2023/06/01

Nisargadatta Maharaj - Wikipedia

Nisargadatta Maharaj - Wikipedia

Nisargadatta Maharaj

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nisargadatta Maharaj
Nisargadatta Maharaj.jpg
Personal
Born
Maruti Shivrampant Kambli

17 April 1897
Died8 September 1981 (aged 84)
Mumbai, India
ReligionHinduism
OrderInchegeri Sampradaya
PhilosophyNisarga Yoga
Religious career
GuruSiddharameshwar Maharaj
Quotation

Establish yourself firmly in the awareness of 'I AM'. This is the beginning, and also the end of all endeavour.

Nisargadatta Maharaj[note 1] (born Maruti Shivrampant Kambli; 17 April 1897 – 8 September 1981) was an Indian guru of nondualism, belonging to the Inchagiri Sampradaya, a lineage of teachers from the Navnath Sampradaya and Lingayat Shaivism.

The publication in 1973 of I Am That, an English translation of his talks in Marathi by Maurice Frydman, brought him worldwide recognition and followers, especially from North America and Europe.[1]

Biography[edit]

Early life[edit]

Nisargadatta was born on 17 April 1897 to Shivrampant Kambli and Parvati bai, in Bombay.[web 1][dubious ] The day was also Hanuman Jayanti, the birthday of Hanuman, hence the boy was named 'Maruti', after him.[2][web 2][note 2] His parents were followers of the Varkari sampradaya,[web 3] an egalitarian Vaishnavite bhakti tradition which worships Vithoba. His father, Shivrampant, worked as a domestic servant in Mumbai and later became a petty farmer in Kandalgaon.

Maruti Shivrampant Kambli was brought up in Kandalgaon, a small village in the Sindhudurga district of Maharashtra, with his two brothers, four sisters and deeply religious parents.[web 4] 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 beedis (leaf-rolled cigarettes) and soon owned a string of eight retail shops.[web 5] In 1924 he married Sumatibai and they had three daughters and a son.

Sadhana[edit]

Nisargadatta Maharaj met his guru Siddharameshwar Maharaj in 1933.

In 1933, he was introduced to his guruSiddharameshwar Maharaj, the head of the Inchegiri branch of the Navnath Sampradaya, by his friend Yashwantrao Baagkar. His guru told him, "You are not what you take yourself to be...".[web 6] Siddharameshwar initiated him into the Inchegiri Sampradaya, giving him meditation-instruction and a mantra, which he immediately began to recite.[web 3] Siddharameshwar gave Nisargadatta instructions for self-enquiry 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![3]

Following his guru's instructions to concentrate on the feeling "I Am", he used all his spare time looking at himself in silence, and remained in that state for the coming years, practising meditation and singing devotional bhajans:[web 7]

My Guru told me: "...Go back to that state of pure being, where the 'I am' is still in its purity before it got contaminated with 'this I am' or 'that I am.' Your burden is of false self-identifications—abandon them all." My guru told me, "Trust me, I tell you: you are Divine. Take it as the absolute truth. Your joy is divine, your suffering is divine too. All comes from God. Remember it always. You are God, your will alone is done." I did believe him and soon realized how wonderfully true and accurate were his words. I did not condition my mind by thinking, "I am God, I am wonderful, I am beyond." I simply followed his instruction, which was to focus the mind on pure being, "I am," and stay in it. I used to sit for hours together, with nothing but the "I am" in my mind and soon the peace and joy and deep all-embracing love became my normal state. In it all disappeared—myself, my guru, the life I lived, the world around me. Only peace remained, and unfathomable silence. (I Am That, Dialogue 51, April 16, 1971).[web 3]

After an association that lasted hardly two and a half years, Siddharameshwar Maharaj died on 9 November 1936.[4][web 3] In 1937, Maharaj left Mumbai and travelled across India.[web 8] After eight months he returned to his family in Mumbai in 1938.[5] On the journey home his state of mind changed, realizing that "nothing was wrong anymore."[web 3] He spent the rest of his life in Mumbai, maintaining one shop to earn an income.[web 3]

