I Am That: Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj [Paperback]

Nisargadatta Maharaj (Author), Sudhaker S. Dikshit (Editor), Maurice Frydman (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1990

This collection of the timeless teachings of one of the greatest sages of India, Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, regarded by many as a "modern spiritual classic" is a testament to the uniqueness of the seer's life and work

"I Am That" preserves Maharaj's dialogues with the followers who came from around the world seeking his guidance in destroying false identities. The sage's sole concern was with human suffering and the ending of suffering. It was his mission to guide the individual to an understanding of his true nature and the timelessness of being. He taught that mind must recognize and penetrate its own state of being, "being this or that, here or that, then or now," but just timeless being.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

A simple man, Nisargadatta Maharaj, was a householder and petty shopkeeper in Bombay where he lived, and died in 1981 at the age of 84. He had not been educated formally, but came to be respected and loved for his insights into the crux of human pain and the extraordinary usidity of his direct discourse. Hundreds of diverse seekers traveled the globe and sought him out in his unpretentious home to hear him. To all of them he gave hope that "beyond the real experience is not the mind, but the self, the light in which everything appears...the awareness in which everything happens."

Product Details

• Paperback: 550 pages
• Publisher: The Acorn Press; Reprint, edition (June 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0893860220
• ISBN-13: 978-0893860226
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (218 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #179,316 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

A simple man, Nisargadatta Maharaj, was a householder and petty shopkeeper in Bombay where he lived, and died in 1981 at the age of 84. He had not been educated formally, but came to be respected and loved for his insights into the crux of human pain and the extraordinary usidity of his direct discourse. Hundreds of diverse seekers traveled the globe and sought him out in his unpretentious home to hear him. To all of them he gave hope that "beyond the real experience is not the mind, but the self, the light in which everything appears...the awareness in which everything happens."

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

457 of 469 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Final Spiritual Teaching- Nisargadatta's "I AM THAT" October 21, 2001

By Stephen Wingate

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Nisargadatta Maharaj's "I AM THAT" is the last spiritual book you'll ever need to read. Congratulations, you've reached the end of your search! Nisargadatta's words are alive and will cut like a razor to the core of your being. Get this book! Read it and be devoured by it. Here are a few quotes...

Nothing can trouble you but your own imagination. (I AM THAT p.113)

General knowledge develops the mind, no doubt. But if you are going to spend your life in amassing knowledge, you build a wall round yourself. To go beyond the mind, a well-furnished mind is not needed. (p50)

The window is the absence of the wall, and it gives air and light because it is empty. Be empty of al mental content, of all imagination and effort, and the very absence of obstacles will cause reality to rush in. (p260)

Leave it all behind you. Forget it. Go forth, unburdened with ideas and beliefs. Abandon all verbal structures, all relative truth, all tangible objectives. (p340)

All are mere words, of what use are they to you? You are entangled in the web of verbal definitions and formulations. Go beyond your concepts and ideas; in the silence of desire and thought the truth is found. (p295)

Too much analysis leads you nowhere. There is in you the core of being which is beyond analysis, beyond the mind. You can know it in action only. The legitimate function of the mind is to tell you what is not. But if you want possitive knowledge, you must go beyond the mind. (p341)

Before you can know anything directly, non-verbally, you must know the knower. So far, you took the mind for the knower, but it is not so. The mind clogs you up with images and ideas, which leave scars in memory. You take remembering to be knowledge. True knowledge is ever fresh, new, unexpected. It wells up from within. When you know what you are, you also are what you know. Between knowing and being there is no gap. (p520)

Consciousness, being a product of conditions and circumstances, depends on them and changes along with them. What is independent, uncreated, timeless and changeless and yet ever new and fresh is beyond the mind. When the mind thinks of it, the mind dissolves and only happiness remains. (p488)

[With self-awareness] you grow more intelligent. In awareness you learn, in self-awareness you learn about yourself. Of course, you can only learn what you are not. To know what you are, you must go beyond the mind. Awareness is the point at which the mind reaches out beyond itself into reality. In awareness you seek not what pleases, but what is true. (p346)

Stop making use of your mind and see what happens. Do this one thing thoroughly. That is all. (p197)

Stephen Wingate
livinginpeace-thenaturalstate.com

391 of 407 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Reading is not enough... February 6, 2001

By T.G.

Format:Paperback

I've had the book 'I Am That' for a long time, have read it many times (enough, I don't read it anymore) and highly recommend it. But it should be recognized that although reading may spur an intuition of 'that which is beyond words', reading is not enough. I've seen too many reviews that seem to place emphasis on the book itself, or on Maharaj (who ALWAYS placed the emphasis back on the Self or Absolute, imploring the reader not to WORSHIP 'HIM'). One reader even stated an addiction to the book ("I've burned several copies").

Words are ultimately empty. If the recommendations in this book are put into practice, a condition of ripeness may come about, the "I" or "me" (ego) may drop. Nothing is guaranteed, but if an addiction to words exists, it can almost be guaranteed that attachment to thought will continue. A brief respite is not enough. Read with courage (once or twice), then put the book down and follow the recommendations -- or let some self-inquiry happen naturally. Depend on nobody and nothing but proceed courageously and alone, knowing 'You are That'! Attaching to the book or to Nisargadatta will not bring freedom any nearer.

117 of 120 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars After 160 books in 15 years this is still in my top 5 July 31, 2002

By Shawn Regan

Format:Paperback

I read it the first time in June of 2002. It quite simply is one of the best books on the Absolute (non-dual). In a very direct, no-nonsense style, Nisargadatta spells it out. The book is full of deep metaphors pointing us beyond the mind such as:

"The personal needs a base, a body to identify oneself with, just as a colour needs a surface to appear on."

"The mind exists in two states: as water and as honey. The water vibrates at the least disturbance, while the honey, however disturbed, returns quickly to immobility."

What is not poetically stated as such is given very directly:

"To know that you are neither the body nor mind, watch yourself steadily and live unaffected by your body and mind, completely aloof, as if you were dead. It means you have no vested interests, either in the body or in the mind."

"Self-remembrance, awareness of 'I am' ripens him powerfully and speedily. Give up all ideas about yourself and simply be."

The value of this book cannot be overstated I hold my copy very close and dear. From the perspective of sheer knowledge this book wastes no paper. The non-dual doesn't waste your time.

I've noticed in that the same depth of wisdom is given by a few others such as: Jean Klein, Ramana Maharshi and Paul Brunton. All are authorities on the non-dual. The reason for the similarities is that essentially the books are written by the same author, The Absolute, filtered through the personality/ego of the body delivering the material.