ABOUT
What is Nonduality?
You’ve inherited the belief that everything beyond your skin is not you or yours, that you’re limited to, and by, your personal internal world and the body that imprisons it. You’ve claimed and lost certain objects and people as your own on your journey. Your “possessions” have become extensions of your sense of individuality, providing a distraction from your deeper existential separateness but not curing it. Your belief in a boundaried identity grew stronger as you matured and individuated, while those around you reinforced your distinctiveness. You were given a name and your parents or primary caregivers co-designed your personality. From a young age, you’ve believed that you must strive to establish and uphold your unique place in the world. That’s what you’ve been told. Our society considers these ideas to be the norm and stigmatises any contrary notions, avoiding and rejecting them for fear of losing oneself.
Experientially, your body and individuality set you apart from other people and objects. This happens in a paradigm of relating and interacting as a human, which you might have experienced as interpersonal isolation and loneliness. On a deeper level, it’s imagined duality which creates all manner of separateness—from the kind I call “dualistic isolation,” the sense that you’re identified with and alone in your body and your mind, to “existential loneliness,” a persistent sense of incompleteness that no amount of social or material connection can resolve. Bearing and inquiring into this alternative domain is a doorway to meeting our oneness.
As I write in my nonduality book, Living the Life That You Are, in a multitude of ways we seek an end to the brokenness we experience and with which we have wrongly but innocently identified. ‘Nonduality‘ simply means ‘not two’, or ‘one without a second’, and points to the fundamental wholeness of life.
Nondual wisdom refers to the direct experience of a fundamental awareness that is the ground beneath apparent distinction. The divide between ‘self’ and ‘other’, ‘this’ and ‘that’ is an essentially mental story.
This understanding is at the core of Hindu Vedanta, some schools of Buddhism, and Taoism, and mystical Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. It’s not a progressive approach to attain something that is in a future, but to achieve and unfold what we already are. Nonduality is the nonideological, nonreligious, nondogmatic eternal truth already present.
“Nonduality” doesn’t mean “against duality”; it’s not meant to imply that duality is bad. Instead, nonduality is both the Deep Knowing of inseparability and an entire embrace of passing paradox. It’s the supreme balancing of the opposites. It’s authentic connection. It’s realisation. It’s unconditional love.
We rarely see that the parts of life we favour wouldn’t exist without their “complementary” aversions. This is the play of duality. It’s what gives life colour, texture, and meaning. Therefore, it’s not the diverse expressions of life that cause our suffering but our attempts to pursue one oppositional extreme—either yin or yang, not both. Yin and yang, however, are seamless counterparts and perfectly embodied by their context.
There is a life that lies beyond the laws of conditionality and linearity, beyond time and space, beyond the dualistic stories we tell ourselves. Sadly, we hide this life from view by guarding against the extinguishing of our individuality. We – you – are that very life.
About Nisargadatta Maharaj
Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj was born on 17th April 1897 in Bombay (Maharashtra, India), on the day of Hanuman Jayanti. Coinciding his birthday with this annual celebration, Nisargadatta’s parents Parvatibai and Shivrampant Kambli chose to name him ‘Maruti’, another name for Lord Hanuman. Nisargadatta studied up to the 4th standard and spent his early years in Kandalgoan – a village in the Sindhudurg district, where his parents owned a small farm.
The atmosphere at Nisargadatta’s family house had always been quite religious and ritualistic. Nisargadatta’s father had a learned Brahmin friend by the name of Vishnu Haribhau Gore, whose early association with the family had a lasting influence on Nisargadatta. As a child, Nisargadatta always had an inclination towards matters of spirituality, and with Vishnu Gore’s questions about the relation between God, Man, and the material world, this fire continued to be fiercely fuelled even more with time.
After his father’s death in the year 1915, Nisargadatta moved back to Bombay to earn a livelihood for the family as a clerk with a private firm. However, owing to his strong independent nature, Nisargadatta soon took to trading of his own. He started a business of making and selling hand-made local cigarettes with one shop that soon multiplied into eight shops. He got married to Sumatibai in the year 1924, and raised a family of four children with her while continuing living in Bombay. The thriving material life could bring no contentment to Nisargadatta as his quest for truth was still unfulfilled.
Nisargadatta Maharaj’s Guru
It was at the age of 34 in 1933 that Nisargadatta first met his Guru Sri Samartha Siddharameshwar Maharaj of the Navanath Sampraday. Siddharameshwar Maharaj’s teachings revolved around the realisation of self-knowledge and the renunciation of the impermanent. Nisargadatta Maharaj was introduced to his Guru through Yeshwantrao Bagkar – a friend of him who was very well aware of his spiritual quest.
