The Experience of Nothingness (MLBD)

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj hardly needs an introduction S wisdom. Known as a any longer to lovers of the highest wisdo maverick Hindu sage, Nisargadatta is now generally acknowledged to rank with the greatest masters of advaita teachings, such as Sri Ramana Maharshi of Tiruvannamalai, Sri Atmananda of Trivandrum, and the more recently known disciple of the Maharshi, Poonjaji of Lucknow. In this latest work, the depth and sub subtlety of the treat-ment of the subject combined with the closely reasoned approach (as marvelously exemplified in the chapter “The Experience of Nothingness”) make these dialogues virtually unsurpassed in the spiritual literature. On a more mundane level, Maharaj addresses two points many have always found intriguing. People have wondered, and some even complained, about his apparently brusque manner with cer-tain visitors by not allowing them to stay with him for any extended length of time. In this volume Maharaj for the first time reveals the rationale for his actions. It occurred to me this might well have a bearing also on the way one reads these discourses. Optimally, small portions of the text should be digested at any one time, in order to let their sig-nificance sink in. Thus, one uses Maharaj more like a cata-lyst in the flowering of one’s own understanding and the consequent development of one’s convictions. In this way, the words acquire an extraordinary vitality and there is a corresponding responsiveness in the listener or reader.