The Ultimate Medicine: Dialogues with a Realized Master

by I . Nisargadat Maharaj Sr., Peter Md Madill (Foreword), Robert Powell (Editor)

The Ultimate Medicine is not for those who like their spirituality watered down, but for serious students searching for awareness. Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj (1897-1981) lived and taught in a small apartment in the slums of Bombay. A realized master of the Tantric Nath lineage, he supported himself and his family by selling cheap goods in a small booth on the streets outside his tenement for many years. His life exemplified the concept of absolute nonduality of being. In this volume, Maharaj shares the highest truth of nonduality in his own unique way. His teaching style is abrupt, provocative, and immensely profound, cutting to the core and wasting little effort on inessentials. His terse but potent sayings are known for their ability to trigger shifts in consciousness, just by hearing or reading them."The point is that man freed from his fetters is morality personified. Such a man therefore does not need any moralistic injunctions in order to live righteously. Free a man from his bondage and thereafter everything else will take care of itself. On the other hand, man in his unredeemed state cannot possibly live morally, no matter what moral teaching he is given. It is an intrinsic impossibility, for his very foundation is immorality. That is, he lives a lie, a basic functioning in all his relationships as the separate entity he believes himself to be, whereas in reality no such separation exists. His every action therefore does violence to other 'selves' and other 'creatures,' which are only manifestations of the unitary consciousness. So Society had to invent some restraints in order to protect itself from its own worst excesses and thereby maintain some kind of status quo. The resulting arbitrary rules, which vary with place and time and therefore are purely relative, it calls 'morality,' and by upholding this man-invented 'idea' as the highest good–oftentimes sanctioned by religious 'revelation' and scriptures–society has provided man with one more excuse to disregard the quest for liberation or relegate it to a fairly low priority in his scheme of things."

Genres: Spirituality, Philosophy, Self Help, Hinduism, Eastern Philosophy, Nonfiction

225 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 1996

Reviews

[Jaku · Rating 5 out of 5]

Woah! This book is like a powerful psychoactive substance inasmuch as if it is read with a sincere open mind and sincere open heart its words will permeate the reader's most subtle consciousness and begin a process of deprogramming the cultural belief systems each individual has received since birth. Maharaj keeps knocking down the obscurations of the habitual functionings of consciousness and pointing the reader back to their most essential essence without replacing it with another idea to cling to. Potent nondual teachings so transcendent of the words represented by symbols on paper. Is this really happening?

[Tarık Ay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this book after finishing I Am That. As his health was deteriorating, Nisargadatta wastes no time answering redundant questions and cuts right to the chase. He says, your one and only self dwells underneath your thoughts and feelings that you carry and that are associated with your body, abide only in that self and drop everything else, drop the whole idea and the image that you carry about yourself. You are not an individual, but a manifestation of consciousness. Nisargadatta is not for those who attach to their concepts and belief systems, you need an open mind with the will power to destroy its concepts that come from an accumulated past.

[Matthew Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Keep this book in my car. It reallly shakes the dust off the presnt moment.

[Dean Paradiso · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent renditions of further talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, which were recorded during the last few years of his life in the 80s. This book contains some teachings that are not apparent in other talks, especially related to the role of the "vital breath"/"life force", and how this can be used in conjunction with prior teachings on the "I am". One of my favourite SNM talks books.

[Ranjana Ramanathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book indeed !! Some very deep and powerful insights about the truth that were very useful. However the very act of being born and identifying with the mind - body complex is described as the birth of misery and the self is said to be the absolute and one with totality. This is great but incomplete in my view as ultimately the purpose of life is to express...to free flow...the real self (described in this book as the absolute and manifest brhman) can only express through the mind body complex and so being born into the mind body complex and yet not identifying with it at all. Being in the body and yet being rooted in the formless is our most natural state and hence the purpose of life.This state is the real motivation for life. Ignoring or not honouring this aspect (which the book does not address)brings a sort of passivity/ dry detachment and lack of responsibility in the way we live.

[Phil Calandra · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Ultimate Medicine" is Sri Nisargadatta's discussion of Advaita Vedanta Philosophy. The essential theme and basic principal of the book is that we should not identify with the body nor with the mind because this is not our basic reality. However, Sri Nisagardatta's explanations appear cryptic, convoluted and often contradictory. Also, very little is gained from Nisagardatta's conversations with visitors who he often berates for seemingly appropriate questions. Instead Sri Nisargadatta is staunch in terms of his own experience and gives little practical advice in terms of how one can achieve self realization. Perhaps Nisargadatta's failing health and the fact that he spoke through and interpreter added to this confusion; however, I would not recommend this book. I believe better choices would be "The Nisagardatta Gita" by Pradeep Apte and the Nature of Consciousness by Rupert Spira

[Daniel Prasetyo · Rating 5 out of 5]

The message of this book is clear, you will learn a lot from realized master, but this book is more than just a dialogues, this book open many possibilites to challenge your belief, it is kind of book that will be always re-read every time, his teachings is very unique, and he always speak from his own realization, so you can't compare Maharaj with other gurus, the style of Maharaj in this book is always consistent: Direct, provocative, cutting to the core and wasting little effort on inessentials.

[Murali · Rating 3 out of 5]

One for hard-core followers of Maharaj and Advaita vedanta.

[Thomas Radzienda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my third reading of this book over the last several years. I would be a fool to say that I truly understand what he is teaching. Certainly I understand the words, but the underlying reality to which he points is still beyond my grasp.

