Guard the 'I Am'

All the religious and spiritual practices can be divided into three essential approaches or pathways. The first is the progressive path, in which we give our attention to an object of experience, such as a mantra or the breath. This is a stepping stone that takes us from the person we seem to be to that which we truly are. The second is the Direct Path, in which we go directly from the person we seem to be to that which we truly are. The third approach, the Pathless Path, we start with that which we truly are and we stay there. Our being knows itself simply by being itself. The words ‘I am’ refer directly to being's knowledge of itself. Guard the ‘I am’ like a candle in the wind.