Mumbai, Maharashtra·1897 – 1981
निसर्गदत्त महाराज
Nisargadatta Maharaj
The Bidi-Seller Sage of Bombay
He sold bidis and dispensed the absolute.
“Wisdom tells me I am nothing. Love tells me I am everything. Between the two, my life flows.”
Life
Born on Hanuman Jayanti in 1897, Maruti Shivrampant Kambli grew up in a village in Maharashtra before moving to Bombay, where he established several small shops selling bidis. He married in 1924 and had four children. His life until his mid-thirties was that of an ordinary householder.
In 1933, a friend introduced him to Siddharameshwar Maharaj. The guru’s instruction was stark: you are not what you take yourself to be; meditate on the sense of “I am” without any qualifications. Within approximately three years of receiving this guidance, the recognition was complete. He returned to his ordinary life while an increasing number of seekers came to sit with him.
In 1973, his dialogues were published as I Am That, translated by Maurice Frydman. The book brought him worldwide recognition. He continued giving twice-daily satsangs in his modest flat in Khetwadi until throat cancer made speaking impossible. He died on September 8, 1981.
One Heart
“The real does not die, the unreal never lived. Once you know that death happens to the body and not to you, you just watch your body falling off like a discarded garment.”
Teachings
Abidance in “I Am”
Rest as the pure sense of “I am” — the feeling of existence prior to name, form, and story. This undivided presence is the doorway through which consciousness knows itself.
Prior to Consciousness
While the “I am” is the starting point, the ultimate understanding points beyond even consciousness itself. What you are most fundamentally is the witness of the “I am” — the unborn awareness that never arises and never ceases.
The Guru’s Grace
Liberation is not a gradual achievement but a recognition that can happen in an instant through the guru’s pointing. Understanding, when it goes deep enough, is itself the liberation.
Works & Publications
I Am That
Transcribed dialogues; one of the most widely read Advaita texts in the English-speaking world.
Prior to Consciousness
Later talks considered by many to represent the most advanced phase of his teaching.
Seeds of Consciousness
Further dialogues exploring the nature of awareness and the “I am.”
An Inspiration
Nisargadatta’s I Am That was one of the texts that first ignited Ananta’s seeking. The teaching on “I am” as the doorway to the absolute runs through many of Ananta’s pointings.