Later years[edit]

Between 1942 and 1948 he suffered two personal losses, first the death of his wife, Sumatibai, followed by the death of his daughter. He started to give initiations in 1951, after a personal revelation from his guru, Siddharameshwar Maharaj.[web 3]

After he retired from his shop in 1966, Nisargadatta Maharaj continued to receive and teach visitors in his home, giving discourses twice a day, until his death on 8 September 1981 at the age of 84, of throat cancer.[web 9]

Teachings[edit]

Style of teaching[edit]

Nisargadatta gave talks and answered questions at his humble flat in Khetwadi, Mumbai, where a mezzanine room was created for him to receive disciples and visitors. This room was also used for daily chantingsbhajans (devotional songs), meditation sessions, and discourses.[web 3]

Cathy Boucher notes that the Inchagiri Sampradaya emphasized mantra meditation from its inception in the early 19th century, but that the emphasis shifted toward a form of Self-enquiry with Sri Siddharameshwar.[6] Nevertheless,

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj [...] still gave mantra initiation, with the underlying point being that the mantra was more than sound, it was the Absolute Itself which could be reverberated throughout life in all circumstance.[6]

Boucher also notes that Nisargadatta adopted a different mode of instruction, through questions and answers, for his western disciples.[6] Many of Nisargadatta Maharaj's talks were recorded, and formed the basis of I Am That as well as of the several other books attributed to him.[7]

Awareness of true nature[edit]

Nisargadatta's "I Am That" in English.

According to Timothy Conway, Nisargadatta's only subject was

...our real Identity as the birthless-deathless, infinite-eternal Absolute Awareness or Parabrahman, and Its play of emanated universal consciousness. For Maharaj, our only "problem" (an imagined one!) is a case of mistaken identity: we presume to be an individual, and, originally and fundamentally, we are not an individual, we are intrinsically always and only the Absolute.[web 3]

Nisargadatta explains:

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.[8]

In Consciousness and the Absolute, Nisargadatta Maharaj further explains:

In the consciousness hierarchy there are three stages:

1. Jivatman is the one who identifies himself with the body-mind. One who thinks I am a body, a personality, an individual apart from the world. He excludes and isolates himself from the world as a separate personality because of identification with the body and the mind.

2. Next only the beingness, or the consciousness, which is the world. "I Am" means my whole world. Just being and the world. Together with the beingness the world is also felt - that is Atman.

3. The Ultimate principle that knows this beingness cannot be termed at all. It cannot be approached or conditioned by any words. That is the Ultimate state.

The hierarchy I explain in common words, like: I have a grandson (that is jivatma). I have a son and I am the grandfather. Grandfather is the source of the son and grandson.

The three stages cannot be termed as knowledge. The term knowledge comes at beingness level. I have passed on to you the essence of my teachings.[9]

Self-enquiry[edit]

According to Conway, awareness of the Absolute could be regained by

... a radical disidentification from the dream of "me and my world" via intensely meditative self-inquiry (atma-vicara) and supreme Wisdom-Knowledge (vijñana or jñana). "I know only Atma-yoga, which is 'Self-Knowledge,' and nothing else.... My process is Atma-yoga, which means abidance in the Self."[web 3]

Devotion and mantra repetition[edit]

Nisargadatta was critical of a merely intellectual approach to nondual Truth.[web 3] He had a strong devotional zeal towards his own guru,[web 3] and suggested the path of devotion, Bhakti yoga, to some of his visitors, as he believed the path of knowledge, Jnana yoga was not the only approach to Truth. Nisargadatta also emphasized love of Guru and God,[10][web 3] and the practice of mantra repetition and singing bhajans, devotional songs.[web 3][note 3]

Scriptures[edit]

