Conversation with ‘H’ (Knower, Witness) Prelude & Part 1
H. ‘… as regards the somewhat artificial distinction (ontologically speaking) that I make between awareness and consciousness, then this is something I do of my own choosing, accepting that there is an...
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Vedanta the Solution – Part 51
VEDĀNTA the solution to our fundamental problem by D. Venugopal Part 51 explains the roles of action and knowledge in attaining mokSha. Shankara provides the reasoning why the function of karma is to...
View ArticleQ.461 A jIvanmukta’s prArabdha
Q: I have the following doubt. I look forward to your comments. Having completed the study of Tattva Bodha, this mumukshu has a doubt with regard to karma – sanchita, prarabdha and agami. The...
View Article1) Knowledge and the Vedas; 2) Is everything metaphysical?
Do the Vedas really contain any advanced knowledge as so many people claim they do? (Quora) I would say the Vedas contain the most fundamental and ‘advanced’ knowledge there is, though usually...
View ArticleQ.443 A ‘simple summary of advaita’
Q: Based on your own search and discoveries over all of these years, and the writing of all of the books and blogs, if you had to summarize all of this, the truth of life, what would you say? A: Not...
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Vedanta the Solution – Part 56
VEDĀNTA the solution to our fundamental problem by D. Venugopal Part 56 concludes the examination of the idea that enlightenment involves an ‘experience’ – this is a misunderstanding of the concept of...
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samAdhi (part 1)
Experience versus knowledge – a brief look at samAdhi I do not know an awful lot about neo-Vedanta. The term is generally applied to the teaching ‘introduced’ by Swami Vivekananda and carried on by the...
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samAdhi (part 2)
Experience versus knowledge – a brief look at samAdhi (Part 2) (Read Part1) Here is the 364th verse of the vivekachUDAmaNi, as translated by Swami Ranganathananda, of Ramakrishna Math: “Reflection...
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samAdhi Again – 1
samAdhi is a highly technical term in Yoga and also in Vedanta. However, paradoxically, the word does not stand to convey the same ‘concept’ in a rigid and fixed manner in all its occurrences across...
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samAdhi Again – 2
Part 1 We shall present in this Part – 2 how the word samAdhi is used in Yogavasishta (Yogavasishta is available as a pdf at this site). The word samAdhi occurs very ubiquitously in this text. It is...
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samAdhi Again – 3
Part – 2 Many misconceptions and misunderstandings appear to be prevailing about Yoga and samAdhi in Advaita. We shall take up in this Part of our Series, an assortment of those topics in no...
View ArticleShankara and Mind
In his comments on the post ‘SamAdhi Again (Part 2)‘, Venkat said: “Dayananda has nothing useful to say about realisation. All of his statements are his mundane interpretations that don’t reconcile to...
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The Chrysalis (Part 3)
Read Part 2 The sheath-related verses in the Panchadashi occur in Chapter 1: The five sheaths of the Self are those of the food, the vital air, the mind, the intellect and bliss. Enveloped in them, it...
View ArticleDoership and personal responsibility
Q. Is the standpoint of the Vedanta man not the doer? If so, where does his/her personal responsibility begin and end? (from Quora) A. Individual man is a doer (and an enjoyer) so long as s/he...
View ArticleQ.471 More on Consciousness versus consciousness
Q: Many Vedanta teachers, nonduality, and especially Direct Path teachers answer the question “Who am I?” with these kinds of constructs: ‘I am that which is aware of objects. I am the awareness of...
View ArticleExperience vs. Knowledge
Q. ‘Is finding true self also a feeling or emotion?’ Quora SK. Emotions and feelings are deeper than thoughts. Attachments and aversions are deeper than emotions and feelings. True self is deeper than...
View ArticleDebate with a crypto-Buddhist – 3
You raise a lot of questions, and I will go about them one by one, hoping you won’t mind. 1). Everything is a belief until the belief is replaced by a conviction based on an experience – or...
View Article‘sAdhana in Advaita’ – 1/6:
[This Series of posts is based on Shri Yellamraju Srinivasa Rao (YSR)’s Audio Talk in Telugu – An Overview of The Advaita Doctrine – 4/192 .The write up here is a free translation after slight...
View Article‘sAdhana in Advaita’ – 2/6:
[Part – 1/6] In order to experience the Self, AtmAnubhava, we should first know where the “I” is. If the ‘I’ is not already with us, we have to make an effort to obtain it. In general, there are three...
View ArticleQ. 480 Being ‘present’
Q: I feel that reading and writing feeds the mind. But, when I am in Presence I don’t feel the need to read and don’t really have anything to say. For me this is a problem, since reading and writing...
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