Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

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Contents
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• 1 I Am That
• 2 Biography
• 3 Awakening
• 4 Later years
• 5 Style of Teaching
• 6 Teachings
• 7 Quotes of Nisargadatta Maharaj
• 8 Books
• 9 See also
• 10 DVDs
• 11 Footnotes

• 12 External links

I Am That
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj (birth name: Maruti Shivrampant Kambli) (April 17, 1897[1]
– September 8, 1981) was an Indian spiritual teacher and philosopher of Advaita
(Nondualism), and a Guru, belonging to the Ichegeri branch of the Navnath
Sampradaya.

One of the 20th century's exponents of the school of Advaita Vedanta philosophy
(nondualism), Sri Nisargadatta, with his direct and minimalistic explanation of non-
dualism, is considered the most famous teacher of Advaita since Ramana Maharshi [2].

In 1973, the publication of his most famous and widely-translated book, I Am That, an
English translation of his talks in Marathi by Maurice Frydman, brought him worldwide
recognition and followers [3].
Biography
Early Life

Sri Nisargadatta was born on April 17, 1897, at break of dawn, the full moon in the
month of Chaitra, to a devout Hindu couple Shivrampant Kambli and Parvatibai, in
Bombay[4]. The day was also the birthday of Lord Hanuman, hence the boy was named
'Maruti', after Lord Hanuman himself [5][6]. Maruti Shivrampant Kambli was brought
up in Kandalgaon, a small village in the Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra, where he
grew up amidst his family of six siblings, two brothers and four sisters, and deeply
religious parents [7]. His father, Shivrampant, worked as a domestic servant in Mumbai
and later became a petty farmer in Kandalgaon.

In 1915, after his father died, he moved to Bombay to support his family back home,
following his elder brother. Initially he worked as a junior clerk at an office but quickly
he opened a small goods store, mainly selling bidis – leaf-rolled cigarettes, and soon
owned a string of eight retail shops [8].

In 1924 he married Sumatibai and they had three daughters and a son.

Awakening
In 1933, he was introduced to his guru, Sri Siddharameshwar Maharaj, the head of the
Inchegeri branch of the Navnath Sampradaya, by his friend Yashwantrao Baagkar. His
guru told him, "You are not what you take yourself to be..." [9]. He then gave
Nisargdatta simple instructions which he followed verbatim, as he himself recounted
later:

"My Guru ordered me to attend to the sense 'I am' and to give attention to nothing else. I
just obeyed. I did not follow any particular course of breathing, or meditation, or study
of scriptures. Whatever happened, I would turn away my attention from it and remain
with the sense 'I am'. It may look too simple, even crude. My only reason for doing it
was that my Guru told me so. Yet it worked!" [10]

Following his guru's instructions to concentrate on the feeling "I Am", he utilized all his
spare time looking at himself in silence, and remained in that state for the coming years,
practising meditation and singing devotional bhajans [11].

After an association that lasted hardly two and a half years, Sri Siddharameshwar
Maharaj died on November 9, 1936 [12], though by that time he had done his task.
Maruti had reached self-awareness. Soon he adopted a new name, 'Nisargadatta'
meaning the one who dwells in the natural state. [13] He was also appointed as the
spiritual head of the Inchegeri branch of Navnath Sampradaya, the 'Nine Masters’
tradition, a place he retained through his life [14].

In 1937, he left Mumbai and travelled across India [13]. Through realising the
shortcomings of a totally unworldly life and the greater spiritual fruitfulness of
dispassionate action, he eventually returned to his family in Mumbai in 1938 [15]. It
was there that he spent the rest of his life.

Later years
Between 1942-1948 he suffered two personal losses, first the death of his wife,
Sumatibai, followed by the death of his daughter. He started taking disciples in 1951,
only after a personal revelation from his guru, Sri Siddharameshwar Maharaj [13].

After he retired from his shop in 1966, Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj continued to receive
and teach visitors in his home, giving discourses twice a day, until his death on
September 8, 1981 at the age of 84, of throat cancer [16].
Style of Teaching
According to Sri Nisargadatta the purpose of spirituality is to know who you are, a fact
he verily spoke of in the talks he gave at his humble flat in Khetwadi, Mumbai, where a
mezzanine room had been created for him to receive disciples and visitors alike, and
also for daily chantings, bhajans (devotional songs), meditation sessions and discourses
[17].

