TAT FAMASI.
I am that.
This is like a teaching or a mantra or a statement and it can be used in a number of ways.
But before we get to the uses let's talk about the meaning or one of the potential meanings.
I am that.
TAT FAMASI.
The idea or the way that I interpret this is this concept that the knower,
The knowing and the known are all one.
Everything that you're witnessing and the act of the witnessing itself is all a part of the one thing,
Of consciousness.
There's.
.
.
This is sort of like deep metaphysical mindfulness.
The idea that at our core there's nothingness,
But the nothingness is also full of everything.
So this idea that I am that,
This TAT FAMASI is appealing.
Because in this one statement we can encapsulate one of the deepest truths of our mindfulness practice.
Whatever I see,
Whatever is doing the seeing and the act of the seeing is all the same thing.
So how can we use TAT FAMASI or the statement I am that as a practice aid?
One of the things you can do is to repeat it as a mantra.
You have a set of meditation beads on each bead,
You repeat the phrase TAT FAMASI slowly,
Mindfully,
Feeling the sensation of the bead and the syllables as you say them or speak them in your mind.
Another way you can approach it is to contemplate the saying,
Contemplate the phrase,
Say it to yourself and just let your mind respond back with an interpretation of it.
TAT FAMASI.
And then you sit and you listen and you watch.
Your mind wanders,
It gets distracted,
You come back to that statement,
I am that.
Even the wandering,
Even the distracted mind is all part of whatever this is.
I really like this phrase because when I lose mindfulness,
When I fall into delusion,
When I fall into distraction,
When I find myself trapped in emotionality or worried,
I realize that the act of being worried,
The thing that I'm worried about and the thing doing the worrying are all one,
Are all the same.
At my core there is this singleness,
This emptiness,
This wholeness that I am that,
That TAT FAMASI articulates.
Saying that phrase,
Repeating it allows me to quickly and effectively step back,
Let go of and return to a place of mindful focus.
Give it a try.