According to Nisargadatta, "awareness is the source of, but different
from, the personal, individual consciousness, which is identified with
the body. The mind and memory are responsible for association with a
particular body; awareness exists prior to both mind and memory. It is
only the idea that we are the body that keeps us from living what he
calls our "original essence"
This seems to agree with MMY's statement that we as individuals, being
determined by the three gunas, do not act at all. So, this was not a
radical notion - in fact, there is no such thing as a "doer". According
to Nisargadatta and other teachers of Vedanta, since "our true nature or
identity is not the mind, is not the body, but the witness of the mind
and body, we, as pure awareness, do nothing. "
Apparently a less well known disciple, Ramakant Maharaj, received the
/naam mantra/ from Nisargadatta in 1962 and spent the next 19 years
studying and meditating with the master. Go figure.
Nisargadatta Maharaj:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nisargadatta_Maharaj
