For over two decades Shri Nisargadatta Maharaj gave discourses at five o’clock every evening at his home in Mumbai. Smt. Jayashri Gaitonde found these talks so interesting that she resolved to try her utmost not to skip a single one. Maharaj spoke in Marathi, the local language of Bombay city, and generally someone reliable would be chosen by Maharaj to translate his words into English.

At that time there were no tape recorders available at the venue so Jayashri-ji decided to take down meticulous notes of Maharaj’s meditations, as they were spoken in Marathi, for her own use. Later, after Maharaj passed away, she decided to jot down these meditations in a notebook. These were published in Marathi as Amrutvarsha. The book you hold in your hands is the English translation of Amrutvarsha.

Maharaj spoke spontaneously and effortlessly. His powerful words, bearing the rare authority of the Self-realized, seared their way into your consciousness, peeling layer after layer of ignorance to reveal the Truth. His Teaching was profound yet simple and direct. All it required was attentive listening; it prescribed neither any spiritual practice nor any ritual.

The meditations in this book bring alive the vibrancy of Maharaj’s words and chip away at the false sense of ‘I Am-ness’ which is at the root of all ignorance. As Maharaj would pointedly ask his listeners, “Are we not, before knowing that we are?