aa aa a a anne ITE Veet E Laem wt. ELE beet Discourses rym _ Eternal DH 7 7. Ay Robert Powell Ph.D.Titles in the Robert Powell Advaita Library from Blue Dove Press: Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj titles edited by Robert Powell: The Ultimate Medicine The Nectar of Immortality The Experience of Nothingness Other Robert Powell Advaita Library titles: Dialogues on Reality Discovering the Realm Beyond Appearance Path Without Form Beyond Religion Robert Powell Advaita Library titles available Fall 2001: Return to Meaningfuiness (Revised and Expanded) The Essence of Sri Nisargadatta Other Titles by Robert Powell: Zen and Reality Crisis in Consciousness The Free Mind J: Krishnamurti - The Man and His Teaching The Great Awakening The Blissful Life Why Does God Allow Suffering? Talks with Ramana Mabarshi (Editor) The Essence of Ramana Maharshi (Compiler) THE NECTAR OF IMMORTALITY SRI NISARGADATTA MAHARAJ’S DISCOURSES ON THE ETERNAL EDITED BY ROBERT POWELL, Pu.D. fer BLUE DOVE PRESS SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA » 2001The mission of the Blue Dove Foundation is to deepen the spiritual life of all by making available works on the lives, messages, and examples of saints and sages of all religions and traditions as well as other spiritual titles that provide tools for inner growth. These books are distributed in our Lights of Grace catalog, our bookstore, and also on our website: www.bluedove.org. For a free catalog contact: The Blue Dove Foundation 4204 Sorrento Valley Blvd. Suite K San Diego, CA 92121 Phone: 800-691-1008 or 858-623-3330 E-mail: bdp@bluedove.org www.bluedove.org © Jozef Nauwelaerts 1987 All Rights Reserved Second printing, 2001 First published in Great Britain 1987 under the title The Nectar of the Lord's Feet Printed in Canada Cover and text design: Brian Moucka Cover photo courtesy of Jack and Diana Masson ISBN: 1-884997-13-9 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication data: Nisargadatta, Maharaj, 1897- The nectar of immortality : Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj's discourses on the eternal / edited by Robert Powell. --1st American ed. Pp. cm. “First published in Great Britain 1987 under title: The Nectar of the Lord’s Feet”--CIP t.p. verso. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 1-884997-13-9 1. Spiritual life--Hinduism. 2. Hinduism--Doctrines. I. Powell. Robert, 1918- . (.r. Title. BL1214.26.N576 1996 294.5'22--dc20 95-44138 CIP f one obtains and relishes the nectar of the Lord’s feet, the charan- amrita, the mind can be conquered. This means that the mind will no longer hold sway over us; its mastery imposed on us from childhood will no longer oppress us... But how can such a state be attained? Only if one totally accepts the knowledge “I am” as oneself with full conviction and faith and firm- ly believes in the dictum I am that by which I know “I am.” This knowl- edge “I am” is the charan-amrita. Why is it called amrita—the nectar? Because... by drinking nectar, one becomes immortal. Thus, a true devotee, by abiding in the knowledge “I am” transcends the experience of death and attains immortality. Consciousness does not shine by itself. It shines by a light beyond it. Having seen the dreamlike quality of consciousness, look for the light in which it appears, which gives it being. There is the content of consciousness as well as the awareness of it To expound and propagate concepts is simple. But to drop all con- cepts is difficult and rare. Sri NISARGADATTA MAHARAJACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This book has come about through the combined efforts of a small number of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj’s devotees, and to them the Editor expresses his gratitude. My special thanks are due to Mr. Saumitra K. Mullar- pattan, who not only was the chief interpreter during these conversations but also checked the transcripts for accuracy of the Marathi translation into English. Thanks are also due to Dr. Lance Nelson of the Univer- sity of San Diego, California, Dr. Jeffrey M. Masson and Dr. R. Ranganathan for invaluable assistance rendered in the compilation of the Glossary. SRI NISARGADATTA MAHARAJ Born