According to Timothy Conway, Nisargadatta often read Marathi scriptures: Nath saint Jnanesvar's Amritanubhava and Jnanesvari (Gita Commentary); Varkari Sants, namely Eknatha's Bhagavat (Eknathi Bhagavata, a rewrite of the Bhagavad Purana), RamdasDasbodha, and Tukaram's poems; but also the Yoga VasisthaAdi Shankara's treatises, and some major Upanishads.[web 3]

Nisarga Yoga[edit]

Nisargadatta taught what has been called Nisarga Yoga[11] (Nisarga can be translated as "nature").[12] In I Am That, Nisarga Yoga is defined as living life with "harmlessness," "friendliness," and "interest," abiding in "spontaneous awareness" while being "conscious of effortless living."[13] The practice of this form of Yoga involves meditating on one's sense of "I am", "being" or "consciousness" with the aim of reaching its ultimate source prior to this sense, which Nisargadatta called the "Self".

The second edition of I Am That includes an epilogue titled Nisarga Yoga by Maurice Frydman which includes this passage:

"This dwelling on the sense 'I am' is the simple, easy and natural Yoga, the Nisarga Yoga. There is no secrecy in it and no dependence; no preparation is required and no initiation. Whoever is puzzled by his very existence as a conscious being and earnestly wants to find his own source, can grasp the ever-present sense of 'I am' and dwell on it assiduously and patiently, till the clouds obscuring the mind dissolve and the heart of being is seen in all its glory."[11]

Nisargadatta did not prescribe a specific practice for self-knowledge but advised his disciples, "Don't pretend to be what you are not, don't refuse to be what you are."[14] By means of self-enquiry, he advised, "Why don't you enquire how real are the world and the person?".[15] Nisargadatta frequently spoke about the importance of having the "inner conviction" about one's true nature and without such Self-knowledge one would continue to suffer.[12] Nisargadatta claimed that the names of the Hindu deities ShivaRama and Krishna were the names of nature (Nisarga) personified,[12] and that all of life arises from the same non-dual source or Self. Remembrance of this source was the core of Nisargadatta's message:

'You are not your body, but you are the consciousness in the body, because of which you have the awareness of 'I am'. It is without words, just pure beingness. It has become soul of the world. In the absence of your consciousness, the world will not be experienced. Hence, you are the consciousness… remember what you have heard… meditate on it. Meditation means you have to hold consciousness by itself. The consciousness should give attention to itself. This consciousness is Ishwara. As there is no God other than this consciousness, worship it.' 'The knowledge "I am" is God. It is Ishwara, as well as maya. Maya is God's power. All the names of God are of this consciousness only in different forms. Remember the fact "I am not the body" and get firmly established. That is the sign of a true seeker.'[16]

The Seven Principles of Nisarga Yoga (As identified by Nic Higham, 2018) [17]

  1. Non-identification and right understanding
  2. Interest and earnestness
  3. Spontaneity and effortlessness
  4. Attentiveness to being
  5. Right action
  6. Going within to go beyond
  7. Awareness of Self

Lineage[edit]

Disciples[edit]

Among his best known disciples are Maurice Frydman, Sailor Bob Adamson, Stephen Howard Wolinsky (born 31 January 1950), Jean Dunn, Alexander Smit (Sri Parabrahmadatta Maharaj) (1948-1998), Douwe Tiemersma (7 January 1945 – 3 January 2013), Robert Powell, Timothy Conway, Wayne Dyer[18] and Ramesh Balsekar (1917-2009). A less well known disciple is Sri Ramakant Maharaj (born 8 July 1941), who received the naam mantra from Nisargadatta in 1962, spent the next 19 years with the master.[web 10][web 11] and claims to be "the only Indian direct disciple of Shri Nisargadatta Maharaj" who offers initiation into this lineage.[web 12] Sachin Kshirsagar, who has published a series of books on Nisargadatta in the Marathi language[web 13] and also re-published Master of Self Realization, says to have received the Naam (Mantra) in a dream from Shree Nisargadatta Maharaj on 17 Oct., 2011.

