I Am Not the Body

“This well-structured book outlines the fundamental teachings of Sri Nisargadatta and will undoubtedly be a significant addition to the Nisargadatta canon. This work is based on tape recordings of discourses captured and translated by Sri Mohan Gaitonde, one of Sri Nisargadatta's translators. Once the idea 'I am not the body' settles in, which is in fact the reality, the 'Unborn' is all that remains. Sri Nisargadatta has said, 'You are Unborn, you were Unborn, and you shall remain Unborn'." — Pradeep Apte, author of 'The Nisargadatta Gita' and 'The Unborn Nisargadatta'


In this book of key spiritual teachings based on unpublished discourses, the great Advaita Master Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, teaches us that we are not limited to the body. Because of our mistaken body identity, we feel separate from what we truly are. Our self-identification with the body and mind subjects us to endless cycles of pleasure and pain, desire and fear, which cause us to search beyond ourselves for that which we believe we lack.


According to Sri Nisargadatta, all conditions, all names and appearances, emerge from ignorance and imagination, from the mind's assumptions-assumptions due to not enquiring and therefore not appreciating the nature of reality. When we realise that we are not limited to the body, we find that we are already free, needing no liberation. We discover that we are not only free, but infinite and boundless.


This 'I am-ness' is the substance of our entire world. All that we know owes its birth to consciousness and it is the portal to the Absolute. When we are no longer a slave of body-consciousness, we realise ourselves as Universal Consciousness, Pure Awareness. Our preoccupation with the known ceases, and we find the natural state, Nisarga, was present all along. We are this stateless state, and the universe is our ecstatic outpouring.


Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj met his guru, Sri Siddharameshwar Maharaj, at the age of 34 in 1933. Three years later, Sri Nisargadatta realised himself as the Supreme Reality, the transcendental Self. Through earnestly heeding the words of his Guru, he discovered he was That which is unmanifest and eternal-beyond the bondage of name, form, shape, and size.


For many years, thousands of people came from all over India and the world to listen to Sri Nisargadatta's teachings. His influence is still as powerful today as it was when he gave regular talks four decades ago. Undoubtedly one of the greatest spiritual teachers of all time, one can sense his depth of dedication to truth, rather than affluence, recognition, and agenda. His legendary plain-speaking way and heartfelt commitment to assisting those on the direct path will affect anyone serious about self-realisation and the transfiguration of consciousness.