| Meeting Nisargadatta Maharaj |
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| Cathy Boucher's story Cathy Boucher met Nisargadatta Maharaj in 1978 and told her story in a series of emails to the Nisargadatta discussion group: "Mountain Path Magazine. The Mountain Path is the in house magazine of Sri Ramanasramam in South India. It was a very positive and because Maurice Frydman had been associated with Sri Ramana Maharshi, it carried some weight. This was the first time I found out that there could be a living Jnani, a realized Sage of the caliber of Sri Ramana Maharshi. I sent for the book, read it and was blown away. I wrote to Maurice Frydman and he began to correspond with me..." |
| "I was never born." I am always interested in stories people have about Nisargadatta Maharaj. Then why don't we have a biography page on this website? It was reported that when a devotee tried to get biographical information from him, Nisargadatta said "I was never born." Of course it didn't make it easy for the biographers when the Master saw no point in it or it can be said that Maharaj's biography was only one sentence long. So far I have included seven different accounts of "Meeting Maharaj" and if anyone else out there has a story to share, please email me at hur@nisargadatta.net Thanks to all who shared with us their story. |
| Jack Cornfield's experience with Maharaj Thanks to "Dharma Troll" at alt.philosophy.zen forum, I found this interesting account of the Buddhist teacher Jack Kornfield's experience with Maharaj: "I remember a very powerful moment with the old guru who I studied with, Nisargadatta Maharaj, who taught the way of Nisarga Yoga. 'Nisarga' means natural. The basic translation of his name was 'Mr. Natural'. He was this 80-year old cigarette-smoking man..." |
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| David Godman meets Nisargadatta Maharaj The following is an excerpt from an interview with David Godman, which appeared in the Realization.org site Nisargadatta...was an enormously beneficial presence in my life in the late 1970s and early 80s. I used to go and see him as often as I could. He repeatedly told me "you are consciousness" and on a few rare, glorious occasions I understood what he was talking about. |
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| A devotional account by Swami Paramatmananda A devotee of Ammachi (Mata Amritanandamayi) brought Swami Paramatmananda's book "On the Road to Freedom: A Pilgrimage in India" to my attention. Swami Paramatmananda kindly gave me the permission to reproduce the relevant pages on his meeting with Maharaj. At this juncture, I came across a book entitled, I am That, a collection of conversations with Nisargadatta Maharaj, a Realized Soul living in Bombay. I felt that his teachings were identical to the Maharshi’s and as I had not seen the Maharshi during his lifetime, I entertained a strong desire to see someone like him. |
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| Alexander Smit interview Alexander Smit was a Dutch student of Nisargadatta Maharaj. He became a well-respected teacher in Europe. I saw the the following interview by Belle Bruins in Amigo the free web magazine when Kees Schreuders posted the link at the Nisargadatta discussion group. Alexander (Smit) met Nisargadatta in September of 1978. In the beginning of September of that year Jacques Lewenstein had been in India and come back with the book I AM THAT and tapes of Nisargadatta. Alexander Smit, "That book came into the hands of Wolter Keers. He was very happy with it, because after the death of Krishna Menon (Wolter's spiritual master) he had not heard anything so purely advaita. After Wolter had read the book he decided to translate and publish it 'because this is so extremely good'. Wolter gave me the book immediately and I was very moved by it." |
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| 'Sailor' Bob Adamson Bob Adamson travelled to India in the '70's where he met Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj. Bob's search ended in the presence of Nisargadatta. "Nisargadatta pointed to the reality, the actuality THAT I AM. Now I abide as THAT" |
| Ramesh Balsekar Shortly after Ramesh Balsekar met his Guru Nisaragadatta Maharaj, he started to translate for him. Ramesh wrote a number of books, such as "The Pointers from Nisargadatta Maharaj" and "Experiencing The Teaching." In his first book, Pointers, Ramesh Balsekar not only explains the teachings of his Guru but also tells valuable stories. "He (Nisargadatta) often addresses a new visitor in the following words: 'You are sitting there, I am sitting here, and there is the world outside -- and, for the moment, we may assume that there must be a creator, let us say God. These three/four items are facts or experience, not hearsay. Let us confine our conversation to these items only.'" |
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