Of course the reason for this weak understanding is the depth of his teaching; it's not exactly something that you can grasp intellectually and say that you got it. As he insists in chapter after chapter, the ultimate reality must be experienced. The way to do that is to leave to of identification with the body-mind. For me, this resonates with Buddhist teachings of anatta, the non-self. In both cases, intellectual understanding barely scratches the surface. Ergo, we need to do quite a bit of meditation, and reach a level of mind where we can loosen our attachment to our notion of self as "I the one who is meditating and thinking."

Would I recommend this book? Well, it is certainly a valuable book that is very helpful for certain readers but might be quite off-putting to readers who are not deeply interested or strongly committed to transcending their present sense of personal identity. If you are searching deep inside your mind-soul-essence for the deepest comprehension of reality, then this master is very suitable for you.

[Francis G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful rendering of the teachings of one of the greatest sages of the 20th century

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

One for the serious seeker

[Deekshit]

The quintessance of being in as many words ❤️

[#DÏ4B7Ø Chinnamasta-Bhairav · Rating 5 out of 5]

~}- - - - - - - - - - - - - -:}|{:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -{~
~}-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-{~
~}--- :}|{:-:}|{:- * FOLLOW 4 FOLLOW * -:}|{:-:}|{: ---{~
~}-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-{~
~}--------:}|{:-:}|{:- * LINKS * -:}|{:-:}|{:----------{~
~}-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-{~
~}- - - - - - - - - - - - - -:}|{:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -{~
***********************************************

~} * -:}|{}|{:=:}|{}|{:- * - * -:}|{}|{:=:}|{}|{:- * {~
* -} https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xA_y-... {- *

~} * -:}|{}|{:=:}|{}|{:- * - * -:}|{}|{:=:}|{}|{:- * {~

* -:}|{}|{:=:}|{}|{:- *

* -:}|{}|{:- ^ AUDIOBOOK ^ -:}|{}|{:- *

~}- - - - - - - - - - - - - -:}|{:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -{~

~}-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-{~

~}- - - - - - - - - - - - - -:}|{:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -{~

* -:}|{}|{:- * SUMMARY * -:}|{}|{:- *

~}- - - - - - - - - - - - - -:}|{:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -{~

* -:}|{:- * RATING * -:}|{:- * 21/10 * -:}|{:- *

~}- - - - - - - - - - - - - -:}|{:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -{~

* -:}|{}|{: =EXPERIENCES=&=DISCERNMENTS= :}|{}|{:- *

* -:}|{}|{: = THE EXPEREINCE WAS ALMOST PSYCEDELIC - OR JUST STATE ALTERING - CAN TASTE ITS PROBABLY NOT THE MOVING 2 THE NEXT STAGE RATHER JUST A TASTE OR TRANSMITION THAT COMES FROM TRYING ON THE FRAMES POINTED 2 IN THIS BOOK - IN SUCH A DIRECT WA= }|{}|{:- *

~}- - - - - - - - - - - - - -:}|{:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -{~

* -} https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VWrl... {- *

* -:}|{}|{:=:}|{}|{:- *

* -} Gestalt Psychology Simplified with Examples and Principles {- *

* -:}|{}|{: = MY SYNTHESISED ( ^ GESTALT ^ ) OF THE * -:}|{}|{:=:}|{}|{:- * ( WAY THE AUTHOR FRAMES = HIS WRITING PERSPECTIVES ) & ( POINTERS & IMPLICATIONS = the conclusion that can be drawn IMPLICITYLY from something although it is not EXPLICITLY stated ) = :}|{}|{:- *

* -:}|{}|{: = ? = }|{}|{:- *

~}- - - - - - - - - - - - - -:}|{:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -{~

~}-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-{~

~}- - - - - - - - - - - - - -:}|{:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -{~

To SEE a WORLD in a Grain of Sand,
And a HEAVEN in a Wild Flower,
Hold INFINITY in the palm of your hand
And ETERNITY in an Hour"
~ William Blake ~

~}- - - - - - - - - - - - - -:}|{:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -{~

“Wisdom tells me I am nothing. Love tells me I am everything. And between the two my life flows.” Nisargadatta Maharaj

~}- - - - - - - - - - - - - -:}|{:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -{~

Form is Emptiness; Emptiness is form.
Form is not different than Emptiness;
Emptiness is not different than form
~ Heart Sutra ~

Like the ocean and its waves,
inseparable yet distinct

~}- - - - - - - - - - - - - -:}|{:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -{~

" I and The Father are one,
I am The Truth,
The Life and The Path.”

Like a river flowing from its source,
connected and continuous

~}- - - - - - - - - - - - - -:}|{:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -{~

Thy kingdom come.
Let the reign of divine
Truth, Life, and Love
be established in me,
and rule out of me all sin;
and may Thy Word
enrich the affections of all mankind

A mighty oak tree standing firm against the storm,
As sunlight scatters the shadows of night
A river nourishing the land it flows through

~}- - - - - - - - - - - - - -:}|{:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -{~

~}-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-{~

[Laurens Curteis · Rating 5 out of 5]

nisargadatta's teachings are very clear and very simple. a great read

[Rohit Balyan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome.. simply a masterpiece .... must read book after "I am That" & whatever u don't unerstand in it.. u will become far more clear from the "Ultimate Medicine".

[Carmel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even better than I Am That.