Soon after meeting his Guru Sri Samartha Siddharameshwar Maharaj, Nisargadatta received initiation and continued to perform his spiritual duties with utmost dedication. Three years after meeting his guru, Nisargadatta attained realisation and took the name of ‘Nisargadatta’ which means ‘Giver of the natural state’. Nisargadatta became part of the Navnath Sampradaya, a lineage which originated from nine gurus. Sri Bhausahib Maharaj later established what came to be known as Inchegeri Sampradaya, a branch within the traditional lineage which Nisargadatta belonged. The original nine Navnath masters were Matsyendranath, Gorakhnath, Jalandharnath, Kantinath, Gahininath, Bhartrinath, Revananath, Charpatnath and Naganath. You can read about the Inchegeri Sampradaya here.
After Sri Siddharameshwar Maharaj took mahasamadh in the year 1936, Nisargadatta suddenly decided to abandon the material life and left his family and business behind to visit many places of worship in Southern India. During one such day on the way to the North when he had made up his mind to spend the rest of his life in the Himalayas, Nisargadatta realised that such wanderings were not the ultimate solution. A discussion with a fellow guru-brother made him realise that dispassionate action in an active life is more meaningful than in an inactive and abandoned life.
Soon, Nisargadatta returned to Bombay and found out that only one of his eight shops had remained. But this was enough for him, for he knew that one shop would suffice for his worldly needs. As Nisargadatta would sit in his shop every day, there would always be someone visiting, and talks on the ultimate meaning of life would eventually begin. Gradually, the number of people outside his shop increased to form a small crowd who came to listen to Nisargadatta’s words of wisdom. After his son was old enough to manage the shop on his own, Nisargadatta retired to the loft he had created in his home for his personal use. Over time the space assumed the sanctity of a small ashram.
Nisargadatta Maharaj’s Teaching
Nisargadatta started to give initiation to his disciples from 1951 onwards. Thousands of disciples from different parts of the country and world were graced to receive the precious initiation (“Nama Mantra”), as he continued to provide the highest spiritual knowledge to each and every earnest seeker.
Nisargadatta was not only one of the most influential spiritual Gurus of his time, but also one of the most noteworthy spiritual teachers ever. What brought Nisargadatta worldwide recognition and followers was the publication of his master work ‘I Am That’ – an English translation of his talks in Marathi by Maurice Frydman. ‘I Am That’ included an appendix by Frydman titled ‘Nisarga Yoga’.
Nisargadatta’s teaching and message to his disciples, known as Nisarga Yoga, always revolved around the concept of self-knowledge. Although he did not teach any formal method of spiritual practice to attain self-knowledge, he always inspired his disciples to look within and understand one’s true nature. He consistently affirmed that each had his or her own way, that there could not only be a single method or technique to help everyone in the realisation of truth. Following the traditions of his own Guru, Nisargadatta urged his disciples to concentrate on the ‘I Am’, to find it, and stay with it to discover life’s eternal Source beyond both the illusory world of duality and even consciousness.
What does Nisarga Yoga mean? The Sanskrit prefix ni[r]- (ni, nis, nih) means “out, away from, without.” The Sansrkit word Sarga means “creation, nature.” The word ‘Nisarga’ means our “natural state” prior to creation or maya. Maya is the power of creation which created the universe; it is the dualistic appearance of the phenomenal world. Nisargadatta also uses the word ‘nirguna’ which means “without attributes”, free of the strands of the three gunas: Rajas guna means ‘pollen of the flowers’ indicating that flowers have the ability to create new flowers, therefore rajas is the quality of creativity and seeking. Tamas guna means ‘ignorance’ or ‘darkness’. Sattva guna means ‘Sat’ = ‘being’ and ‘Va’ = ‘where purity dwells’.
J A Ward says, “The primordial illusion that ‘we are’ is the quality of sattva. Because of this root-Maya, we want our beingness to continue. It is self-love. Maya is therefore the name given to the manifestation of consciousness…“Sattva is beingness and I amness, but the Absolute is neither the guna nor ‘I am’ and is beyond both being and non-being. The Eternal is all time, but the Absolute is timeless, therefore the Eternal you is not the genuine Self. The Absolute is beyond the opposites of existence and non-existence which are conditioned by the presence or absence of sattva. The primordial sattva, or mula-sattva, is actually a type of knowledge [jnana]… it is the knowledge of this I-consciousness, this beingness. It is the original essence which is present in the body and which produces the knowledge that I exist. The jnani knows that he is not that sattva.”
Naina Lepes writes, “It is said that maya has two aspects: the veiling power, avarana and the projecting power, vikshepa. The first is tamasic, dragging us down to the heavy inertia of earth matter and causing us to believe that what the senses and mind perceive is real. This illusory aspect of maya veils and limits our view of reality to our conditioning from the sensory mind. The projecting power of maya is rajasic and can help us evolve by utilizing our varied experiences in life for our inner upliftment. This aspect of maya thrives on desire and thought that perpetuates movement. But it keeps moving like a merrygo-round… The omnipresent will to consciousness all pervading reigns supreme. This is how the projecting power of maya becomes obsolete: when the desire for experience is no more. As desire naturally ceases, projection creates no new universes. And we live as one whole in the eternal now—no matter what the experience!”
