Biography
Nisargadatta Maharaj was an Indian spiritual teacher who lived and taught in the bustling city of Mumbai. A simple shopkeeper who sold bidis (Indian cigarettes), he received initiation from his guru Sri Siddharameshwar Maharaj and attained realization within three years of dedicated practice.
Unlike many teachers who withdrew from worldly life, Nisargadatta continued running his small shop while receiving seekers in his modest apartment. His teachings were recorded in the book "I Am That," which has become one of the most influential spiritual texts of the modern era, introducing countless Western seekers to non-dual wisdom.
His teaching style was direct and uncompromising, often challenging students' assumptions and pointing relentlessly to that which exists prior to consciousness itself. He emphasized the importance of staying with the sense "I Am" as the gateway to recognizing one's true nature beyond all states and experiences.
Teaching and methods
Abidance in "I Am": Nisargadatta taught seekers to hold onto the pure sense of being—the feeling "I Am" before it becomes "I am this" or "I am that." Through sustained attention to this primal sense of existence, one eventually recognizes what lies beyond even this sense. He emphasized understanding over practice, urging students to investigate their assumptions about reality and identity until the truth becomes self-evident.
Selected quotes
“ Think of yourself as momentary, without past and future, and your personality dissolves. ”
“ To reach the deeper layers of suffering you must go to its roots and uncover their vast underground network, where fear and desire are closely interwoven and the currents of life's energy oppose, obstruct and destroy each other... This is the great work of awareness; it removes obstacles and releases energies by understanding the nature of life and mind. ”
“ You are not of the world, you are not even in the world. The world is not, you alone are. You create the world in your imagination like a dream. As you cannot separate the dream from yourself, so you cannot have an outer world independent of yourself. You are independent, not the world. Don't be afraid of a world you yourself have created. ”