Nisargadatta Maharaj

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. 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."

"Nisargadatta Maharaj is my greatest teacher. His words guide my writing, speaking, and all of my relationships. The singular pursuit of the awakened person is to find that part of himself or herself that cannot be destroyed by death. I know of no one who can aid you more on that journey than Nisargadatta Maharaj.

[Dr. Wayne Dyer]

Excerpt from a fascinating interview with David Godman with the sage entitled, Remembering Nisargadatta Maharaj. To read the full interview, go to this link here.


Question: What was Maharaj's attitude to Ramana Maharshi and his teachings? Did you ever discuss Bhagavan's teachings with him?

Answer: He had enormous respect for both his attainment and his teachings. He once told me that one of the few regrets of his life was that he never met him in person. He did come to the ashram in the early 1960s with a group of his Marathi devotees. They were all on a South Indian pilgrimage tour and Ramanasramam was one of the places he visited.

With regard to the teachings he once told me, 'I agree with everything that Ramana Maharshi said, with the exception of this business of the heart-centre being on the right side of the chest. I have never had that experience myself.'

I have to mention Ganesan's visit here. V. Ganesan is the grandnephew of Ramana Maharshi and in the 1970s he was the de facto manager of Ramanasramam. Nowadays, his elder brother Sundaram is in charge. Ganesan came to visit Maharaj for the first time in the late 1970s. As soon as he arrived Maharaj stood up and began to collect cushions. He made a big pile of them and made Ganesan sit on top of the heap. Then, much to everyone's amazement, Maharaj cleared a space on the floor and did a full-length prostration to him.

When he stood up, he told Ganesan, 'I never had a chance to prostrate to your great-uncle Ramana Maharshi, so I am prostrating to you instead. This is my prostration to him.'

New Videos

Check out the bottom of the left border of this page to find a Video Pod with 5 new (short) videos as listed below.

How God tells you it's time for a change
Advice from Wayne Dyer – “infinite patience produces immediate results . . . the immediate result of your infinite patience is peace. You retreat in peace and let the Universe handle the details.”

Astrology and Sun Worship - Part 2
Only for the open-minded. Second part of the series exploring the relationship between astrology, sun worship and modern religion.

Shiva Sahasranama Strotam
A video comprised of beautiful pictures of the holy mountain Kailash. Enjoy the divine chanting of Shiva Sahasranama from the Rudra Yamala Tantra.

Quantum Physics and Consciousness
Deepak Chopra discusses the connection of quantum mechanics and consciousness.

Arunachala Pilgrim
Montage of pilgrims and pilgrimage to Arunachala accompanied by words of Enya’s song, ‘Pilgrim'.

"Pilgrim, how you journey
on the road you chose
to find out why the winds die
and where the stories go.

All days come from one day
that much you must know,
you cannot change what's over
but only where you go.

One way leads to gold,
another leads you only
to everything you're told.
In your heart you wonder
which of these is true;
the road that leads to nowhere,
the road that leads to you.

Will you find the answer
in all you say and do?
Will you find the answer
In you?

Each heart is a pilgrim,
each one wants to know
the reason why the winds die
and where the stories go.

Pilgrim, in your journey
you may travel far,
for pilgrim it's a long way
to find out who you are...

Pilgrim, it's a long way
to find out who you are...
Pilgrim, it's a long way
to find out who you are..."

Law of Attraction

I remember how the Self Help New Age Guru, Dr.Wayne Dyer came into my life some 5-6 years ago. I was at Ramana Ashram library looking for something positive, upbeat, and helpful to read. Something that was practical, up-to-date and with which I would connect. On checking I found a Norman Vincent Peale book (with who I was familiar) and nearby, two Wayne Dyer books on the library shelf. So, I was led to check out – “You’ll see it when you believe it”. Ever since then Wayne Dyer's writings and videos have become an important part of my life. Nowadays I have most of his published books and many of them have been read, re-read and heavily inked and bookmarked.

Yesterday I was reading an interview on his website entitled “You Are God: An In-Depth Conversation with Dr. Wayne Dyer,” and am including here a short excerpt on the ‘law of attraction.’

‘. . . I think the law of attraction has been misstated. You do not attract what you want. You attract what you are. That's how the law of attraction works.

Twenty-five centuries ago in ancient China, Lao-tzu said there were four virtues. If you live them - if you live in a place of God-consciousness -- the Universe will give you God-consciousness. If you live in a place of ego-consciousness, though, the Universe will give you more of that.

One virtue is reverence for all of life. You revere all life. You never kill, you never harm, you never wish harm, and you never have thoughts of harm directed toward yourself or others.

Another virtue is natural sincerity, which is manifested as honesty. Just be honest with who you are. Don't pretend to be something you're not. Don't be a phony. Walk your talk. That's how God works, so doing it is emulating how Source works.

The third virtue is gentleness, which manifests as kindness toward all others.

The fourth virtue, which is relevant here, is supportiveness. If you say to the universe, "Gimme, gimme, gimme," which is what a lot of the work around the law of attraction says because of a misinterpretation, then the Universe gives you back what you offered out. You get more "gimme, gimme, gimme." "Gimme" means you don't have enough. You have a shortage. The Universe just keeps giving you more shortage because of what you're thinking and saying.

If, on the other hand, you say to the Universe again and again, "How may I serve? How may I serve? How may I serve?" and you live a life of constancy reflecting that principle, the Universe will respond back, "How may I serve you?"’