He talked about the 'direct way' of knowing the Final Reality, in which one becomes
aware of one's original nature through mental discrimination, a method which is
common to the teachers of the Navnath Sampradaya [18]. This mental discrimination or
the Bird's way ('Vihangam Marg') was also presented by Nisargadatta's co-disciple, Sri
Ranjit Maharaj; wherein Self-Knowledge is gained just as a bird flying in the sky goes
easily from branch to branch, instead of slowly crawling its way up the tree like an ant,
as in the 'Pipilika Marg'. Here the disciple reaches straight to truth, without wasting time
in long drawn out practices that would take him to the 'fruit' no doubt, only slowly. He
proposed to use one's mental faculty to break from the unreal to the real, and the mind's
false identification with the ego, simply by listening to and constantly thinking over
what the master has said, and knowing that "You are already That" [19].

Many of his talks were recorded, and these recordings form the basis of I Am That and
all his other books. His words are free from cultural and religious trappings, and the
knowledge he expounds is stripped bare of all that is unnecessary.

Summed up in the words of Advaita scholar and a disciple, Dr. Robert Powell, "Like the
Zen masters of old, Nisargadatta's style is abrupt, provocative, and immensely profound
-- cutting to the core and wasting little effort on inessentials. His terse but potent
sayings are known for their ability to trigger shifts in consciousness, just by hearing, or
even reading them."

Teachings
A copy of Nisargadatta's "I Am That" in Hindi.

Sri Nisargadatta's teachings are grounded in the Advaita Vedanta interpretation of the
Advaita idea Tat Tvam Asi, literally "That Thou Art", (Tat = "Divinity", Tvam = "You",
Asi = "are") meaning You are (actually) Divinity (who thinks otherwise). He also had a
strong devotional zeal towards his own guru [13], and suggested the path of devotion,
Bhakti yoga, to some of his visitors, as he believed the path of knowledge, Jnana yoga
was not for everyone [20].

According to Sri Nisargadatta, our true nature is perpetually free peaceful awareness, in
Hinduism referred to as Brahman. Awareness is the source of, but different from, the
personal, individual consciousness, which is related to the body. The mind and memory
are responsible for association with a particular body; awareness exists prior to both
mind and memory. It is only the idea that we are the body that keeps us from living
what he calls our "original essence", the True Self, in Hinduism referred to as Atman.
He describes this essence as pure, free, and unaffected by anything that occurs. He
likens it to a silent witness that watches through the body's senses, yet is not moved,
either to happiness or sadness, based on what it sees.

For Nisargadatta, the Self is not one super-entity which knows independently,
regardless of things; there is no such super-entity, no Creator with infinite intellect. God
does not exist independently from creation. What does exist is the "total acting" (or
functioning) of the Ultimate or Absolute Reality along the infinite varying forms in
manifestation. This Absolute Reality is identical to The Self.

Nisargadatta's teachings also focus on our notion of causality as being misinterpreted.

He understood that the interconnectedness of varying forces in the universe is so vast
and innumerable that the notion of causality, as presently understood, is wasted. The
endless factors required for anything to happen means that, at most, one can say
everything creates everything; even the choices we make are predetermined by our
genetic code, upbringing, mental strivings and limitations, our ethical and philosophical
ideals, etc, all of which are uniquely combined to each person and recontextualized
accordingly.

This leads to the radical notion that there is no such thing as a "doer". According to him
and other teachers of Vedanta, since our true nature or identity is not the mind, is not the
body, but the witness of the mind and body, we, as pure awareness, do nothing. The
mind and body act of their own accord, and we are the witness of them, though the mind
often believes it is the doer. This false idea (that the mind is the self and responsible for
actions) is what keeps us from recognizing our Self. Nisargadatta cautions:

'"The life force [prana] and the mind are operating [of their own
accord], but the mind will tempt you to believe that it is "you".
Therefore understand always that you are the timeless spaceless
witness. And even if the mind tells you that you are the one who is
acting, don't believe the mind. [...] The apparatus [mind, body] which
is functioning has come upon your original essence, but you are not
that apparatus." - The Ultimate Medicine, (pp.54 - 70)

Among his most known disciples are Sailor Bob Adamson [21][22]. , Stephen Wolinsky
[23], Jean Dunn, Alexander Smit, Robert Powell, Timothy Conway [1] and Ramesh
Balsekar

