Swami Atmananda Udasin is a teacher in the school of Advaita (“not-two” or “non-dual”) Vedanta. I came across his teaching on the blog The Unthought Known.
In this school, the Ground of the individual self is identified 1:1 with Pure Consciousness, Brahman, the Self. Atman is Brahman. The ultimate goal, in this school, is to make this experiential realization for oneself. This is sometimes referred to as Self-realization.
Atmananda references multiple ways to make this realization:
(1) Remaining as the witness (1:05ff, as I understand it, this is the practice of Vipassana)
(2) Self-Enquiry (1:55ff, asking Who am I? essentially as a koan, until one discovers and identifies with Pure Consciousness)
(3) Abiding in the feeling of I Am (18:00ff)
Of the three, I am most fascinated by what he calls “Abiding in the feeling of I Am” (sadly he doesn’t expound on the specifics this method). This is essentially what I believe can happen during Centering Prayer. It also seems to be the form of practice that most commonly transcends the religious traditions. Stilling the mind, consciousness without thought, “resting in the feeling of I Am.”
I also find his response to the Question: Does that mean one doesn’t enter into relationships? (24:28) to be profound. “Non-attachment” is sometimes interpreted as resignation, not ever really loving people, withdrawal from the world. But from the perspective he presents, it’s the exact opposite. We are able to truly love people because (and only because) we are coming to them without searching to fulfill our own need. One is fulfilled in the Self – in God. Relationships can then become pure because there is no need to use others for our own gain.
There are many models of the self. I am not committed to any particular model (Is “what I truly am” – my identity – identical with Brahman/God? How does the “lower self”/“ego”/”personality” fit in to the picture?, etc.), but there clearly is an experience of Pure Consciousness, consciousness without thought, that transcends traditions. How one interprets this experience seems to depend on the tradition a practitioner comes from.