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Seeds of Consciousness is the first of three books edited by Jean Dunn, which are wholly taken from daily Talks given by Nisargadatta Maharaj at his Bombay apartment during 1979 and 1980. Books of this type have been prepared by other editors, all of whom used the same group of English translators, but Dunn (a disciple for many years) has selected the clearest talks, least burdened with technical Hindu pointers.
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THE WISDOM OF SRI NISARGADATTA MAHARAJ EDITED BY JEAN DUNN Seeds of Consciousness SEEDS OF CONSCIOUSNESS The Wisdom Sri of Nisargadatta Maharaj edited by JEAN Grove Press DUNN Inc. /New York Copyright © 1982 by Imogene English translation copyright Dunn © 1982 by Grove Press, Inc. Ramesh Translated from the Marathi by Doongagi, S. V. Sapre, S. S. Balsekar, Dr. Damayantie K. Mullarpattan, and Mr. Patan. All Rights Reserved No book may be reproduced, stored part of this in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, by any means, including mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. First Evergreen Edition 1982 First Printing 1982 ISBN: 0-394-17939-0 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 8147636 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Nisargadatta, Maharaj, 1897-1981 Seeds of consciousness. (Grove Press Eastern philosophy and literature series) Hinduism— Doctrines. 2. Spiritual life (Hinduism) I. Dunn, Jean. II. Title. III. Series. 294.5'44 BL1205.N513 81-47636 1. ISBN 0-394-17939-0 (pbk.) Manufactured GROVE Grove in AACR2 the United States of America PRESS, INC., 196 West Houston Press Eastern Philosophy Edited by Hannelore Rosset Street, and Literature New Series York, N.Y. 10014 A Date with Eternity Praise be to Nisargadatta Maharaj, great mystic of Bharat! Outwardly he looked like a common householder and spoke only his native language, Marathi, but the wisdom of spontaneous utterances was the same as the wisdom found in the Vedas and the Upanishads. He was a shining example of one who is in the consummate state of Eternal Awareness. To a sincere seeker— one wanting to meet a living sage equalling in wisdom those in the scriptures— he represented the fulfillment of his innermost yearnings. Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj did not pose as a Mahatma, a Bhagavan, or a Paramahamsa. He had no yoga, no system of philosophy to offer or preach; all he knew and experienced was Real Nature— the Real Nature common to himself and his listeners. He gave the same clarion call which from time his immemorial India has given to the whole of humanity: "Know your Real Self!" For forty years and more this great man kept repeating, "Be aware of your state of being— pure and simple being— without being this or that or the other." He challenged his but his answers were never merely answers. Each time the answer would be a challenge to the questioner to find out for himself what his Real Nature was. listener to ask questions, He spoke from his he only tells his own own direct insight "story." and would say that He needed no proof for his