Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj quotes from “I Am That”

By Alvin Alexander. Last updated: August 2, 2024

The following are some favorite quotes from Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj and his book, I Am That.

And on a personal note, to think that I have come to understand all of these quotes in this lifetime is a little mind-blowing to me.

Here then are the quotes:

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj on how to practice

Give up all questions except one: constantly ask, “Who am I?”
Just remember that you are the witness only ... even for a moment, do not think that you are the body.
Go beyond the “I am the body” idea and you will find that space and time are in you, and not you in space and time. Once you understand this, the main obstacle to realization is removed.
You need nothing more, just remember that you are the witness only.
Abandon all sense of separation, see yourself in all, and act accordingly.

And this longer quote:

In the meantime, be satisfied with watching the flow of your life. If your watchfulness is deep and steady, ever turned towards the Source, it will gradually move upstream until suddenly it becomes the Source. Put your awareness to work, not your mind.

I believe this quote also comes from I Am That:

Do not prefer this body over any other body (where “this body” refers to “your body”).

To know that you are a prisoner of your mind, that you live in an imaginary world of your own creation, is the dawn of wisdom.
Once you know that death happens to the body and not to you, you just watch your body falling off like a discarded garment ... The real you is timeless and beyond birth and death. The body will survive as long as it is needed. It is not important that it should live long.
The ‘person’ is merely the result of a misunderstanding.
When the mind is quiet, we come to know ourselves as the pure witness.
There is only light and the light is all. Everything else is but a picture made of light.

I see only consciousness, and know everything to be but consciousness, as you know the picture on the cinema screen to be but light.
I am detached and see the passing show as a passing show.
I am not a person in your sense of the word, though I may appear a person to you. I am that infinite ocean of consciousness in which all happens.

Over time I hope to share more Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj quotes, but for today, this is a good start. :)