Just Obeyed

In Honor of Guru Purnima, July 9, 2017

"Maruti Shivrampant Kambli (Nisargadatta Maharaj) was introduced to his guru, Sri Siddharameshwar Maharaj, the head of the Inchegeri branch of the Navnath Sampradaya, by Maruti's friend Yashwantrao Baagkar. He was given simple instructions which he followed verbatim. Following his guru's instructions to concentrate on "I Am", he utilized all his spare time looking at himself in silence, and remained in that state for the coming years, practicing meditation and singing devotional bhajans.

He said : ""My guru ordered me to attend to the sense 'I Am' and to give attention to nothing else. I just obeyed, I did not follow any particular course of breathing or meditation, or study of scriptures. Whatever happened, I would turn my attention from it and remain with the sense 'I Am'....Keep empty, keep available, resist not what comes uninvited. In the end you reach a state of non-grasping, of joyful non-attachment, of inner ease and freedom, indescribable, yet wonderfully real. It may look too simple, even crude. My only reason for doing it was that my Guru told me so. Yet it worked!"

After an association of nearly two and a half years, Sri Siddharameshwar Maharaj passed away on Nov 9, 1936. Soon he adopted a new name, 'Nisargadatta' meaning the one who dwells in the natural state."

"Guru Purnima is an Indian and Nepalese festival dedicated to spiritual and academic teachers. This festival is traditionally celebrated by Hindus, Jains and Buddhists, to pay their respects to their teachers and express their gratitude. The festival is celebrated on the full moon day (Purnima) in the Hindu month of Ashadha (June–July) of the Shaka Samvat, as it is known in the Hindu calendar of India and Nepal. This day marks the first peak of the lunar cycle after the peak of the solar cycle."

~ Wikipedia

"The Guru is honored on the full moon in July when the moon is closest to the Earth, the time to worship God in form, which is all things in creation. Today we honor our own mature divine selves. The Self that like a full moon parting through the clouds shines equally on all it touches.  Shining so brilliantly and clearly that all still waters reflect its brilliance with no difference lying in between. One moon, one water, one seeing of both. May all beings realize the simple but profound truth that we are all One even though we appear as many. And that what we are is love incarnate."

"Siddharameshwar was born in 1888 in the village Pathri, Solapur, India. Since his childhood he was very intelligent and had very sharp imbibe abilities. In 1906 he was initiated by his guru 'Shri Bhausaheb Maharaj' in Inchagiri in Karnataka India, who taught mantra meditation as the way to reach Final Reality. He was one of the contemporaries of Sri Ramana Maharshi. In 1920 Siddharameshwar started to set out on "the Bird's Path", the fast way to attain realization, six years after Bhauhaseb maharaj had died. His fellow-students opposed, but eventually he succeeded by himself. Siddharameshwar died in 1936 at the age of 48, giving his understanding to his disciples. It is said that dozens of his disciples became self-realized through his clear and lucid teaching. His samadhi shrine today is located at Banganga, Walkeshwar in Mumbai."

 "One word is sufficient from the Master. Words can cut words, thoughts can cut thoughts in a fraction of a second. It can take you beyond the words, that is yourself. In meditation you have to eventually submerge your ego, the meditator, and the action of the meditation, and finally yourself. It is a long way, and in this world now people have no time to do that. The world is going so fast now. So my Master found the shortest way." ~ Sri Siddharameshwar Maharaj

Photos:
~ Sri Siddharamesvar Maharaj (1888-1936)
~ young Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj seated in his shrine room by the altar featuring a framed, garlanded image of his Guru, Sri Siddharamesvar Maharaj