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Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj was an Indian spiritual teacher
and philosopher of Advaita (Nondualism), and a Guru, belonging to the
Navnath Sampradaya. Sri Nisargadatta, with his direct and minimalistic
explanation of non-dualism, is considered the most famous teacher of
Advaita since Ramana Maharshi. 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.
According to Sri Nisargadatta, the purpose of spirituality is to know who
you are. His discussions are not for academic scholars. He is a rebellious
spirit, abrupt in his style of discussion, 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 radical shifts from
philosophical mind-games to the purity of consciousness, just by hearing or even reading them.
He talked about the 'direct way' of knowing the Final Reality, in which
one becomes aware of one's original nature through mental discrimination,
breaking the mind's false identification with the ego, knowing that "You
are already That". The scene for these talks was a small upstairs room at
his humble flat in Khetwadi, used for his own meditation and also for
daily chantings. A simple man, Nisargadatta was a house-holder and a petty
shop-keeper selling bidis - hand-made leaf-rolled cigarettes. |
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