Successors[edit]

David Godman gives the following account of an explanation by Nisargadatta of the succession of Gurus in the Inchagiri Sampradaya:

I sit here every day answering your questions, but this is not the way that the teachers of my lineage used to do their work. A few hundred years ago there were no questions and answers at all. Ours is a householder lineage, which means everyone had to go out and earn his living. There were no meetings like this where disciples met in large numbers with the Guru and asked him questions. Travel was difficult. There were no buses, trains and planes. In the old days the Guru did the traveling on foot, while the disciples stayed at home and looked after their families. The Guru walked from village to village to meet the disciples. If he met someone he thought was ready to be included in the sampradaya, he would initiate him with mantra of the lineage. That was the only teaching given out. The disciple would repeat the mantra and periodically the Guru would come to the village to see what progress was being made. When the Guru knew that he was about to pass away, he would appoint one of the householder-devotees to be the new Guru, and that new Guru would then take on the teaching duties: walking from village to village, initiating new devotees and supervising the progress of the old ones.[web 14]

According to David Godman, Nisargadatta was not allowed by Siddharameshwar to appoint a successor, because he "wasn't realised himself when Siddharameshwar passed away."[web 14] Nisargadatta started to initiate others in 1951, after receiving an inner revelation from Siddharamesvar.[web 3] Nisargadatta himself explains:

The Navnath Sampradaya is only a tradition, way of teaching and practice. It does not denote a level of consciousness. If you accept a Navnath Sampradaya teacher as your Guru, you join his Sampradaya. Usually you receive a token of his grace - a look, a touch, or a word, sometimes a vivid dream or a strong remembrance.[19]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ The American pronunciation of his first name is /ˌnɪsərɡəˈdɑːtə/ NISS-ər-gə-DAH-tə or /nɪˌsɑːrɡəˈdɑːtə/ nih-SAR-gə-DAH-tə, whereas his last name is pronounced /ˌmɑːhəˈrɑː/ MAH-hə-RAHJ or /ˌmɑːhəˈrɑːʒ/ MAH-hə-RAHZH.
  2. ^ Samarth Ramdas (17th century), the author of the Dasbodh, an important scripture in the Inchegeri Sampradaya, was a devotee of Hanuman.
  3. ^ Nisargadatta himself said to a visitor:

    I may talk Non-duality to some of the people who come here. That is not for you and you should not pay any attention to what I am telling others. The book of my conversations [I Am That] should not be taken as the last word on my teachings. I had given some answers to questions of certain individuals. Those answers were intended for those people and not for all. Instruction can be on an individual basis only. The same medicine cannot be prescribed for all.
    Nowadays people are full of intellectual conceit. They have no faith in the ancient traditional practices leading up to Self-Knowledge. They want everything served to them on a platter. The path of Knowledge makes sense to them and because of that they may want to practice it. They will then find that it requires more concentration than they can muster and, slowly becoming humble, they will finally take up easier practices like repetition of a mantra or worship of a form. Slowly the belief in a Power greater than themselves will dawn on them and a taste for devotion will sprout in their heart. Then only will it be possible for them to attain purity of mind and concentration.[web 3]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Jones & Ryan 2006, p. 315.
  2. ^ I Am That, pp. 6, Who is Nisargadatta Maharaj.
  3. ^ I Am That, Chapter 75, p. 375.
  4. ^ Prior to Consciousness, pp. 1–2, 4 April 1980.
  5. ^ I Am That p.xxviii
  6. Jump up to:a b c Boucher & year unknown.
  7. ^ Nisargadatta 1973.
  8. ^ The Ultimate Medicine, (pp.54 – 70)
  9. ^ Consciousness and the Absolute, p.86
  10. ^ Rosner 1987, p. 212–218.
  11. Jump up to:a b Nisargadatta, Maharaj (1973). I am that : talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj. Frydman, Maurice, 1900-, Dikshit, Sudhakar S. (2nd American ed.). Durham, N.C.: Acorn Press (published 2012). ISBN 9780893860462OCLC 811788655.
  12. Jump up to:a b c Nothing Is Everything The Quintessential Teachings of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj. Gaitonde, Mohan. Zen Pubns. 2014. ISBN 9789382788973OCLC 884814258.
  13. ^ Nic, Higham (2018). Living the life that you are : finding wholeness when you feel lost, isolated, and afraid. Oakland, CA. ISBN 9781684030859OCLC 994000117.
  14. ^ Maharaj, Nisargadatta (1973). I Am That: Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj. Frydman, Maurice, 1900–1976., Dikshit, Sudhakar S. (4th ed.). Bombay: Chetana. ISBN 8185300534OCLC 56487876.
  15. ^ Maharaj, Nisargadatta (1973)
  16. ^ Gaitonde, Mohan (2017). Self - Love: The Original Dream (Shri Nisargadatta Maharaj's Direct Pointers to Reality). Mumbai: Zen Publications. ISBN 978-9385902833.
  17. ^ "Nisarga Yoga"nisargayoga.org. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  18. ^ Dyer 2007, p. 39.
  19. ^ Nisargadatta 1973, p. chapter 97.

