Nisargadatta Maharaj

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Nisargadatta Maharaj, 1973

Nisargadatta Maharaj , also called Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj (* March 1897 in Bombay ; † September 8, 1981 ; real name Maruti Shivrampant Kambli ), lived in Bombay (now Mumbai ). He was revered as an enlightened and spiritual master by many Indians and visitors from the western world. He was valued by his students for his direct and informal teaching style. He was best known for the book I Am That , a collection of tape-recorded conversations that has been translated into many languages. His teaching is based on the Advaita Vedanta .

Life

His father Shivrampant first worked as a servant in Bombay and later on a small farm in Kandalgaon, a small village in Maharashtra . Maruti (as his real name is) was 18 years old when his father died; he left the village and went to Bombay, where he worked briefly as a secretary. He then became a street vendor, which later became a small business. In 1924 he married his wife Sumatibai, with whom he had three daughters and a son. He later opened a bidi shop selling hand-rolled cigarettes made from betel leaves . It was only in his middle years of life that he began to show an obvious interest in spiritual subjects.

He had a friend named Yashwantrao Bagkar who one day arranged a meeting between him and his guru, Sri Siddharameshwar Maharaj. Nisargadatta was accepted as a disciple of Sri Siddharameshwar Maharaj and was initiated into meditation and spiritual teaching. Siddharameshwar Maharaj belonged to the tradition of the Navnath Sampradaya , the lineage of the nine masters (see below) and was an enlightened master.

Shri Siddharameshwar Maharaj died three years later in 1936. At that time, Nisargadatta left his family and bidi shop and began the life of a wandering ascetic. However, it did not take long before he returned to Bombay, as he had realized on the way that one could also see and live the truth as a normal householder. He resumed his bourgeois life and his business activities as a small entrepreneur and devoted his remaining free time to philosophical discussions with interested visitors who were concerned with the question of their own identity and self-awareness. Through these conversations and a system of question and answer, Shri Nisargadatta Maharaj (also often just called Maharaj ) developed a method to lead the listener directly to self-knowledge (enlightenment). The publications preserved today are based primarily on the recordings of these conversations and on oral traditions from his personal students.

Bob Adamson , Stephen Wolinsky and Robert Powell are followers of his teaching who have also written books about him. Ramesh Balsekar received interested people until his death in 2009 and published numerous books himself. A close friend of Shri Nisargadatta Maharaj who was also a student of Shri Siddharameshwar Maharaj, Ranjit Maharaj , taught in Mumbai, Europe and the United States until his death in 2000.

Enlightenment

Nisargadatta emphasizes that enlightenment consists in overcoming clinging to the unreal and thus giving place to reality:

“You don't have to go to enlightenment because you are enlightened. She'll come up to you if you give her a chance. Let your attachment to the unreal slip and the real will quickly and gently take its place. Stop imagining you are this or doing that and you will see that you are at the source and in the heart of everything. In this way the great love will come over you, which is not a choice or preference, but a force that makes all things lovable and lovable. "

However, he affirmed that there were no conditions and no necessary activities:

“There are no conditions to be met. Nothing needs to be done, nothing needs to be given up. Just look and remember, whatever you are perceiving is not you and is not yours. It is within the field of consciousness, but you are neither the field nor its content, nor even the observer of the field ( vyakta ). It is your imagination that you have to do something that gets you caught up in the expectation of your endeavors - the motivation, the longing, the failure, the feeling of frustration, all of these hold you back. Just look at whatever is happening, knowing that you are above it. "

For Nisargadatta, individuality (Vyakti) is a projection of the inner self (Vyakta), which in turn arises from the Absolute (Avyakta). The inner self and the absolute are one:

“The outer self (Vyakti, individuality) is just a projection of the inner self (Vyakta, literally: the unfolded), which in turn is an expression of the Absolute (Avyakta, literally: the undeveloped) that is all and nothing ... When the Vyakti realizes their non-existence in separation from the Vyakta and the Vyakta sees the Vyakti as its own expression, then the calm and peace of the absolute, undeveloped state come into play. In reality the three are one: Vyakta and Avyakta are inseparable, while Vyakti is the perceiving, feeling, thinking activity which arises from the body which arises from the five elements. "

