Compiled by Remez Sasson, author and founder of SuccessConsciousness.com
Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj Quotes on Awareness and Self-Realization
Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj (1897–1981) was one of India’s most profound spiritual teachers and a master of nonduality. Best known for his classic book I Am That, he taught that the essence of who we are is pure awareness — beyond body, mind, and ego.
Let these teachings guide you toward greater clarity, inner peace, and the realization of your limitless nature.
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Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj Quotes about Mind, Awareness, and Consciousness
Nisargadatta Maharaj often reminded seekers that consciousness is not something we create — it’s what we are. These quotes reveal the depth of his insight into awareness as the eternal reality behind all experience.
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“When the mind is kept away from its preoccupation, it becomes quiet.”
“Reality all is here and now, and all is one. Multiplicity and diversity are in the mind only.”
“The mind craves for formulations and definitions, always eager to squeeze reality into a verbal shape.”
“A quiet mind is all you need. All else will happen rightly once your mind is quiet. As the sun on rising makes the world active, so does self-awareness affect changes in the mind. In the light of calm and steady self-awareness, inner energies wake up and work miracles without effort on your part.”
“The mind covers up reality without knowing it. To know the nature of the mind, you need intelligence, the capacity to look at the mind in silent and dispassionate awareness.”
“Wisdom tells me I am nothing. Love tells me I am everything. And between the two my life flows.”
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“Awareness is ever there. It need not be realized. Open the shutter of the mind, and it will be flooded with light.”
“You will receive everything you need when you stop asking for what you do not need.”
“There is nothing to practice. To know yourself, be yourself. To be yourself, stop imagining yourself to be this or that. Just be. Let your true nature emerge. Don’t disturb your mind with seeking.”
“Look at your mind dispassionately; this is enough to calm it. When it is quiet, you can go beyond it. Do not keep it busy all the time. Stop it – and just be. If you give it a rest, it will settle down and recover its purity and strength. Constant thinking makes it decay.”
“The consciousness in you and the consciousness in me, apparently two, really one, seek unity and that is love.”
Spiritual Quotes by Nisargadatta Maharaj on Self and Reality
For Nisargadatta, discovering truth meant realizing the Self — that which never changes. The following quotes point inward, beyond the illusion of separateness, toward the silent, boundless reality that is your true nature.
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“The unchangeable can only be realized in silence. Once realized, it will deeply affect the changeable, itself remaining unaffected.”
“All that a guru can tell you is: ‘My dear Sir, you are quite mistaken about yourself. You are not the person you take yourself to be.'”
“Pleasure puts you to sleep and pain wakes you up. If you don’t want to suffer, don’t go to sleep.”
“This attitude of silent observation is the very foundation of yoga. You see the picture, but you are not the picture.”
“When self-control becomes second nature, awareness shifts its focus to deeper levels of existence and action.”
“It is always the false that makes you suffer, the false desires and fears, the false values and ideas, the false relationships between people. Abandon the false and you are free of pain; truth makes happy, truth liberates.”
“To locate a thing you need space, to place an event you need time; but the timeless and spaceless defies handling. It makes everything perceivable, yet itself is beyond perception. The mind cannot know what is beyond the mind, but the mind is known by what is beyond it.”
“The world is like a sheet of paper on which something is typed. The reading and the meaning will vary with the reader, but the paper is the common factor, always present, rarely perceived. When the ribbon is removed, typing leaves no trace on the paper. So is my mind – the impressions keep on coming, but no trace is left.”
Nisargadatta Maharaj Quotes on Detachment and Freedom
True freedom, according to Nisargadatta, is the absence of attachment — not withdrawal from life, but living in it without being bound by it. These words remind us that letting go is not loss, but liberation.
“Truth is not a reward for good behavior, nor a prize for passing some tests. It cannot be brought about. It is the primary, the unborn, the ancient source of all that is. You are eligible because you are. You need not merit truth.”
“Your first task is to see the sorrow in you and around you; your next, to long intensely for liberation. The very intensity of longing will guide you; you need no other guide.”
“You may die a hundred deaths without a break in the mental turmoil. Or, you may keep your body and die only in the mind. The death of the mind is the birth of wisdom.”
“There is no such thing as a person. There are only restrictions and limitations. The sum total of these defines the person. The person merely appears to be, like the space within the pot appears to have the shape and volume and smell of the pot.”
“You are not in the body, the body is in you! The mind is in you. They happen to you. They are there because you find them interesting.”
“Put your awareness to work, not your mind. The mind is not the right instrument for this task. The timeless can be reached only by the timeless. Your body and your mind are born subject to time; only awareness is timeless, even in the now.”
“Your first task is to see the sorrow in you and around you; your next, to long intensely for liberation. The very intensity of longing will guide you; you need no other guide.”