Sources[edit]

Printed sources

  • Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj - Maurice Frydman - I am That - Tamil Translation - Year 2016 - title Naan Brammam - place =Chennai, India publisher =Kannadhasan Pathippagam ISBN 978-81-8402-782-2

Web sources[edit]

Further reading[edit]

  • Stephen Howard 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 Sadashiv Balsekar, Explorations into the Eternal: Forays from the Teaching of Nisargadatta Maharaj . 1989. ISBN 0-89386-023-9.
  • Ramesh Sadashiv 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.
  • Saumitra Krishnarao Mullarpattan (died September 2012), The Last Days of Nisargadatta Maharaj. India: Yogi Impressions Books, 2007. ISBN 81-88479-26-8.
  • Dasbodh – Spiritual Instruction for the Servant – Saint Shri Samartha Ramdas, Sadguru Publishing, 2010 ISBN 978-0-615-37327-0

DVDs[edit]

External links[edit]

Nisargadatta websites

Generic Web resources on Nisargadatta

Lineage
Background and biography
Films
Publications by Nisargadatta Maharaj


=========

I Am Not the Body: Discovering the Truth Beyond Bondage: Maharaj, Sri Nisargadatta, Higham, Nic, Apte, Pradeep

I Am Not the Body: Discovering the Truth Beyond Bondage: Maharaj, Sri Nisargadatta, Higham, Nic, Apte, Pradeep: 9781838304904: Amazon.com: Books





See all 2 images




Audible sample

Follow the Author

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
Follow





I Am Not the Body: Discovering the Truth Beyond Bondage Paperback – December 8, 2020
by Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj (Author), Nic Higham (Editor), Pradeep Apte (Foreword)
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 173 ratings
4.3 on Goodreads
87 ratings


Kindle
from $9.99
Read with Our Free App
Audiobook
$0.00
Free with your Audible trial
Paperback
$20.36
2 Used from $9.995 New from $14.72

Key Spiritual Teachings From Unpublished Discourses

“This well-structured book outlines the fundamental teachings of Sri Nisargadatta and will undoubtedly be a significant addition to the Nisargadatta canon. This work is based on tape recordings of discourses captured and translated by Sri Mohan Gaitonde, one of Sri Nisargadatta’s translators. Once the idea ‘I am not the body’ settles in, which is in fact the reality, the ‘Unborn’ is all that remains. Sri Nisargadatta has said, ‘You are Unborn, you were Unborn, and you shall remain Unborn’.”
- Pradeep Apte, author of ‘The Nisargadatta Gita’ and ‘The Unborn Nisargadatta’

“Thank you for the great book. You have justified my giving you permission. All lovers of Maharaj will enjoy reading it.”
- Mohan Gaitonde, Nisargadatta Maharaj's translator

In this book of key spiritual teachings from unpublished discourses, the great Advaita Master, Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, teaches us that we are not limited to the body. Because of our mistaken body identity, we feel separate from what we truly are. Our self-identification with the body and mind subjects us to endless cycles of pleasure and pain, desire and fear, which cause us to search beyond ourselves for that which we believe we lack.