in Bombay in 1897. His parents, who gave him the name Maruti, had a small farm at the village of Kandalgaon and it was here that he spent his early years. In 1924 he married, later becoming a cigarette trader in Bombay where he and his wife raised a fam- ily. From early childhood he had taken a keen interest in spiritual matters, his talks with holy men sharpen- ing his inquisitive mind and kindling a spiritual fire. At the age of 34 he met his Guru and three years later realized himself, taking the name of Nisargadat- ta. He continued to live the life of an ordinary Indian working-man but his teachings, which he set out in his master-work I Am That and which are rooted in the ancient Upanishadic tradition, made a significant philosophical break from contemporary thought. Devotees travelled from all over the world to hear Nisargadatta’s unique message until his death in 1981. ROBERT POWELL Born in Amsterdam in 1918. After obtaining his doc- torate in chemistry he pursued a career as a science editor and writer, at first in Britain and later in Amer- ica. Robert Powell's personal exploration of spirituali- ty began in the 1960’s, and his quest for self-discovery led him to study Zen and a number of spiritual masters including J. Krishnamurti. His own spiritual awakening coincided with his discovery of the teachings of Sri Nisargadatta. He has written a number of books on what he describes as “human consciousness transformation” and lives with his wife Gina in La Jolla, California.CONTENTS kRwON 10. il 14. 15. FOREWORD PREFACE INTRODUCTION EDITOR’S NOTES . PRIOR TO CONCEPTION, WHAT Was I? . THE EMERGENCE OF BEINGNESS . TIME IS THE CHILD OF A BARREN WOMAN . NOTHING EVER INTERFERES WITH THE FIvE-ELEMENTAL PLAY . BEYOND THE UPANISHADS . THE NECTAR OF THE LORD’S FEET . TO REALIZE THE ABSOLUTE, EVEN BEINGNESS HAS TO BE TRANSCENDED . IN THE ABSENCE OF Bopy IDENTITY, WHERE IS THE MIND? . THROUGH THE TOUCH OF BEINGNESS, THE ENTIRE CosMos ARISES WHEREVER IS FooD, THEREIN DWELLS THAT . EVEN THE HIGHEST Is USELESS TO THE HIGHEST 12. 13. WHATEVER IS PERCEIVED, YOU ARE Not You Must EXIST PRIOR TO WITNESSING FOR WITNESSING TO HAPPEN SUBTLER THAN SPACE IS THE SENSE OF “I-AM-NESS” MERGING OF BEINGNESS WITHIN ITSELF IS THE VERY FOUNT OF BLISS xi xvii xxiv 11 21 31 43 53 59 69 81 91 99 111 121 131 13716. TRY TO UNDERSTAND THE IGNORANT-CHILD PRINCIPLE 17. To KNow WHAT ONE IS, ONE Must KNOW ONE’S BEGINNING 18. YOUR BEINGNESS IS THE BEGINNING AND END OF THE MIND 19. For A REALIZED ONE, THE WHOLE FUNCTIONING IN THE WORLD IS A BHAJAN 20. HOLD ON TO YOUR SENSE OF BEING 21. RETURN TO THE STATE BEFORE BIRTH GLOSSARY BIBLIOGRAPHY 139 143 151 157 163 169 179 187 @ FOREWORD Whenever “new” discourses arrive from an authentic sage, they become in the hands of enthusiasts one more “path”, “way”, “method”, “discipline”, “truth’—in short, the very lat- est means of self-liberation. No wonder gurus and yogas enjoy vogues; they come and go. What distinguishes Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj is that “his” way, atma-yoga, is not offered as the best way among other ways. Rather, he recalls us to the essence of yoga itself. This requires the most absolute pause lest we try to go beyond where we have not yet begun. Just as the essence of a thing is not the manifest thing itself (e.g., the essence of yoga is not its manifest practice), so, analogously, Maharaj would not have welcomed being regarded as one distinguished being among other beings. This posture shocks our ordinary think- ing in our ordinary way. Still, if instead of bolting at this seeming unintelligibility, we accept his invitation to press into the heart of things with our mind, but in “his” non-ordi- nary way, we shall with time enjoy a settled disposition for atma-yoga, the essential yoga of self-inquiry. And this he cheerfully calls us to undergo. Now the essence of yoga is to let Reality be realized. Let- ting-be is not to do or to make anything. I cannot realize what Maharaj calls me to do if I begin by generating new concepts, remembering old ones or by manipulating myself or others. What then is left? These transcripts edited by Dr. Robert Powell are in themselves sufficient to make this ques- xi