Quotessence
Home / Authors / Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj Quotes

Philosopher

Filter quotes by topic

AllMindNeedsWorldSelfSpiritualKnowsRealityGivingIfsDesireRealWisdomBodyIdeasPainAwarenessQuietConsciousnessHappensThinking

Famous Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj Quotes

“You need not get at it, for you are it. It will get at you, if you give it a chance. Let go your attachment to the unreal and the real will swiftly and smoothly step into its own. Stop imagining yourself being or doing this or that and the realization that you are the source and heart of all will dawn upon you. With this will come great love which is not choice or predilection, nor attachment, but a power which makes all things love-worthy and lovable.”

IfsNeedsGivingHeartRealChoicesChanceStepsSourceLetting GoAll ThingsWorthyRealizationDawnAttachmentGreat LoveUnrealLovableGive It A ChanceImagining Yourself
Author:Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
Create image

“In your world everything must have a beginning and an end. If it does not, you call it eternal. In my view, there is no such thing as beginning and end - these are all related to time. Timeless being is entirely in the now. Being and not-being alternate and their reality is momentary. The immutable Reality lies beyond space and time.”

IfsWorldDoeEndsRealityLyingTimeSpaceViewsEternalRelatedTimelessTime And SpaceMomentaryBeginnings And Ends
Author:Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
Create image

“There are always moments when one feels empty and estranged. Such moments are most desirable, for it means the soul has cast its moorings and is sailing for distant places. This is detachment -- when the old is over and the new has not yet come. If you are afraid, the state may be distressing, but there is really nothing to be afraid of. Remember the instruction: Whatever you come across -- go beyond.”

IfsFeelsMayMeanSoulStatesMomentsRememberEmptyCastsInstructionSailingDesirableDetachmentDistressing
Author:Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
Create image

“When the mind is kept away from its preoccupations, it becomes quiet. If you do not disturb this quiet and stay in it, you find that it is permeated with a light and a love you have never known; and yet you recognise it at once as your own nature. Once you have passed through this experience, you will never be the same man again; the unruly mind may break its peace and obliterate its vision; but it is bound to return, provided the effort is sustained; until the day when all bonds are broken, delusions and attachments end and life becomes supremely concentrated in the present.”

IfsMenMindMayEndsWisdomLightSpiritualEffortKnownVisionBreakLove YouBrokenReturnQuietBoundsDelusionAttachmentRecognisePreoccupationUnruly
Author:Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
Create image

“Surely the memory of an event cannot pass for the event itself. Nor can the anticipation. There is something exceptional, unique, about the present event, which the previous, or the coming do not have. There is livingness about it, an actuality; it stands out as if illumined. There is the "stamp of reality" on the actual, which the past and future do not have.”

IfsInspirationalRealityPastMemoriesEventsUniqueAnticipationStanding OutStampsExceptionalActuality
Author:Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
Create image

“If you seek reality you must set yourself free of all backgrounds, of all cultures, of all patterns of thinking and feeling. Even the idea of being man or woman, or even human should be discarded. The ocean of life contains all, not only humans. So, first of all abandon all self-identification, stop thinking of yourself as such-and-such or so-and-so, this or that. Abandon all self-concern, worry not about your welfare, material or spiritual, abandon every desire, gross or subtle, stop thinking of achievement of any kind. You are complete here and now, you need absolutely nothing.”

IfsThinkingMenNeedsShouldFirstsHumansKindIdeasSelfFeelingsRealitySpiritualDesireCultureWorryMaterialsAchievementOceanConcernPatternsBackgroundsWelfareSubtleAbandonGrossHere And NowAbsolutely NothingIdentificationDiscardedThinking Of YouThinking Of Yourself
Author:Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
Create image

“My actual experience is not different. It is my evaluation and attitude that differ. I see the same world as you do, but not the same way. There is nothing mysterious about it. Everybody sees the world through the idea he has of himself. As you think yourself to be, so you think the world to be. If you imagine yourself as separate from the world, the world will appear as separate from you and you will experience desire and fear. I do not see the world as separate from me and so there is nothing for me to desire, or fear.”

IfsThinkingWorldWayIdeasDifferentDesireAttitudeImagineMysteriousEvaluation
Author:Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
Create image

“To understand suffering, you must go beyond pain and pleasure. Your own desires and fears prevent you from understanding and thereby helping others. In reality there are no others, and by helping yourself you help everybody else. If you are serious about the suffering of mankind, you must perfect the only means of help you have, yourself.”

IfsMeanHelpingRealityPainDesireSufferingUnderstandingPerfectPleasureMankindSeriousHelping OthersPain And PleasureHelp Yourself
Author:Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
Create image

“We grow through investigation, and to investigate we need experience. We tend to repeat what we have not understood. If we are sensitive and intelligent, we need not suffer. Pain is a call for attention and the penalty of carelessness. Intelligent and compassionate action is the only remedy.”

IfsNeedsSelfActionPainSufferingGrowsAttentionUnderstoodIntelligentSensitiveRepeatsCompassionateRemedyInvestigationPenaltiesCarelessness
Author:Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
Create image