Nisargadatta Maharajs Three-Year Journey to Realization

Dadi**: Guddu beta, how long do you think it takes to understand the deepest truth about yourself?

Guddu**: I don't know, Dadi. Years and years? A whole lifetime?

Dadi**: Many people spend their entire lives searching. But there was a man named Nisargadatta who did it in exactly three years. Tonight, I'll tell you how.

Guddu**: Three years? That's not very long!

Dadi**: The secret was not the time - it was the intensity. Nisargadatta was a simple bidi seller in Mumbai. He had no special education, no spiritual background. Just an ordinary man with an ordinary life.

Guddu**: What changed for him?

Dadi**: When he was thirty-four, a friend brought him to a Guru named Siddharameshwar Maharaj. The Guru gave him just one instruction: "You are not what you take yourself to be. Find out what you are. Watch the sense 'I am' and find your real self."

Guddu**: That's all? Just one instruction?

Dadi**: That's all, beta. But here's the key - Nisargadatta trusted his Guru completely. He didn't ask, "What does this mean?" He didn't argue or analyze. He simply did exactly what he was told.

Guddu**: What exactly did he do?

Dadi**: Every spare moment, he focused on the pure feeling of existing. Not "I am a shopkeeper" or "I am hungry" - just "I am." The simple sense of being alive, of existing. He would hold onto this feeling while working, while eating, while walking.

Guddu**: That sounds hard to do all the time!

Dadi**: Incredibly hard, beta. Most of us forget to focus even for five minutes. But Nisargadatta was like a dog with a bone - he wouldn't let go. Day after day, month after month, he kept his attention on this sense of "I am."

Guddu**: What happened after three years?

Dadi**: Something exploded inside him - not literally, but spiritually. He described it as suddenly seeing that he was not the limited person he thought he was. He was something infinite, something that had no beginning and no end.

Guddu**: Like becoming a god?

Dadi**: Not becoming, beta - realizing he always was. It's like a person who has been dreaming they are a beggar, then waking up to find they are actually a king. They were always the king - they just didn't know it.

Guddu**: Did his life change after that?

Dadi**: Outwardly, not much. He still ran his bidi shop. He still lived simply. But inwardly, everything had changed. He no longer felt he was the body that would die. He no longer worried about the future or regretted the past.

Guddu**: But his Guru died soon after, right?

Dadi**: Yes, Siddharameshwar Maharaj passed away not long after they met. But Nisargadatta said it made no difference. The Guru had given him the key. Once you have the key, you don't need the locksmith anymore.

Guddu**: What was the key exactly?

Dadi**: Trust and focus, beta. Trust in the Guru's words, and focus on the instruction given. Nisargadatta said, "My Guru told me I am nothing but my self, and I believed him. That's all."

Guddu**: It sounds so simple when you say it like that.

Dadi**: Simple to say, hard to do! Most people spend their whole lives thinking about the past and future. They never rest in the present moment, never ask "Who is having all these thoughts? Who am I really?"

Guddu**: Dadi, can I find out who I am too?

Dadi**: Of course, beta! But maybe start with smaller questions first. The beautiful thing about Nisargadatta's teaching is that he showed it's not about escaping life. It's about living life while knowing who you really are.

Guddu**: Three years... I'll be done by the time I'm your age!

Dadi**: Ha! Maybe sooner, maybe later. The timing doesn't matter. What matters is starting. Even asking the question "Who am I?" is a good beginning.

Guddu**: Goodnight, Dadi. I'm going to think about "I am" before I sleep!

Dadi**: Beautiful, beta. That's exactly where Nisargadatta started. Sweet dreams!