Quotes of Nisargadatta Maharaj

* "All you can teach is understanding. The rest comes on its
own."[24].
* "Truth is not a reward for good behaviour, nor a prize for
passing some tests. It cannot be brought about. It is the primary, the
unborn, the ancient source of all that is. You are eligible because
you are. You need not merit truth. It is your own. Just stop running
away by running after. Stand still, be quiet [25]." - Interview with
Sri Nisargdatta Maharaj
* "My advice to you is very simple – just remember yourself, ‘I
am’, it is enough to heal your mind and take you beyond, just have
some trust. I don’t mislead you. Why should I? Do I want anything from
you? I wish you well – such is my nature. Why should I mislead you?
Common sense too will tell you that to fulfill a desire you must keep
your mind on it. If you want to know your true nature, you must have
yourself in mind all the time, until the secret of your being stands
revealed [26]." - I Am That
* "There is only life, there is nobody who lives a life." - I Am
That pp. 43
* "A quiet mind is all you need. All else will happen rightly, once
your mind is quiet. As the sun on rising makes the world active, so
does self-awareness affect changes in the mind. In the light of calm
and steady self-awareness inner energies wake up and work miracles
without effort on your part."
* "There is nothing to practice. To know yourself, be yourself. To
be yourself, stop imagining yourself to be this or that. Just be. Let
your true nature emerge. Don't disturb your mind with seeking [27]."
* "When I see I am nothing, that is wisdom. When I see I am
everything, that is love. My life is a movement between these two."
* "The search for Reality is the most dangerous of all
undertakings, for it destroys the world in which you live."

Books
* 'Sulabh Atmajnana' (Kannada & Marathi) written by Shri Samarth
Sadguru Ganapatrao Maharaj published by Adhyatma Bhandar Kannur gives
in road to simple Paramartha & Sadhana tips.
* 'Adhyatma Dnyanacha Yogeshwar' (Vol I & II) written by
Nisargadatta Maharaj. 130 talks of Siddharameshwar Maharaj (Marathi),
November, 1961 and July, 1962.
* Master of Self Realization, An English translation of 'Adhyatma
Dnyanacha Yogeshwar' written by Nisargadatta Maharaj, a collection of
130 Talks by Siddharameshwar Maharaj, which also includes a newly
revised edition of "Master Key to Self-Realization" which was written
by Shri Siddharameshwar Maharaj himself.
* Atmagyana and Paramatmayoga, Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, Marathi
[28][29].
* Self Knowledge and Self Realization, Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj,
Edited by Jean Dunn, 1963.
* I Am That, Talks with Sri Nisargadatta, Transcribed and edited by
Maurice Frydman. Chetana Publishing, Bombay[30], 1973. ISBN 0-89386-
022-0.
* The Nectar of the Lord's Feet: Final Teachings of Sri
Nisargadatta Maharaj: Discourses January-November 1980. Edited by
Robert Powell. 1990.ISBN 1-85230-011-6.
* Nectar of Immortality, Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj Discourses on the
Eternal, Edited by Robert Powell. 1987. ISBN 81-208-1733-8.
* Seeds of Consciousness: The Wisdom of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj,
Edited by Jean Dunn. (Talks recorded, 1979-1980). Chetana Publishing,
Bombay 1990. ISBN 0-89386-025-5.
* Beyond Freedom: Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, S.K.
Mullarpattan, Ed..
* Consciousness and the Absolute, The Final Talks of Sri
Nisargadatta Maharaj, Edited by Jean Dunn. (Talks recorded, 1981).
1994. ISBN 0-89386-041-7.
* The Wisdom of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, Blue Dove Press, 1995.
* Prior to Consciousness, Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj,
Edited by Jean Dunn. (Talks recorded,1980-1981). Chetana Publishing
1999. ISBN 0-89386-024-7.
* The Ultimate Medicine: Dialogues with a Realized Master, Edited
by Robert Powell. 1994. ISBN 1-55643-633-5.
* I Am Unborn: Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj by Pradeep Apte
& Vijayendra Deshpande.
 * The Experience of Nothingness, Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj's Talks
on Realizing the Infinite. Edited by Robert Powell. 1996. ISBN 1-
884997-14-7.
* The Wisdom-Teachings of Nisargadatta Maharaj, A Visual Journey
(Talks recorded,1977-1979). Edited by Matthew Greenblatt.
InnerDirections Publishing, 2003. ISBN 1-878019-20-1.
* Gleanings From Nisargadatta, Mark West, Australia, Beyond
Description Publishing, 2006.
* The Nisargadatta Gita. Pradeep Apte, India, Lulu.com 2008
* I AM(The complete 'I am' quotes of Sri Nisargadatta
Maharaj),Pradeep Apte,India,Lulu.com 2008