One must reach the state of pure observation:

“Reality exists and is by its very nature observational consciousness. Of course it is beyond the observer, but in order to get into it one must first reach the state of pure observation ... The observer (vyakta) is the reflection of reality (avyakta) in its perfect flawlessness ... The mindset of inner observation is extraordinary powerful. "

It is necessary to observe oneself in order to recognize the separation of the self from the not-self:

“You have to constantly observe yourself - especially your thoughts - in every moment without leaving anything out. The observation is essential to the separation of the self from the not-self ... Be aware of that state that is simply being without being this or that. "

Shri Nisargadatta Maharaj does not seem to attach great importance to sects, cults and beliefs, not even to his own. In response to a questioner wishing to join the cult of Navanath Sampradaya, he replied:

“In reality there is neither a guru nor a disciple, neither theory nor practice, neither ignorance nor knowledge. It all depends on what you think you are. Truly know yourself. There is no substitute for knowing the self. "

karma

In karma, Nisargadatta Maharaj sees the expression of a benevolent law, a universal tendency towards balance, harmony and unity. He stressed that all these sufferings were self-made and affirmed that it was within the power of man to put an end to it.

“God helps by confronting man with the consequences of his actions and demands that the balance be restored. Karma is the law that works for righteousness; it is the healing hand of God. "

In his view, karma is only a store of unused energy, of unfulfilled, not understood desires and fears. This memory is constantly being replenished with new wishes and fears. However, this does not have to be this way forever:

“Understand the root cause of your fears - alienation from yourself and from your desires - the longing for the self, and your karma will dissolve like a dream. Life goes on between heaven and earth. Nothing changes, only physical bodies appear and disappear again. "

Navanath Sampradaya

The cult of Nath Sampradaya , later known as the Navanath Sampradaya (the tradition of the nine masters) is considered a teaching that is said to have been lost in prehistoric times. Its followers believe that the cult has its origin in the teachings of the mythical Rishi Dattatreya , who is said to have been an incarnation of the holy Trimurti (trinity) of Brahma , Vishnu and Shiva . The spiritual achievements of that seer are also mentioned in the Bhagavatapurana , the Mahabharata and also in some of the later Upanishads .

The Nath gurus hold the view that all creation consists of nada (acoustic tones, i.e. the divine principle) and bindu (light, i.e. the physical principle), and the supreme reality of Shiva , from which these two principles arise. According to their view, salvation for a person consists in uniting the individual soul with Shiva and, with the help of the Laya method, bringing about the dissolution of the human ego, the feeling of self.

The methods of the Nath gurus are simple and straightforward. The singing of sacred hymns of praise and the worship of images belong to the traditions of the cult, but its teaching emphasizes that the very highest reality can only be realized within one's own spiritual heart. The teaching of Nath Sampradaya wants to unite the paths of Bhakti (devotion), Jnana (knowledge), Karma (deed) and Dhyana (contemplation) into a royal path.

There are many subgroups of the Nath Sampradaya (see also Hindu order ), Nisargadatta belonged to the Kadasiddha Sampradaya .

Works

literature

  • Stephen Wolinsky: I am this one: encounters with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj . VAK Verlag, Kirchzarten near Freiburg 2002, ISBN 3-932098-90-0
  • Ramesh S. Balsekar: Pointers - Groundbreaking Conversations with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj . J. Kamphausen Verlag, 2002, ISBN 3-933496-44-6

Movies

  • Stephen H. Wolinsky: I Am That I Am. Experience the teachings of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj. DVD - 150 min.
  • Awaken to the Eternal. Nisargadatta Maharaj: A Journey of Self Discovery. Inner Directions Foundation, VHS NTSC - 57 min.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Maharaj, Nisargadatta
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Maharaj, Sri Nisargadatta
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Indian spiritual and yogi
DATE OF BIRTH March 1897
PLACE OF BIRTH Kandalgaon , Maharashtra, India
DATE OF DEATH September 8, 1981