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Nisargadatta Maharaj

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A Bombay shopkeeper turned teacher of nondual awareness, he held that pure being precedes every identity — that beneath each role a person plays lies simple, undivided consciousness. His recorded talks, published in 1973 as 'I Am That', reached readers worldwide.

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Worth knowing · 1 of 5
Who was Nisargadatta Maharaj, before he became a teacher?
Born in 1897, he ran a small shop in Bombay selling hand-rolled cigarettes and household goods, living an ordinary working life until a teacher's brief instruction transformed his sense of who he was.
Worth knowing · 2 of 5
Who was his own teacher, and what did he receive from him?
He was initiated in 1933 by a teacher in the Navnath lineage, studying with him for about two and a half years until that teacher's death in 1936. He later said a few words from that teaching were enough to shift everything.
Worth knowing · 3 of 5
What does 'I Am That' actually teach?
It holds that a person's true nature is prior to thought, body, and personal story — pure awareness, sensed simply in the fact 'I am.' Visitors were urged to hold onto that bare sense of being rather than any idea about themselves.
Worth knowing · 4 of 5
How did his teaching reach the wider world?
A visiting student recorded and translated his Marathi-language talks into English, publishing them in 1973 as 'I Am That.' The book brought international recognition, particularly among readers in North America and Europe, late in his life.
Worth knowing · 5 of 5
Did he see himself as founding a new philosophy?
No — he held that he was simply pointing to what was already true for everyone, not creating a system. He continued receiving visitors in his small Bombay flat until his death in 1981, largely unconcerned with his growing renown.
Words to know
AdvaitaNon-dualism; the view that the individual self and ultimate reality are not fundamentally separate.
Navnath SampradayaA lineage of Hindu teachers tracing back through nine legendary masters, within which his own guru taught.
SatsangA gathering with a teacher for spiritual conversation; the format of his recorded talks in Bombay.
More words
I Am ThatThe 1973 English translation of his talks, compiled from tape recordings made by a student.
A voice · 1 of 3
Nisargadatta Maharaj · Teacher of nondual awareness

In talks recorded in his small Bombay flat through the 1970s, he held that a person's essential nature is prior to thought and identity, urging visitors to rest in the plain sense of "I am" rather than any story built on top of it.

A voice · 2 of 3
Maurice Frydman · Translator who recorded his talks

A Polish-born engineer and student, he taped and translated Nisargadatta's Marathi conversations with visitors, publishing them in 1973 as "I Am That," a translation that brought the teacher international recognition in the final years of his life.

A voice · 3 of 3
Ramesh Balsekar · Student who served as his translator

Present for the final years of Nisargadatta's life, he worked as a translator during the talks and later taught in his own right, developing his own presentation of the teaching.

A line to leave them with
He kept a small shop in Bombay. What he taught there did not stay small.
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