The phrase “I Am That” encapsulates the central realization to which Nisargadatta Maharaj continually points: the identity of the apparent individual with the absolute, all-encompassing reality. “I Am” here does not refer to the personal ego with its history, attributes, and roles, but to the bare, fundamental sense of being—the simple awareness of existence prior to any conceptual overlay. “That” designates the ultimate, undifferentiated reality, the universal Self or Brahman, which underlies and pervades all phenomena yet remains beyond all attributes and limitations. Thus, the title expresses the insight that the deepest sense of “I” is not separate from this absolute reality.

Within this vision, the statement “I Am That” is not an affirmation made by a separate person, but a pointer to non-dual awareness. When all identifications with body, mind, and personal story are set aside, what remains is pure being-consciousness, which is not different from the universal consciousness. Nisargadatta’s teaching method repeatedly directs attention to the unadorned feeling “I am,” the basic sense of existence before any thought or label appears. By remaining with this pure sense of being, free of qualifications, the seeker is led to recognize that the witness of all experiences is not a limited entity but the very absolute reality itself.

The title therefore functions both as a concise doctrinal statement and as a practical instruction. It echoes the great non-dual declarations that assert the unity of the individual self and the universal Self, while also serving as a meditative pointer: to abide as the simple “I am” is to discover its identity with “That,” the unmanifest source from which all arises and into which all returns. In this way, “I Am That” names the dissolution of the apparent gap between observer and observed, knower and known, revealing that what is truly present as one’s own being is inseparable from the totality of existence.