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Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
Born	Maruti Shivrampant Kambli 17 April 1897(1897-04-17) Kandalgoan, Ratnagiri, Maharashtra  India
Died	08 September 1981 (aged 84) Mumbai, India

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj (birth name: Maruti Shivrampant Kambli) (April 17, 1897^[1] – September 8, 1981) is a Indian spiritual teacher, Guru, who attained the supreme state of Moksha ("liberation" in Sanskrit) and then on, lived as a Jivan-mukta, in the absolute nonduality of Being ^[2].

One of the 20th century's exponents of the school of Advaita Vedanta philosophy (nondualism), with his direct and minimalistic explanation of non-dualism, he is considered the most famous teacher of Advaita since Ramana Maharshi ^[3].

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 ^[4].

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life 1.2 Awakening 1.3 Later years 2 Style of Teaching 3 Teachings 3.1 Quotes of Nisargdatta Maharaj 4 Books 5 Further Readings 6 DVDs 7 Footnotes 8 External links

'Maruti Shivrampant Kambli' was born on April 17, 1897, on Hanuman's birthday, first full moon of Spring, in Kandalgaon, while his father, Shivrampant, worked as a domestic servant in Mumbai and later as a petty farmer in Kandalgaon, a small village in the Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra. He had a Hindu background and upbringing.

At 18, when his father passed away, he and his brother had to leave their family behind to find work in Mumbai, where he initially worked as a small-time clerk but quickly opened a small-goods store, mainly selling bidis – leaf-rolled cigarettes, and soon owned a string of eight retail shops ^[5].

Part of a series on Hindu philosophy

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

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..." ^[6]. 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!" -- I Am That, Chapter 75, p. 375.	”

Following his guru's instructions of concentrate on the feeling "I Am", he utilized all his spare time looking at himself in silence, and remained in that state, for the next three years ^[7].

Sri Siddharameshwar died not long after their meeting, and three years later in 1936 Maruti reached self-awareness, adopted the new name of Nisargadatta and inherited membership into the Navnath Sampradaya sect. In 1937, he then took off to the Himalayas ^[8], where he wandered for several years. Though eventually returned to his family in Mumbai. It was there that he spent the rest of his life, working as a bidi vendor and giving teachings in his home.

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 ^[9].

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He explained that the purpose of advanced spirituality is to simply know who you are. Through his many talks given in his humble flat in Khetwadi ^[10], Mumbai, he showed a direct way in which one could become aware of one's original nature. Many of these talks were recorded, and these recordings form the basis of I Am That and 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.

In the words of Advaita scholar 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."

Nisargadatta's teachings are grounded in the Advaita Vedanta interpretation of the Hindu idea Tat Tvam Asi, literally "That Thou Art", meaning You are one with Divinity.

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 also predicates the radical idea 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 thinks it acts. This false idea (that the mind is the self) 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 essense, but you are not that apparatus." - The Ultimate Medicine, (pp.54 - 70)

Among his most known disciples are Bob Adamson ^[11][12]. , Stephen H. Wolinsky ^[13], Jean Dunn, Robert Powell, and Ramesh Balsekar

• "All you can teach is understanding. The rest comes on its own."^[14].

• "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 your are. You need not merit truth. It is your own. Just stop running away by running after. Stand still, be quiet ^[15]." - 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? Commonsense 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 ^[16]." - I Am That

• "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 ^[17]."

• I Am That, Talks with Sri Nisargadatta, Transcribed and edited by Maurice Frydman. 1973. ISBN 0893860220.
• Nectar of Immortality, Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj Discourses on the Eternal, Edited by Robert Powell. 1987. ISBN 8120817338.
• The Nectar of the Lord's Feet: Final Teachings of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj: Discourses January-November 1980. Edited by Robert Powell. 1990. ISBN 1852300116.
• Consciousness and the Absolute, The Final Talks of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, Edited by Jean Dunn. (Talks recorded, 1981). 1994. ISBN 0893860417.
• Prior to Consciousness, Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, Edited by Jean Dunn. (Talks recorded,1980-1981). 1999. ISBN 893860247.
• Seeds of Consciousness: The Wisdom of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, Edited by Jean Dunn. (Talks recorded, 1979-1980). 1990. ISBN 0893860255.
• THE Ultimate Medicine: Dialogues with a Realized Master, Edited by Robert Powell. 1994. ISBN 1556436335.
• The Experience of Nothingness, Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj's Talks on Realizing the Infinite. Edited by Robert Powell. 1996. ISBN 1884997147.
• The Wisdom-Teachings of Nisargadatta Maharaj, A Visual Journey (Talks recorded,1977-1979). 2003. ISBN 1878019201.

• Explorations into the Eternal: Forays from the Teaching of Nisargadatta Maharaj by Ramesh S. Balsekar. 1989. ISBN 0893860239.
• Pointers from Nisargadatta Maharaj by Ramesh S. Balsekar. 1990 . ISBN 0893860336.
• I Am That I Am: A Tribute to Sri Nisargadatta by Stephen H. Wolinsky. 2000. ISBN 0967036259.
• Awaken to the Eternal: Nisargadatta Maharaj: a Journey of Self Discovery by Bertram Salzman. 2006. ISBN 1878019287.
• The Last Days of Nisargadatta Maharaj by S.K. Mullarpattan. 2007. ISBN 8188479268.

• 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, Stephen H. Wolinsky .

• Maharaj Nisargadatta Resource website
• Nisargadatta web site
• Remembering Nisargadatta Maharaj, reflections of David Godman