Self Knowledge and Self Realization (Part 1)

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Self Knowledge and Self Realization

 

by Nisargadatta Maharaj

Edited by

Jean Dunn

Introduction by Ed Muzika

 

Introduction:

 

Below is the book I promised to publish written by Nisargadatta. It

is the only book ever written by Nisargadatta in his own hand. As

indicated by Jean in her editor's notes, it was published in 1963.

There were 100 copies of this book printed by her. She gave 20 or so

copies to friends and students and one to me. For some reason she

decided not to give any more out. It has never been published in the

West. Therefore, you are among the first to see it. Jean was never

able to find anyone who claimed ownership of the copyrights. Perhaps

I should now and see who comes out of the woodwork.

 

Concerning copyrights, I am still amazed by the battles that have

surrounded the writings/teachings of all the well-known spiritual

teachers even while they were alive let alone after they were dead.

Therefore, I have been scrupulous in only posting stuff on this site

that I had long ago copyrighted, was written by me, was already in

the public domain such as the Heart Sutra, or which is included by

permission, such as the Ashtavakra Gita.

 

Jean told me it is hard to recognize the later Nisargadatta in this

book as the style is so devotional and traditional. True. But Maharaj

is there.This book is copied exactly as printed with all the absent

commas and spellings as found in the original. There are undoubtedly

additional errors caused by my scanner and recognition software,

which casual editing has not found. I thought it more important to

get the information out into the public domain and worry about

spelling and grammar later.

 

Those accustomed to the bold pronouncements on the nature of reality

found in his later talks might be surprised by the obvious bhaktic

melody throughout this little book. It is also obvious that this is

the autobiography of Maharaj's awakening, not his early teaching. It

is a love song both to himself and to his guru.

One might ask, "What happened to the Bhakta?"

 

I have no idea of what Maharaj was like before he met his teacher.

Perhaps he was rude and acerbic then, had a brief period of bhaktic

immersion, then reverted to his pre-awakening personality. So, is his

later public persona a teaching style, also used by tons of Zen

masters (priests, rabbis, sheiks, sifu, etc.), or did he just have a

raggedy personality which returned?

 

I don't know. If I were to guess, I would lean towards the latter

view.

 

Everyone I know who has seen this book has a different theory; all

are speculative. I wish I had had more time to talk to Jean about

what he was like. In a larger sense, who cares? His personality is

not important in a teaching sense, although this issue may be very

important to someone who wants to understand the enlightenment

process clinically.

 

For most of us, it is what his words do to us and what they did to me

that is important. This little book speaks to many who have been

closed out by the content and style of his later talks.

 

 

Editor's Notes

(Jean Dunn)

 

The original script for these writings of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

was written in the Marathi language and called "Atmagnyana and

Paramatmayoga".

 

A translation in English by Vasudeo Madhav Kulkarni, at the time a

Professor at Elphinstone College, Bombay, India, was published on

April 8, 1963, under Maharaj's title, translated as "Self Knowledge

and Self Realization".

 

Professor Kulkarni's adaptation was published with a foreword by

Shree Ram Narayan Chavhan, at Shree Nisargadatta Ashram, Vanmali

Bhavan, 10th Khetwadi, Bombay 4, India.

Professor Kulkarni's translation was printed in India by J.D. Desai,

Pashtra Vaibhav Press, 273 Vithalbhai Patel Rd., Girgaon, Bombay 4,

India.

 

 

 

FOREWORD

 

I first purchased this little book in Bombay in 1978, and while it

was difficult to read, it was so very dear that I decided to edit it,

making it easier to understand. I did this for myself, and just

recently, after lending it to others, and on their insistence, I

decided to print a few copies for those on the spiritual path. I

tried and failed to trace the original publishers.

 

While Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, in his last few years, would not

entertain any questions about experiences in this "dream world", I

feel that this book tells of his own spiritual path and experiences.

Nisargadatta Maharaj was from the spiritual lineage of the Navanathas.

He was born in Bombay in 1897, and was brought up on a farm in

Kandalgaon, a village south of Bombay. He had an alert, inquisitive

mind, and was deeply interested in religious and philosophical

matters. After the death of his father, he moved to Bombay in 1918,

and in 1924 married Sumatibai, who bore him a son and three daughters.

Although he started life in Bombay as an office clerk, he soon went

out on his own and started a small business, and in a few years he

owned several small shops. A hunger for truth grew in him, and in

1933, due to a friend's urging, he approached the great Saint, Sri

Siddharameshwar Maharaj, and was initiated by him.

