"I am- I wish to be.

"I am- I wish to be."

This enigmatic Fourth Way phrase (attributed to Gurdjieff and his groups) can be taken in many different ways- all with different results depending on the focus.

Much has been written by Gurdjieff on what he means by the words 'to be', though usually these words point to 'be-ing' in a way that involves conscious, self-aware, and non-automatic, living. 

One way the above phrase may be used, in order to enable (or rather) promote self-remembering, (ie self-awareness and direct self-knowledge aka nondual awareness and countless other phrases of similar meaning), may be as--

verbally saying and noting -

"I am" - which brings one back to one's self in this moment, including but not limited to sensations, perceptions, identifications, etc. The whole of one's self, especially including one's being-ness which is the background of awareness that includes all of the above external objects. In short, a sense of personal being-ness, am-ness etc.

(pause)

"I wish to be." - which sets one simply in a state of relaxed, open, spacious, aware, be-ingness. It is really an affirmation and self-allowing permission just to relax and be in one's current state, while also being aware in/as the background awareness. It is the state aimed at within other nondual teachings such as Zen (shikantaza), Dzogchen (Rigpa), Advaita Vedanta (Turiya), Jnana Yoga (ParaBrahman), Sufism (Haqq), etc.

"I am- I wish to be."

Try it, you'll like it. You might even return to it again and again, once you get a "taste" for it.

Otherwise, as a more base practice, the phrase can also be used in a somewhat grounding way:

“To prevent reverie, you have to visualize or repeat something, such as ‘I am, I wish to be.’ ” (Richard Rose)