Nisargadatta Maharaj Quotes

Instead of searching for what you do not have, find out what it is that you have never lost.

Shift your attention from words to silence and you will hear.

You will receive everything you need when you stop asking for what you do not need

Whatever happens, happens to you by you, through you; you are the creator, enjoyer and destroyer of all you perceive.

We miss the real by lack of attention, and create the unreal by excess of imagination.

You cannot transcend what you do not know. To go beyond yourself, you must know yourself.

There is only life, there is nobody who lives a life.

The consciousness in you and the consciousness in me, apparently two, really one, seek unity and that is love.

The problem is not yours - it is your mind's only. Begin by disassociating yourself from your mind. Resolutely remind yourself that you are not the mind and that its problems are not yours.

Sometimes I feel I am everything, I call that Love. Sometimes I feel I am nothing, I call that Wisdom. Between Love and Wisdom my life continuously flows.

As you watch your mind, you discover your self as the watcher. When you stand motionless, only watching, you discover your self as the light behind the watcher.

Love.. is seeing the unity under the imaginary diversity.

Nothing can trouble you but your own imagination.

To believe that you depend on things and people for happiness is due to ignorance of your true nature; to know that you need nothing to be happy, except Self-knowledge, is wisdom.

Suffering is due entirely to clinging or resisting. It is a sign of our unwillingness to move on, to flow with life

Know yourself to be the changeless witness of the changeful mind. That is enough.

When I look inside and see that I'm nothing, that's wisdom. When I look outside and see that I'm everything, that's love. And between these two, my life turns.

When you demand nothing of the world, nor of God, when you want nothing, seek nothing, expect nothing, then the supreme state will come to you uninvited and unexpected.

The world has only as much power over you as you give it. Rebel. Go beyond duality.

There is no question of going anywhere, arriving anywhere, or doing anything; you are there already.

If you could only keep quiet, clear of memories and expectations, you would be able to discern the beautiful pattern of events. Its your restlessness that causes chaos.

Don't ask the mind to confirm what is beyond the mind. Direct experience is the only valid confirmation.

Don't rely on your mind for liberation. It is the mind that brought you into bondage. Go beyond it altogether.

Give up all ideas about yourself and simply be.

Do not neglect this body. This is the house of God; take care of it, only in this body can God be realized.

Freedom is from something. What are you to be free from? Obviously, you must be free from the person you take yourself to be, for it is the idea you have of yourself that keeps you in bondage.

A quiet mind is all you need. All else will happen rightly, once your mind is quiet.

The innermost light, shining peacefully and timelessly in the heart, is the real Guru. All others merely show the way.

Simply look at whatever happens and know that you are beyond it.

The search for Reality is the most dangerous of all undertakings, for it destroys the world in which you live.

If you believe in God, work with Him. If you do not, become one.

The world you think of is in your own mind.

To see myself in everybody, and everybody in myself, most certainly is love.

The real you is timeless and beyond life and death.

The only thing required of you is to allow all your raging desires to relax into preferences. Then everything will be done through you and for you, not by you.

Just as every drop of the ocean carries the taste of the ocean, so does every moment carry the taste of eternity.

You cannot change the course of events, but you can change your attitude, and what really matters is the attitude and not the mere event.

There is nothing to do, just be. Do nothing. Be. No climbing mountains and sitting in caves. I do not even say "be yourself" since you do not know yourself. Just be.

You are not the mind. If you know you are not the mind, then what difference does it make if it's busy or quiet? You are not the mind.

The root of fear is the feeling of not being what you are.

There is only one meditation - the rigorous refusal to harbor thoughts.

Only the people who have gone beyond the world can change the world.

Real happiness is not vulnerable, because it does not depend on circumstances.

To know that you are a prisoner of your mind is the dawn of wisdom.

If you want peace and harmony in the world, you must have peace and harmony in your hearts and minds.

When you believe yourself to be a person, you see persons everywhere. In reality there are no persons, only threads of memories and habits. At the moment of realisation the person ceases.

What is the worth of a happiness for which you must strive and work? Real happiness is spontaneous and effortless.

You are not what you think yourself to be, I assure you. The image you have of yourself is made up from memories and is purely accidental.

Freedom to do what one likes is really bondage, while being free to do what one must, what is right, is real freedom.

Having realized that you cannot influence the results, pay no attention to your desires and fears. Let them come and go. Don't give them the nourishment of interest and attention.