Why, after 1973 and before his death in 1981, did Nisargadatta change his style of teaching, and why did he do so so dramatically?

I talked to Maurice Frydman [who edited and translated I Am That] some four years back and he edited my words, emphasizing certain points and adding his own ideas, in the book ‘I Am That.’ That book and whatever was expounded at the time was only relevant for that period. I am speaking differently today. As a matter of fact, this should also have been recorded and published as it is in greater detail, and is emphasizing different aspects.

Nisargadatta, Beyond Freedom: Talks With Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

As can be gleaned from Nisargadatta’s remarks, the late teaching is quite different from that which is to be found in I Am That. It behooves us to ask, therefore: Why did Nisargadatta ‘change course’? That is, what led him to largely revamp his teaching after the publication of I Am That? 

Though this question really requires rigorous, careful treatment, let me offer only a few points here:

1. Nisargadatta, I argue, saw that starting at and entertaining questions from the bodymind level was fraught with difficulty. While he may have attempted to ‘raise his interlocutor up one level to I Am’ as was the case in I Am That, surely this deconstructive approach–use speech to ‘unseat’ his interlocutor from his fundamental bodymind assumptions–must have often foundered quite often. He may have reached two conclusions: first, that his method was ineffective and, second, that it was a long cut.

2. Could there be a method, then, that was not only more effective but also a shortcut? I lay out what I think that method looks like in 3-7.

3. When a newcomer arrives, insist that he or she remain in silence during the open days of the satsang. In this way, he would naturally “discover” I Amness.

4. Once an interlocutor was “ripe enough,” he or she would be in a position to ask questions from the stand in I Amness. Then Maharaj would actually insist that he or she start asking questions.

5. Now, there are only two permissible question types. One, now that I’ve “discovered” I Amness, how do I get established in I Amness? Or: what is I Amness really like? Two, what is beyond I Amness? Or: how do I go beyond I Amness?

6. As for what I Amness is, Nisargadatta will speak of “three qualities”: consciousness (or knowingness), presence (or beingness), and life force (or, let’s say, Shakti energy). These, to be clear, aren’t three different things but are instead three different aspects of the same thing. They invite those of different spiritual temperaments to sink into whichever “aspect”–consciousness, presence, or life force–that is most natural.

7. As for going beyond I Amness, either (a) just be (i.e., be fully established in beingness) or (b) inquire into what is prior to the emergence of I Amness (i.e., deeply wonder, non-mentally so and from your stand as I Amness, about what the Source truly is).