishes for anything

because I am everything,

everywhere,

every time,

always in equilibrium.

I am indeed,

That eternal knowing and bliss, Shiva,

love and pure consciousness.

The goal of our sadhana or practices is the highest Joy that comes from the Realization in direct experience of the center of consciousness, the Self and the creator, which is one and the same with the Absolute Reality.