London University and retired banker, met Sri
Nisargadatta in 1970. He became entrusted with
recording the conversations of Nisargadatta, the
guru’s primary method of teaching. Many of these
were later published in the book I Am That (1972),
which has become a classical treatise on how one
person can realize the non-dual reality outside
time and space. As more Westerners encountered
Maharaj they furthered his teachings by translat-
ing his conversations into English, publishing
them throughout North America and Europe.
After Nisargadatta Maharaj’s death, Balsekar
continued his guru’s teachings and established the
ADVAITA Fellowship in 1987. Since that time he has
made annual visits to America and has become
esteemed as a teacher of advaita Vedanta. The
fellowship has its headquarters in Bombay (Mum-
bai), India, and in Redondo Beach, California.
Further reading: Ramesh S. Balsekar and Sudhakar S.
Dikshit, Explorations into the Eternal: Forays from the
Teaching of Nisargadatta Maharaj (Bombay: Chetana,
1987); Ramesh S. Balsekar and Sudhaker S. Dikshit,
Pointers from Nisargadatta Maharaj: Maharaj Points to
the Eternal Truth That Is Before Time Ever Was (Durham,
N.C.: Acorn Press, 1990); Jean Dunn and Nisargadatta
Maharaj, Seeds of Consciousness: The Wisdom of Sri
Nisargadatta Maharaj (New York: Grove Press, 1982);
Nisargadatta Maharaj, I Am That. Translated by Maurice
Frydman (Bombay: Chetana, 1973).
Nityananda, Swami Bhagawan (c. 1900–
1961) Shaivite siddha yogi
Swami Bhagawan Nityananda was an inspiring
teacher of siddha yoga MEDITATION, who attracted
thousands of followers and disciples.
The early years of Bhagawan Nityananda are
shrouded in mystery of the sort that often charac-
terizes the life of a saint from village India. From
interviews with people who knew him in his early
years, it appears that he was born near the turn
of the 20th century in the town of Qualandi in
Kerala state, South India, to parents who worked
as servants in the house of a lawyer, Ishwara Iyer.
His childhood name was Ram.
Even as a child Ram lived in an exalted state.
Swami MUKTANANDA, Nityananda’s successor,
wrote of his GURU, “Beyond a shadow of a doubt
he was a born SIDDHA [a person who is spiritually
perfected]. Even though he was a self-born siddha
still he had to have a guru.... It is the spiritual
law—one has to have a guru.” Nityananda consid-
ered his teacher to be Ishwara Iyer, who was not
only his patron but also a devout BRAHMIN and a
proficient YOGI. It was he who gave Nityananda his
name. The story is that after spending a number
of years in the HIMALAYAS, Nityananda returned to
Qualandi to see Iyer, who was ill and praying for
him to return. When Iyer saw the young yogi, heSwami Bhagawan Nityananda (c. 1900–1961),
renowned devotee of Lord Shiva and siddha yogi
(Kashi Church, Sebastian, Florida)Nityananda, Swami Bhagawan 315 J