Nisargadatta Maharaj (1897 – 1981) was a Hindu teacher of nondualism, belonging to the Inchagiri Sampradaya, a lineage of teachers from the Navnath Sampradaya and Lingayat Shaivism. He was brought up in Kandalgaon, a small village in the Sindhudurga district of Maharashtra. In 1915, after his father died, he moved to Bombay to support his family back home. Initially he worked as a junior clerk at an office but quickly he opened a small goods store, and soon owned a string of eight retail shops. He was introduced to his teacher, Siddharameshwar Maharaj, in 1933. The publication in 1973 of I Am That, an English translation of his talks in Marathi by Maurice Frydman, brought him worldwide recognition, especially in North America and Europe. After he retired in 1966, Nisargadatta Maharaj continued to receive and teach visitors in his home, giving discourses twice a day until his death.
Quotes by Nisargadatta Maharaj…
When I look inside and see that I am nothing, that is wisdom. When I look outside and see that I am everything, that is love. And between these two, my life turns.
The world is like a sheet of paper on which something is typed. The reading and the meaning will vary with the reader, but the paper is the common factor, always present, rarely perceived. When the ribbon is removed, typing leaves no trace on the paper. So is my mind — the impressions keep on coming, but no trace is left.
When you deceive yourself that you work for the good of all, it makes matters worse, for you should not be guided by your own ideas of what is good for others. A man who claims to know what is good for others is dangerous.