I am that : talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

This collection of the timeless teachings of one of the greatest sages of India, Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, is a testament to the uniqueness of the seer's life and work and is regarded by many as a "modern spiritual classic". 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. 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." Conversations with Nisargadatta Maharaj. English translation of question-answer sessions with Advaita Vedanta (non-duality) guru in Mumbai. He does not tell people what to believe, but says do this--namely concentrate on "I am"-- and you'll never be the same again. No problem is so bad that dis-engagement can't fix it. Give up clinging to the past and fearing the future. You are not your body, you are not your mind. What you are, your true self, can only be approached by realizing what it is not. Just be. And follow your inner guru. He says many things off the cuff that seem fit to be framed.