If you’re interested in Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj’s best books, I share my opinions in this blog post. And just to confirm that I have bought the books I’m talking about, here’s a photo of them:
I Am That
I Am That might be the best. The only reason I hesitate to say that it’s the best is because it is very repetitive.
Consciousness and the Absolute
Consciousness and the Absolute is the main competitor for “best book” status. What’s great about it is that it is full of quotes from the last year or two of his life, and he is very direct to the point in this book. It’s also not nearly as repetitive as I Am That.
I also want to note that Jean Dunn put this book together, so if you see other books by her, I trust her because this book is so good.
I Am Not The Body
As a surprise to me, the title, “I Am Not The Body,” drew me to that book, but I don’t really like that book. At the moment I don’t remember what I didn’t like about it, but when I like a book I highlight the heck out of it, and add tabs to the good pages, and this book has no highlights or tabs. (When I remember why I don’t like it, I’ll update this post.)
Other books by Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
I haven’t read the following books yet, but Jean Dunn is involved in all of them, so I trust their ratings on Amazon and Goodreads just because of that:
- Prior to Consciousness: Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
- Seeds of Consciousness: The Wisdom of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
- Meditations With Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
I’m going to read Meditations With Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj next, so I’ll update this post when I finish that book.
An important note
As an important note, the three books I have read are very repetitive between them. What I mean by that is I Am That is repetitive within itself, I Am Not The Body repeats a lot of I Am That, and then the messages and quotes in Consciousness and the Absolute also repeat those two books a fair amount. The point of saying this is that if you want to start with just one book, start with Consciousness and the Absolute or I Am That, and I don’t think you’ll be missing too much.
Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj’s constant message is that you are not the physical body you inhabit (which he refers to as a “food body”). Instead, you are part of the universal consciousness, and through constant, intense meditation — not just on the cushion, but throughout your day — you can realize this yourself. Along with “you must be earnest” in your efforts, that simple message is repeated again and again throughout these books.
As a final note, as I’ve mentioned in other blog posts here, Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj’s “I Am” quote/mantra is similar to that of Zen Master Seung Sahn’s “What am I?”, and his his referal to a witness or witnessing is also consistent with Ram Dass’s statements.
books by alvin
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