 

After the death of his Guru in 1936, the urge for Self—realization

reached its zenith, and in 1937 he abandoned his family and

businesses and took to the life of a wandering monk. On his way to

the Himalayas, where he intended to spend the rest of his life, he

met a brother disciple who convinced him that a life of dispassion in

action would be more spiritually fruitful.

 

Returning to Bombay, he found only one store remaining of his

business ventures. For the sake of his family he conducted the

business but devoted all his energy to spiritual sadhana. He built

himself a mezzanine floor as a place for meditation (this is the room

where we all used to gather to listen to him talk).

 

In his own words, "When I met my Guru, he told me, 'You are not what

you take yourself to be. Find out what you are. Watch the sense I AM,

find your real Self...' I did as he told me. All my spare time I

would spend looking at myself in silence...and what a difference it

made, and how soon! It took me only three years to realize my true

nature." His message to us was simple and direct with no propounding

of scriptures or doctrines. "You are the Self here and now! Stop

imagining yourself to be something else. Let go your attachment to

the unreal."

 

Maurice Frydman, a Polish devotee, often acted as translator and the

questions and answers were so interesting that tape recordings were

made, and in 1973 these were published under the title "I Am That". .

As a result, readers from many different countries came to Bombay

seeking the spiritual guidance of Sri Maharaj.

>From 1978 to 1981, when Sri Maharaj died from cancer of the throat,

his talks were so much deeper than in the previous years that, with

the help of a few other devotees, the tape recordings were again

resumed and I transcribed and edited them, with the blessings of Sri

Maharaj, and these were published under the titles of "Seeds of

Consciousness" and "Prior to Consciousness"; both titles were

suggested by Sri Maharaj.

JEAN DUNN

 

 

SELF KNOWLEDGE

AND

SELF REALIZATION

 

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

 

DIVINE VISION AND THE DEVOTEE

 

Divine vision means acquaintance with, and crystalline understanding

of, the universal energy. God and the devotee are one, in his very

nature the devotee is identical with God. So long as one has not

realized God, one does not know what justice and injustice are, but

with realization the devotee comes to know the distinction between

justice and injustice, the essential and the contingent, the eternal

and the evanescent, and this leads to his emancipation.

The divine vision eliminates individuality; the manifest is clearly

distinguished from the unmanifest. When the sense of individuality is

replaced by that of impersonal consciousness the devotee knows that

he is pure consciousness. Manifestation is pure consciousness

manifesting itself in all the different names and forms; the

spiritually enlightened take part in it sportively, knowing that it

is only the play of universal consciousness.

The name and form of the spiritually enlightened Saint experiences

the pangs and sorrows of life, but not their sting. He is neither

moved nor perturbed by the pleasures and pains, nor the profits and

losses of the world. He is thus in a position to direct others. His

behavior is guided exclusively by the sense of justice.

The temporal life must continue, with all its complex interactions,

but the Saint is ever aware that it is only the pure consciousness

that is expressing itself in different names and forms, and it

continues to do so, in ever new forms. To him, the unbearable events

of the world are just a tame and harmless affair; he remains unmoved

in world-shaking events.

At first people, through pride, simply ignore him, but their

subsequent experiences draw them toward him. God, as justice

incarnate, has neither relations nor belongings of His own; peace and

happiness are, as it were, His only treasure. The formless, divine

consciousness cannot have any thing as its own interest.

This is the temporal outline of the Bhakta.

 

THE SOUL, THE WORLD, BRAHMAN AND

SELF REALIZATION

 

The consciousness of one's own being, of the world, and of its

supporting primal force are experienced all at once. Awareness of

one's own being does not mean here the physical consciousness of

oneself as an individual, but implies the mystery of existence. Prior

to this, in the ignorance of one's own being, there is no experience

of Brahman as being there. But the moment one is aware of being, he

is directly aware of the world and Brahman, too.

At the stage prior to this cosmic awareness, the self and its

experiences are limited to the worldly life. This worldly life starts

with birth and ends in death. To become aware of ourself, the world

and God all of a sudden is a great mystery indeed. It is an

unexpected gain; it is an absorbing and a mysterious event, extremely

significant and great, but it brings with it the responsibility of

Self-preservation, sustenance and Self development as well, and no

one can avoid it.

One who leads his life without ever wondering about who or what he is

accepts the traditional genealogical history as his own and follows

the customary religious and other activities according to tradition.

He leads his life with the firm conviction that the world was there

prior to his existence, and that it is real; because of this

conviction he behaves as he does, gathering possessions and treasures

for himself, even knowing that at the time of death he will never see

them again. Knowing that none of this will even be remembered after

death, still his greed and avarice operate unabated until death.

 

 

(continued)