Fwd: Self Knowledge and Self Realization by Maharaj

[Guest guest]

Nisargadatta, "rishi7624" <rishi7624@g...>

wrote:

 

 

 

 

This is from the website

 

http://itisnotreal.com/Self-Knowledge.html

 

Thanks

 

Rishi

 

------

 

 

 

Self Knowledge and Self Realization

 

by

 

Nissargadatta Maharj

 

Edited by

 

Jean Dunn

 

Intro by Ed Muzika

 

 

 

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 worrie abowt spilling and gramer 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

 

--- End forwarded message ---