According to Sri Nisargadatta, all conditions, all names and appearances, emerge from ignorance and imagination, from the mind’s assumptions—assumptions due to not enquiring and therefore not appreciating the nature of reality. When we realise that we are not limited to the body, we find that we are already free, needing no liberation. We discover that we are not only free, but infinite and boundless.

This ‘I am-ness’ is the substance of our entire world. All that we know owes its birth to consciousness and it is the portal to the Absolute. When we are no longer a slave of body-consciousness, we realise ourselves as Universal Consciousness, Pure Awareness. Our preoccupation with the known ceases, and we find the natural state, Nisarga, was present all along. We are this stateless state, and the universe is our ecstatic outpouring.

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj met his guru, Sri Siddharameshwar Maharaj, at the age of 34 in 1933. Three years later, Sri Nisargadatta realised himself as the Supreme Reality, the transcendental Self. Through earnestly heeding the words of his Guru, he discovered he was That which is unmanifest and eternal—beyond the bondage of name, form, shape, and size.

For many years, thousands of people came from all over India and the world to listen to Sri Nisargadatta’s teachings. His influence is still as powerful today as it was when he gave regular talks four decades ago. Undoubtedly one of the greatest spiritual teachers of all time, one can sense his depth of dedication to truth, rather than affluence, recognition, and agenda. His legendary plain-speaking way and heartfelt commitment to assisting those on the direct path will affect anyone serious about self-realisation and the transfiguration of consciousness.
Read less


Report incorrect product information.


Print length

156 pages
Language

English
Publication date

December 8, 2020

Product details
Publisher ‏ : ‎ 978-1-8383049-0-4 (December 8, 2020)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 156 pages
Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj



Top reviews

Top reviews from the United States


Jay

5.0 out of 5 stars One of NM’s finestReviewed in the United States on August 1, 2021
Verified Purchase
This is one of the best books of Nisargadatta’s teachings that I have read to date (and I have read almost all of them). I personally think that the teachings presented here are far deeper than in “I am that,” which is relatively superficial and meant more for spiritual novices. Jean Dunn’s books and those of Mohan Gaitonde are far superior, IMHO, especially after having been initiated into the Inchegiri Navnath Sampradaya by NM’s deceased disciple, Ramakant M, and having over 35 years of meditation experience myself in addition to knowledge of Indian and Judeo-Christian scriptures. I firmly believe that this is the very deepest that one can possibly go in spirituality, beyond religion and beyond classical Yoga and associated Samadhi experiences. This is about the Supreme Absolute Reality, the substratum of all experiential states and states of consciousness, the formless, attribute-less, identity-less ground of all Being, described in the Ashtavakra Gita as the “unbounded Deep” or in the Bhagavad Gita as the “Unmanifested Eternal Existence.” I can also state unequivocally based on my own experience that It is beyond Nirvikalpa Samadhi and represents the permanent Sahaja Samadhi, the Stateless State, in which Nisargadatta was firmly established. The profound wisdom of NM shines in these teachings and can in an ineffable supraintellectual transmission take “you” back to your Original Place or True Identity.

36 people found this helpful


HelpfulReport

R. Jerome

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Summary!!Reviewed in the United States on June 13, 2022
Verified Purchase
An excellent primer on thoughts and philosophy of Nisargadatta!! In Nic Higham has a beautiful summary of then key points as well. As someone on the path this book added some great insights into the meaning Awareness/Beingness!!

