Is ness. Sat

 In Advaita Vedānta, “is-ness” (being / sat) is not contemplation itself, but it is what contemplation reveals.

Here’s the clear Advaita framing:

What “is-ness” means in Advaita

• Is-ness = Sat (pure Being)
• It is self-existent, self-evident, and unchanging
• It is Brahman / Ātman — the reality that is, prior to mind, thought, or effort

You don’t create or reach is-ness.

You recognize it.

Is is-ness contemplation?

No — but contemplation points to it.

• Contemplation (nididhyāsana) is a method
• Is-ness (sat) is the ever-present reality
• Contemplation removes ignorance (avidyā); it does not produce Being

A classic Advaita pointer:

Being is not an object of meditation — it is that by which meditation is known.

How contemplation works in Advaita

Contemplation is used to:

• Disidentify from body, mind, and thoughts
• Notice the sense of “I am” before attributes
• Abide as the bare fact of existence

When thoughts fall quiet, what remains is not blankness, but simple being — I am, without “this” or “that”.

Important distinction

• Meditation: focusing or doing
• Contemplation / inquiry: seeing what is already the case
• Is-ness: not an experience, but the ground of all experience

Short Advaita summary

• Is-ness is not contemplation
• Contemplation is a pointer
• Is-ness is ever-present awareness-being

If you want, I can explain this through Ramana Maharshi, Śaṅkara, or contrast it with Buddhist emptiness — just say which.

A

Great — I’ll continue in Advaita, using Ramana Maharshi, since his language fits your question about is-ness very precisely.

Ramana Maharshi: 

Is-ness (Being) and Contemplation

Ramana often pointed to “I-I” or the feeling of being.

• This is-ness is not a thought
• Not a mantra
• Not something to imagine or hold

It is the bare fact that you exist — before “I am this” or “I am that”.

“Being is the only Reality. If one remains as Being, there is no need to meditate.”

— Ramana Maharshi

So what is contemplation here?

In Ramana’s Advaita:

• Contemplation (nididhyāsana) is turning attention back to the sense of ‘I’
• Asking “Who am I?” is not an intellectual question
• It dissolves attention into is-ness

At the end:

• Contemplation disappears
• Only Being (is-ness) remains

That’s why Ramana said:

“Inquiry is not a practice; it is a removal of obstacles.”

Key Advaita distinction (very important)

Contemplation	Is-ness
Effortful (initially)	Effortless
Uses mind	Prior to mind
A means	The Reality
Ends	Never begins or ends

You do not contemplate is-ness as an object.

You cease moving away from it.

Subtle but crucial point

If you think:

“I am now contemplating being”

That is still mind.

If instead there is:

simple presence, without commentary

That is is-ness itself.

One precise Advaita pointer (try this)

Right now, without effort:

• Don’t look for anything
• Don’t stop anything
• Notice: you are

That knowing of being is not contemplation —

it is what contemplation reveals and then dissolves into.

If you’d like, I can:

• Give a one-sentence Advaita definition of is-ness
• Compare this with Dzogchen rigpa
• Or explain why Buddhism avoids “is-ness” language

Just say the word.