“To me nothing ever happens. There is something changeless, motionless, immovable, rock-like, unassailable; a solid mass of pure being-consciousness-bliss. I am never out of it. Nothing can take me out of it, no torture, no calamity.”
“All you have to do is to give attention to the obstacles created by the foolish mind.”
“Steady faith is stronger than destiny. Destiny is the result of causes, mostly accidental, and is therefore loosely woven. Confidence and good hope will overcome it easily.”
“Whatever happens, happens to you by you, through you; you are the creator, enjoyer and destroyer of all you perceive.”
“Don’t ask the mind to confirm what is beyond the mind. Direct experience is the only valid confirmation.”
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The Emotional Detachment GuideQuotes on Desire and the Ego
The ego and its endless desires veil our natural state of joy. Nisargadatta’s words expose the illusion of the “I” that seeks and struggles, showing how awareness alone dissolves the false sense of self.
“The consciousness in you and the consciousness in me, apparently two, really one, seek unity and that is love.”
“You have projected onto yourself a world of your own imagination, based on memories, on desires and fears, and you have imprisoned yourself in it. Break the spell and be free.”
“Detach yourself from all that makes your mind restless. Renounce all that disturbs its peace. If you want peace, deserve it. By being a slave to your desires and fears, you disturb peace.”
“When I see I am nothing, that is wisdom. When I see I am everything, that is love. My life moves between these two.”
Quotes on Inner Peace and Truth
Peace, for Nisargadatta, isn’t something to be found — it’s what remains when we stop identifying with thoughts and fears. These quotes illuminate the stillness of being, where truth quietly abides.
“Freedom is from something. Liberation is not from anything. It is understanding that there is nothing from which to be liberated.”
“The desire for truth is the highest of all desires, yet, it is still a desire. All desires must be given up for the real to be. When all search ceases, it is the Supreme State.”
“To see Reality is as simple as to see one’s face in a mirror. Only, the mirror must be clear and true. A quiet mind, undistorted by desires and fears, free from ideas and opinions, clear on all the levels, is needed to reflect the Reality. Be clear and quiet; alert and detached, all else will happen by itself.”
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The eBook for Calming Your MindNisargadatta Maharaj Quotes on Spirituality and Life
“The world has only as much power over you as you give it. Rebel. Go beyond duality.”
“The sense of ‘I am’ is your own. You cannot part with it, but you can impart it to anything, as in saying, I am young; I am rich, and so on. But such self-identifications are patently false and the cause of bondage.”
“You cannot transcend what you do not know. To go beyond yourself, you must know yourself.”
“The sun is always there, there is no night to it; the mind blinded by the ‘I-am-the-body’ idea spins out endlessly its thread of illusion.”
“Past and future are in the mind only – I am now.”
“Give up all ideas about yourself and simply 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.”
“To know that you are a prisoner of your mind is the dawn of wisdom.”
“The attitude of silent observation is the very foundation of yoga. You see the picture, but you are not the picture.”
“Between the banks of pain and pleasure the river of life flows. It is only when the mind refuses to flow with life, and gets stuck at the banks, that it becomes a problem.”
“Suffering is due entirely to clinging or resisting. It is a sign of our unwillingness to move on, to flow with life.”
“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.”
Frequently Asked Questions About Nisargadatta Maharaj
Who was Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj?
He was an Indian spiritual master known for teaching the path of self-realization through awareness. His dialogues, recorded in I Am That, have inspired millions to discover the truth of who they are.
What is the main message of Nisargadatta Maharaj?
He taught that you are not the body or the mind, but the timeless awareness in which all experiences appear. Recognizing this truth brings freedom from fear and suffering.
How can I apply his teachings in daily life?
Observe your thoughts, emotions, and desires as passing events — not as who you are. This self-observation reveals inner stillness and detachment from the ego.
What does nonduality mean in his teachings?
Nonduality means there is no separation between the self and the world. All is one consciousness — infinite, still, and ever-present.
Conclusion — Living the Wisdom of Nisargadatta Maharaj
Nisargadatta Maharaj didn’t offer philosophy to be memorized but truth to be realized. His teachings call us to look directly into consciousness itself — to see that the witness, the thinker, and the doer are all one awareness.
When you stop chasing experiences and rest as the awareness behind them, clarity arises naturally. His words are not about becoming something new, but remembering what you already are: infinite, silent, and free.
“Wisdom says I am nothing. Love says I am everything. Between the two, my life flows.” — Nisargadatta Maharaj
For deeper exploration of these teachings, read Living the Truth of Nonduality — a practical course inspired by the wisdom of Nisargadatta Maharaj, Raman Maharshi, and other masters of self-realization.
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About the Author - Remez Sasson
Founder of SuccessConsciousness.com, Remez Sasson has spent decades exploring and teaching the art of mental mastery, inner peace, meditation, and conscious living. Through his articles, books, courses, and weekly lessons, he offers practical guidance and inspiration to help you grow, awaken, and create the life you truly want.