Nisargadatta tells us to earnestly stabilise in Sattva (beingness, ‘I amness’, which is the akasha or ‘expanse’ of ‘chidaskash’ meaning the universal mind / consciousness) and to pursue its original Source, to “Recognize that it is false. One who understands this becomes nirguna. Nirguna means beyond consciousness.” “Once you stabilize in The Absolute, world and its meanings disappear; they cannot be started there anymore….” He exclaimed: “I am Nisarga, beyond time, I am Nisarga which is attached to nothing. In common parlance Nisarga means ‘indifferent’. So many eons and dissolutions have come by [in mahadakash, creation], but I remain untouched by them I know no addition or subtraction.” “Reality is all-pervading, all-conquering, intense beyond words. No ordinary brain can stand it without being shattered; hence the absolute need for sadhana [spiritual practice]. Purity of body and clarity of mind, non-violence and selflessness [sattva] in life are essential for survival as an intelligent and spiritual entity.”
Nisargadatta said that “Yoga means the bridge, the link, or the connection. Why are you seeking this connection? You have to find out why it has occurred. Yoga was not required prior to the appearance of the bridge. You must find out what your state was prior to the bridge. Whatever the principle or the state was before this linking, before the existence of the bridge, was the perfect state [nisarga]. Because the bridge has appeared you feel separated from your true Self, and you are trying to become reunited; that is yoga.”
‘The knowledge “I am” itself is a cheat. When the Beingness appears, that love for existence is the result of the primary illusion, that maya. Once you come to know that you exist, you feel like enduring eternally. You always want to be, to exist, to survive. And so the struggle begins. All because of that maya.’
In September of 1981 died one of the most extraordinary spiritual teachers in the history of humanity. Nisargadatta attained Mahasamadhi on September 8, 1981, at 7:30 p.m. The following are the last words of Maharaj before he lost his voice: “I feel the pain in the body but have no pain of dying. I am “That” which always exists and which is prior to mani
What is Yoga?
Nisarga Yoga of the great Advaita (nonduality) master Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj (1897 – 1981), is a natural and simple way of approaching life. Our body-mind recognises and connects with its own ‘I am-ness’, not as an ‘I am someone’ or ‘I am something’ but simply as pure timeless being. The core of Nisarga Yoga is to meditate on the ‘I am’ and inquire into its source. For this beingness must have an ultimate origin from which it flows and to which it eventually returns – our true Self, the Absolute.
To correct the misconception of who or what think we are, we must fully understand the patterns of the mind and turn it into a tool of Self-remembrance. Living life mindfully and effortlessly in full awareness and spontaneity, being deeply interested in life cultivate the heart of Nisarga Yoga. No longer unconscious or passive, we become conscious and engaged in consciousness itself.
In this dwelling on consciousness or the sense of ‘I am’, dependence, preparation or initiation are unnecessary. But refraining from hurting others – what Nisargadatta Maharaj calls ‘harmlessness’ – is the most powerful and fruitful practice. Rather than a mere spiritual practice, Nisarga Yoga is the art of living in peace, harmony, friendliness and love, all of which are the qualities of the sattva guna.
We must meet and be with our own inner life, learn from it, follow it, embrace it, and give it our earnest focus. Nisargadatta Maharaj reassures us we need no other guide. Our steadfast desire for Truth beyond worldly knowledge influences our daily life and a quiet equanimity becomes apparent. The fruit of Nisarga Yoga is unconditional happiness. “Normal” life continues, but is seen to be spontaneous and unbound, meaningful and contented.
What is Nisarga Yoga?
In this dwelling on consciousness or the sense of ‘I am’, dependence, preparation or initiation are unnecessary. But refraining from hurting others – what Nisargadatta Maharaj calls ‘harmlessness’ – is the most powerful and fruitful approach. Rather than a mere spiritual practice, Nisarga Yoga is the art of living in peace, harmony, friendliness and love, all of which are the qualities of the sattva guna.
We must meet and be with our own inner life, learn from it, follow it, embrace it, and give it our earnest focus. Nisargadatta Maharaj reassures us we need no other guide. Our steadfast desire for Truth beyond worldly knowledge influences our daily life and a quiet equanimity becomes apparent. The fruit of Nisarga Yoga is unconditional happiness. “Normal” life continues, but is seen to be spontaneous and unbound, meaningful and contented.
It must be made clear that Nisargadatta didn’t want a system of Yoga to be formed and practised based on his teaching. He said, “Each seeker accepts, or invents, a method which suits him, applies it to himself with some earnestness and effort, obtains results according to his temperament and expectations, casts them into the mound of words, builds them into a system, establishes a tradition and begins to admit others into his ‘school of Yoga‘. It is all built on memory and imagination. No such school is valueless, nor indispensable; in each one can progress up to the point, when all desire for progress must be abandoned to make further progress possible. Then all schools are given up, all effort ceases; in solitude and darkness the vast step is made which ends ignorance and fear forever.”