Can one experience nothingness if nothing is experienced?

The local guru shaman yogi dude wants me to give up all desire, hope, fear, dreams, joy… blah blah blah and join him in his state of nirvana by experiencing nothingness.

I asked him how one experiences nothingness if there is nothing to experience? He sidesteps the question, suggesting that I simply let go of all my human qualities, and finding myself without any trace of myself, I will know nothingness.

Huh? How do I find myself without myself? How is nothingness known if nothing is there to know?