Who is Nisargadatta Maharaj?

Nisargadatta's father, Shivrampant, worked as a domestic servant in Mumbai and later as a petty farmer in Kandalgaon, a small village in the back woods of Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra.

At 18 Maruti's (given name) father died, prompting him and his brother to leave their family behind to find work in Mumbai (previously Bombay). Maruti found work as a small time clerk but quickly opened a small goods store mainly comprising of leaf-rolled cigarettes (bidis). In 1924 he married Sumatibai and they had three daughters and a son.

At the age of 34 Maruti was introduced to his future guru, Sri Siddharameshwar Maharaj, the head of the Inchegeri branch of the Navnath Sampradaya by his friend Yashwantrao Baagkar. Maharaj "did not follow any particular course of breathing, or meditation, or study of scriptures." His guru told him to concentrate on the feeling "I Am" and to remain in that state.

Full Article: Who is Nisargadatta Maharaj?

I am the Self, I am pure Awareness - "I am That"

These are excerpts from Nisargadatta's "I am That"

• 
  Somebody, anybody, will tell you that you are pure consciousness, not a body-mind. Accept it as a possibility and investigate earnestly. You may discover that it is not so, that you are not a person bound in space and time. Think of the difference it would make! (441-2)
• The personality (vyakti) is but a product of imagination. The self (vyakta) is the victim of this imagination. It is the taking yourself to be what you are not that binds you. The person cannot be said to exist on its own rights; it is the self that believes there is a person and is conscious of being it. (143)
• How can there be two selves in one body? The "I am" is one. There is no "higher I-am" and "lower I-am". All kinds of states of consciousness are presented to awareness and there is self-identification with them. The objects of observation are not what they appear to be, and the attitudes they are met with are not what they need to be. If you think that Buddha, Christ or Krishnamurti speak to the person, you are mistaken. They know well that the vyakti , the outer self, is but a shadow of the vyakta , the inner self, and they address and admonish the vyakta only. They tell him to give attention to the outer self, to guide it and help it, to feel responsible for it; in short, to be fully aware of it. Awareness comes from the Supreme and pervades the inner self; the so-called outer self is only that part of one's being of which one is not aware. One may be conscious, for every being is conscious, but one is not aware. What is included in awareness becomes the inner and partakes of the inner. (294)

Quotes of Nisargadatta Maharaj

• Awareness is ever there. It need not be realized. Open the shutter of the mind, and it will be flooded with light.
• 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.
• Look at your mind dispassionately; this is enough to calm it. When it is quiet, you can go beyond it. Do not keep it busy all the time. Stop it - and just be. If you give it a rest, it will settle down and recover its purity and strength. Constant thinking makes it decay.
• The unchangeable can only be realized in silence. Once realised, it will deeply affect the changeable, itself remaining unaffected.

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Siddharameshwar Maharaj - Nisargadatta's Guru

Shri Samartha Siddharameshwar Maharaj, a contemporary of Sri Ramana Maharshi, is one of the greatest unknown saints of the age. He was born in the month of August 1888 A.D. in a small village called "Pathri" in the district Sholapur of India.

On the sixth day of his birth, his grandmother had a dream in which great Saint Siddheshwar appeared before her and told her that the boy who is born, is his incarnation and asked her to name him Siddheshwar. He also said that one day the boy will become a great Saint. And hence his name was kept Siddharamappa. Later on he was known as "Siddharameshwar Maharaj."

Even in his childhood he was very much sharp, active and had the capacity to imbibe things very quickly. He did not study much at the school level but he was very intelligent, clever and smart in all his behaviour. He was always very straight forward and spoke with a thoughtful idea. He retorted his answers to every question with full meaning. At the age of 16, even though he was premature to work, he took up a job of an accountant in a Marwadi firm at Bijapur. He did his work with earnestness and settled down in Bijapur. Here he met his Master Shri Bhausaheb Maharaj, who has built a monastery in the small village called Inchgiri in Karnataka State of India which started in the year 1885.

Ful Article: Siddharameshwar Maharaj - Nisargadatta's Guru

Some Quotes of Nisargadatta Maharaj

• When the mind is kept away from its preoccupation, it becomes quiet.
• Time is in the mind, space is in the mind. The law of cause and effect is also a way of thinking. In reality all is here and now and all is one. Multiplicity and diversity are in the mind only.
• The mind craves for formulations and definitions, always eager to squeeze reality into a verbal shape.
• 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.
• The mind covers up reality, without knowing it. To know the nature of the mind, you need intelligence, the capacity to look at the mind in silent and dispassionate awareness.

Related Article: Quotes of Nisargadatta Maharaj

Remembering Nisargadatta Maharaj

I was sitting with a visitor recently, looking at a new book on Nisargadatta Maharaj that consisted of photos and brief quotes. I knew some of the people in the pictures and narrated a few stories about them. This prompted a wider and lengthy discussion on some of the events that went on in Maharaj's presence. After she left I felt prompted to write down some of the things I had remembered since I had never bothered to record any of my memories of Maharaj before. As I went about recording the conversation, a few other memories surfaced, things I hadn't thought about for years. This, therefore, is a record of a pleasant afternoon's talk, supplemented by recollections of related incidents that somehow never came up. - David Godman

Read More => David Godman's Interview about his memories of Nisargadatta

Message of Nisargadatta Maharaj - Essense of Nisargadatta's Teaching

Nisargadatta's teachings are rooted in the Advaita Vedanta interpretation of the Vedic idea "Tat Tvam Asi" (That Thou Art), meaning 'You are one with Divinity'.

It is hard to summarize the techings of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj. He recommended the practice of looking within, and focusing the feeling 'I am', that had led to his own realization in less than three years. Maharaj says:

Just keep in mind the feeling "I am," merge in it, till your mind and feeling become one. By repeated attempts you will stumble on the right balance of attention and affection and your mind will be firmly established in the thought-feeling "I am."

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Biography of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

When asked about his biographical details, Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj used to say "I was never born", for he does not identify himself with his body. He identified himself only with the eternal and pure beingness. However, here is a shory biogrpahy of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, the person.

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj was born in March 1897, on the day the birthday of Lord Hanuman. In honor of Lord Hanuman, he was given the name 'Maruti'. Nisargadatta's father, Shivrampant, worked as a domestic servant in Mumbai and later as a petty farmer in Kandalgaon, a small village in the back-woods of Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra. Mariti's family followed the traditional Hindu culture. At the tender age of 18, in the year 1915, Maruti's father passed away. After the death of his father, Maruti followed his oldest brother to Bombay.

Read more => Biography of Nisargadatta Maharaj