See also
* Ramana Maharshi
* Ramesh Balsekar

Further reading

* Stephen H. Wolinsky, I Am That I Am: A Tribute to Sri

Nisargadatta. 2000. ISBN 0-9670362-5-9.
* Peter Brent, Godmen of India. NY: Quadrangle Books, 1972, pp.
136–40.
* S. Gogate & P.T. Phadol, Meet the Sage: Shri Nisargadatta, Sri
Sadguru Nisargadatta Maharaj Amrit Mahotsav Samiti, 1972.
* Neal Rosner (Swami Paramatmananda), On the Road to Freedom: A
Pilgrimage in India, Vol. 1, San Ramon, CA: Mata Amritanandamayi
Center, 1987, pp. 212–8.
* Ramesh S. Balsekar, Explorations into the Eternal: Forays from
the Teaching of Nisargadatta Maharaj . 1989. ISBN 0-89386-023-9.
* Ramesh S. Balsekar, Pointers from Nisargadatta Maharaj. 1990 .
ISBN 0-89386-033-6.
* Bertram Salzman, Awaken to the Eternal: Nisargadatta Maharaj: a
Journey of Self Discovery. 2006. ISBN 1-878019-28-7.
* S.K. Mullarpattan, The Last Days of Nisargadatta Maharaj. India:
Yogi Impressions Books, 2007. ISBN 81-88479-26-8.

DVDs
* Awaken to the Eternal, Nisargadatta Maharaj: A Journey of Self-
Discovery. 1995.
* I Am That I Am, (three part series) Experience the teachings of
Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj. 2005/6/7
* Consciousness and Beyond - The Final Teachings of Sri
Nisargadatta Maharaj. 2008

Footnotes
 1. ^ Bodhisattva Nisargdatta He was born in Hanuman's birthday,
first full moon of Chaitra, and in 1897 it occurred on April 17, at
11:46 a.m. LMT of Bombay
2. ^ Intro to I am That
3. ^ Nisargdatta profile at realization.org
4. ^ S. Gogate & P.T. Phadol, Meet the Sage: Shri Nisargadatta
(1972)
5. ^ I Am That, pp. 6, Who is Nisargadatta Maharaj.
6. ^ S. Gogate & P.T. Phadol, Meet the Sage: Shri Nisargadatta, p. 5
(1972)
7. ^ Detailed Biography
8. ^ Sri Nisagdatta bio at advait.org
9. ^ Sri Nisargdatta Quote
10. ^ I Am That, Chapter 75, p. 375.
11. ^ Guru's teachings
12. ^ Prior to Consciousness, pp. 1-2, April 4, 1980
13. ^ a b c d Nisargadatta Maharaj Biography enlightened-
spirituality.org
14. ^ I Am That, Page 271 Part II, chapter 97
15. ^ I Am That p.xxviii
16. ^ It Is Not Real
17. ^ Spiritual Masters at lifepositive.com
18. ^ Ranjit Maharaj at lifepositive.com
19. ^ Navnath Sampradaya
20. ^ Neal Rosner (Swami Paramatmananda), 'On the Road to Freedom: A
Pilgrimage in India', Vol. 1, San Ramon, CA: Mata Amritanandamayi
Center, 1987, pp. 212-8
21. ^ Sailor Bob website
22. ^ 'Sailor' Bob Adamson
23. ^ Stephen Wolinsky films
24. ^ I Am That I Am, Three part series
25. ^ Nisargadatta Maharaj interview at spiritual teachers.org
26. ^ Quotes from I Am That
27. ^ Quotes by Sri Nisagdatta Maharaj
28. ^ Self Knowledge Introduction at itisnotreal.com
29. ^ 'Self Knowledge and Self Realization', Book
30. ^ Chetna Publishing Bombay

External links
* DVD"S about Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
* www.maharajnisargadatta.com - a Resource website
* www.nisargadatta.net - Nisargadatta web site
* Remembering Nisargadatta Maharaj, reflections of David Godman
* Various articles on Sri Nisargadatta
* Videos about Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj