Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj (1897-1981) is widely regarded as one
of the greatest spiritual masters of the 20th century. He lived quietly with
his family in a modest dwelling in the heart of Bombay where he dispensed his
unique brand of common sense wisdom to all who came to his door.
The illuminating answers he provided have served as sources of inspiration and guidance to spiritual seekers throughout the world.
Sri Nisargadatta's teaching is based on the ancient path of Advaita Vedanta (non-duality) and is characterized by humour, simplicity and a penetrating insight into the human condition. A compilation of his essential teachings has been published in the volume I Am That, which is widely considered a masterpiece of spiritual literature.
|
To know the world you forget the self -- to know the self you forget the world.
Mind is interested in what happens, while awareness is interested in the mind itself. The child is after the toy, but the mother watches the child, not the toy. Delayed response is wrong response. Thought, feeling and action must be one and simultaneous with the situation that calls for them. All kinds of experiences may come to you -- remain unmoved in the knowledge that all perceivable is transient, and only "I Am" endures. When you are free of the world, you can do something about it. Names and shapes change incessantly. Know yourself to be the changeless witness of the changeful mind. The mind cannot know what is beyond the mind, but the mind is known by what is beyond it. What you need will come to you if you do not ask for what you do not need. In reality time and space exist in you; you do not exist in them.
They are modes of perception, but they are not the only ones.When all the false self-identifications are thrown away, what remains is all-embracing love. Unless you know yourself well, how can you know another?
and when you know yourself -- you are the other.To want nothing and do nothing -- that is true creation! To watch the universe emerging and subsiding in one's heart is a wonder.