Nisargadatta Maharaj (1897–1981)

Biography

• Birth: April 17, 1897, in Bombay Presidency (today Maharashtra, India).

• Early life: Born Maruti Shivrampant Kambli into a poor Hindu family. As a young man, he moved to Bombay (now Mumbai), where he ran a small shop selling hand-rolled cigarettes (called beedis). He lived a simple family life with his wife and children.

• Spiritual path: In 1933, he met his guru, Siddharameshwar Maharaj, a teacher in the Navnath Sampradaya lineage. After his guru’s instruction, Nisargadatta practiced intense self-inquiry and meditation on the sense of “I Am.” Within a few years, he attained what he described as realization of the Self.

• Teaching: From the 1950s onward, disciples and seekers began visiting him in his modest home in Bombay, where he would give daily talks. Despite living in humble surroundings, he attracted students from India and abroad, especially in the 1970s.

• Death: He passed away on September 8, 1981, in Bombay, from throat cancer.

Philosophy

Nisargadatta Maharaj’s teaching is rooted in Advaita Vedānta, the nondual philosophy of oneness. His core message emphasizes:

• The distinction between the transient body-mind and the eternal awareness.

• Direct self-inquiry: focusing on the sense of I Am as the gateway to realizing the Absolute.

• Liberation as the recognition that one’s true nature is beyond birth and death, beyond personal identity.

He often spoke in a direct, uncompromising style — stripped of ritual, intellectual complexity, or religious ornament. His words were simple but powerful, pointing listeners back to their own immediate awareness.

Major Works

Nisargadatta himself wrote very little. Most of his “works” are transcripts of his talks recorded by disciples. The most important are:

1. I Am That (1973)

   • Compiled and translated into English by Maurice Frydman.

   • Consists of question-and-answer sessions in Nisargadatta’s home.

   • Regarded as his most important and influential work. It became a classic of modern spirituality, widely read in the West.

2. Seeds of Consciousness (1982)

   • Based on talks given between 1979–1980.

   • Edited by Jean Dunn, one of his close Western disciples.

   • Focuses on the impermanent nature of consciousness and the Absolute reality beyond it.

3. Prior to Consciousness (1985)

   • Also compiled by Jean Dunn from late dialogues.

   • Highlights Nisargadatta’s insistence that the Absolute is beyond even the sense of “I Am.”

4. Consciousness and the Absolute (1994)

   • A final set of teachings, recorded shortly before his death.

   • Considered his most radical expression, where he points to the ultimate reality beyond all concepts.

Other collections of his talks exist in multiple languages, often published posthumously.

Legacy

Nisargadatta Maharaj’s teachings influenced many spiritual seekers, philosophers, and teachers worldwide. His uncompromising nondual message resonates with readers of Advaita Vedānta, Zen, and Western mysticism.

Despite his humble life as a shopkeeper in Bombay, he became recognized as one of the great modern sages of India. His words continue to inspire seekers to look directly into their own awareness and discover the truth of the Self.