The Navnath Sampradaya Lineage
The Nath Lineage is said to date back to the legendary Avadhut Dattatreya and only came to be known as the Navnath (meaning ‘nine-masters’) when in the remote past 9 masters were chosen by followers as exemplars of their sect. The word Sampradaya means an established teaching propagated from master to disciple. Though the Navnath Lineage is Tantric, in recent times the Inchgiri branch which came through Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj's guru, Sri Siddharameshwar Maharaj, has been popularized as Advaita Vedanta. Many offshoots and sub-sects of the Naths have arisen spontaneously in service to Awakening. Though the style and methods of Navnath Gurus vary, the teachings are simple and direct. Historically, teachers traveled on foot from village to village propagating the teachings until they were no longer able to. If one or more disciples were ready, they would be asked to “carry on the teachings”.
In 1980 Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj designated Jean Dunn to carry on the teachings. Prior to this, at his request, she edited and published his talks in the books Seeds of Consciousness, Prior to Consciousness, and Consciousness and the Absolute.
In 1995, Jean Dunn designated Ngeton to carry on the teachings.
In 2017, Ngeton designated Nancy Jill Sundberg to carry on the teachings.
“I am deeply honored to carry on the teachings in the Spiritual Lineage of the Navnath Sampradaya at the request of my Beloved Mother and Guru, Karma Ngeton Chodren. My life with her changed my fundamental understanding and perception of myself, the world, and the nature of existence. The last 20 years with her were the most intense and illuminating time of my life. I was immersed in spiritual teachings, meditation practice, service, and her Graceful transmission of Love, Wisdom, and Compassion.”
Nancy has been teaching since late 2019.
About Nancy
Lineage
Homage
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Ngeton
1939 - 2019
Ngeton, pronounced Nay-tone, born Joan Louise Mackay and mother of five children, was given her name by His Holiness the 16th Karmapa. Ngeton means “Original Mind”. Ngeton was graced to meet many Masters of various traditions from whom she received Initiations, teachings, and practices. These included His Holiness the 16th Karmapa, His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche, His Holiness Sakya Trizin, Tarthang Tulku Rinpoche, Dilgo Kyentse Rinpoche, Gyaltrul Rinpoche, Soygal Rinpoche, Ruchira Avatar Adi Da Samraj (Da Free John), Muktananda and H.W.L. Poonjaji.
In 1991, she met her final teacher and beloved Guru, Jean Dunn who was a disciple of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj.
In the free and spontaneous way of the Naths, Ngeton utilized various Wisdom Teachings and methods to assist others in attaining Spiritual Liberation. Her presence of Love, Compassion and Joy was pervasive and palpable. Ngeton would lend insight, wisdom and clarity to all of those who came into her Presence.
Jean Dunn
1921 -1996
Jean Dunn lived in India a number of years before she met Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj. During those years, she lived at Tiruvannamalai as a devotee of Ramana Maharshi. In 1977, after numerous invitations to go to meet the great sage Nisargadatta, she made the trip from southern India to Bombay and met her Guru.
Jean wrote of meeting Nisargadatta, "Loved him on site”.
Jean Dunn edited the talks of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj. The books include, “Seeds of Consciousness”, “Prior to Consciousness” and “Consciousness and the Absolute”. Nisargadatta Maharaj acknowledged Jean as realizing her True Nature and told her she was to carry on his work for him. After Nisargadatta left the body, Jean lived the rest of her life making the teachings available from her home in Vacaville, California.
Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
1897 - 1983
"One of the most revered holy men in India, Sri Nisargadatta held conversations with the seekers who came to him from all over the world in his modest dwelling in a run-down section of Bombay." (from the book jacket of Seed of Consciousness; The Wisdom of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, edited by Jean Dunn)
"Maharaj was whatever was needed: kind, gentle, patient, abrupt, abrasive, impatient. Moods passed over him like summer breeze, barely touching him.
The force of his message resounds with his singleness of purpose: 'Give up all you have read and just BE. You, as the Absolute, are not this I Amness, but presently you have to abide in I Amness". (From the introduction to Consciousness and the Absolute: The Final Talks of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, edited by Jean Dunn)
"Jean, who was with Maharaj during his last years, observed that during this time, Maharaj did not entertain any questions pertaining to worldly life and it's improvement, and exclusively taught the highest truth. 'Even one sentence was like an Upanishad.' He was very blunt and sharp in his answers and did not cater to anyone's ego - in fact, his stated purpose was to destroy this 'Pseudo-entity'." (from the book jacket of Prior to Consciousness: Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, edited by Jean Dunn)
Sri Siddharameshwar Maharaj
1888 - 1936
"This world is like a dream and hence in this dreamworld, whatever is good or bad, Dharma or Adharma, merit or sin, morality — are of no consequence for the awakening of the Self. And therefore renunciation of both auspicious and unauspicious, good and bad, is necessary to get the knowledge of Self."Quote from Master Key to Self-Realization"Shri Siddharameshwar Maharaj was the disciple of Shri Bhausaeheb Maharaj who mainly taught the path of meditation as a means to realization...After the passing of his master in the year 1914, Siddharameshwar Maharaj continued meditating on the teachings of his Master. In 1918, he renounced the world and joined his brother disciples to popularize his Master's teachings. In the year 1920 ... he got the idea that one could go beyond the path of many years of long mediation as a means for realization and that meditation is an initial stage to attain Final Reality...After his realization, Siddharameshwar Maharaj began teaching that...one could attain Final Reality very quickly through the path of "The Bird's Way", which is primarily of listening to the teachings of the Sadguru, as well as utilizing the power of discrimination (Viveka), combined with thoughtfulness and investigation into one's True Nature (Vichara)." (From the preface to Master Key to Self-Realization, by Shri Siddharameshwar Maharaj.
The Nine Masters