5 people found this helpful


HelpfulReport

Jesse Ramos Jr.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great bookReviewed in the United States on March 9, 2022
Verified Purchase
A great read highly recommend for anyone wanting to truly understand who and what they really are. Full of great advice

3 people found this helpful


HelpfulReport

Banner99

5.0 out of 5 stars Clear and UnifyingReviewed in the United States on February 21, 2022

If you've been on the path for a while you'll find this knowledge clear and concise and ultimately full of Grace.

4 people found this helpful


HelpfulReport

Adam C. Dave

5.0 out of 5 stars much appreciatedReviewed in the United States on September 25, 2021

I have appreciated the teachings of N.M. since my father introduced me to I AM THAT in college. Subsequently I read his Pointers and Nectar, but this work was great in that it included excerpts from the aforementioned texts plus blurbs from several others which I haven't read, so it is like a compendium of the nondual teachings. This is not a fault of the compiler but the translator should take especial precaution in rendering the teachings into English, as there is some confusion between ego-consciousness and awareness. When NM says consciousness is everything but ultimately you are not conscious, this can be misleading. He means that before the rise of the ego, or I-thought, the primordial I-I, existence itself, was, is, and always will be. Take note from the translation of RM's teachings, which I have found more clear.

14 people found this helpful


HelpfulReport

Daniel S.

5.0 out of 5 stars Clear Unfoldment of the TeachingsReviewed in the United States on October 25, 2021

I Am Not the Body is a clear unfoldment of the teachings of Nisargadatta Maharaj. Not only are the words penetrating and precise, they are also infused with deep presence and love. This book is a source of pure wisdom to which I refer again and again to inquire into truth through direct experience. Each reading is a profound meditation—a fresh invitation to explore the essence of what is. Most highly recommended.

10 people found this helpful


HelpfulReport

Michael

5.0 out of 5 stars Great read!Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2021

This was a really great read - it really captures the essence of Nisargadatta's teaching with great clarity!

Highly recommend for those who enjoy the teachings of Nisargadatta.

5 people found this helpful


HelpfulReport

texasiguana

4.0 out of 5 stars Am IReviewed in the United States on February 7, 2022
Verified Purchase
This is book that one cannot read once and truly judge! This is a book that one reads, then get familiar Sith term words in the glossary and re-reads! Lays down the book, meditates on the book's message. Continues seeking and then come back and again re-read the book! I'm only one the first reading! more to come.....

2 people found this helpful


HelpfulReport

See all reviews


Top reviews from other countries

IB
5.0 out of 5 stars Terrible AuthorReviewed in the United Kingdom on June 28, 2022
Verified Purchase

The author has ruined the brilliant knowledge in this book by frequent use of Sanskrit words. It's written for the English speaker, so why keep using foreign words? There is an appendix to explain their meaning which wouldn't be needed if the meaning was just used in the first place.
Report

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book full of inspiration and insightReviewed in the United Kingdom on January 27, 2021
Verified Purchase

Excellent book for those seeking the truth of our being. The teachings are clear and provide an excellent tool for non dual seekers . Thank you Nic for your effort here.

3 people found this helpfulReport

suchitra
5.0 out of 5 stars Need to read 2 times to understand moreReviewed in the United Kingdom on July 21, 2021
Verified Purchase

Very good book .

One person found this helpfulReport

Pushkar
3.0 out of 5 stars Concepts are great but complexReviewed in India on April 28, 2021
Verified Purchase

There is too much use of commonly used words with very intricate meaning, like 'i-am-ness' 'consciousness' 'being' 'self'....which to a common person would mean one and same thing, but according to Nisargdatta Maharaj, they are different. Very well. I will suggest that read the appendix instead of the whole book, which captures all the concepts in the book quite clearly.
Report

Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A great book for sincere spiritual seekersReviewed in India on June 24, 2021
Verified Purchase

Unequivocally I would say that this book will be of greatest help to transcend body and mind if read at slow pace in meditative state. It speaks in a few words what Sri Krishna spoke in 18 Volumes of Bhagawat Gita. It's a simple, straight and useful book for sincere seekers of Self, Brahma, Parambrahma and all other names that we attribute to God.
Report