The Ignorance that Isn’t – 7/8
Part – 6/8 13. The Logical Fallacy of Infinite Regress: While explicating further on the question of “Whose is avidyA (Ignorance)?” Shankara points out that the contention “I am ignorant” is a...
View ArticleThe Ignorance that Isn’t – 8/8
Part – 7/8 15. jIva and jagat are Notional (Contd): When Arjuna laments at the prospect of killing his loved ones in the war, Krishna tells him, “It was not that I was not existing before nor will I...
View ArticleConsciousness – Not such a Hard Problem (2 of 2)
Read Part 1 Without Consciousness, nothing can be known. But Consciousness itself cannot be an object of knowledge, just as in a totally dark room, a torch may illuminate everything but itself. Knowing...
View ArticleEXISTENCE / ESSENCE
Why do we exist? (Answers in Quora) You could equally have asked: Why do stones and trees… the earth, the universe exist? There is no answer to any of those questions – other than by the various...
View ArticleQ.446 satyam, j~nAnam anantam brahma
Q: Does the phrase satyam j~nAnam anantam brahma means truth-knowledge limitless or Existence-consciousness limitless? (The latter is the definition given by Swami Dayananda in one of the summer camp...
View ArticleIgnorance and the World
After the two long discussions on this fascinating topic, I would like to offer the following as my final word on the subject (hopefully!): The world is brahman – sarvam khalvidam brahma. So we can say...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Gaudapada and World Appearance
(Extract from the book) What exactly happens when a person is enlightened or ‘gains mokSha’? A popular, although somewhat incomprehensible, belief is that the world somehow ‘disappears’; that, for the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Mind and its Death
(K3.31 – K.32) Everything that we perceive, we perceive through the senses; everything that we ‘know’, we know through the mind. Consciousness functions through the mind – the concept known as...
View ArticleQ.494 Brahman and the World
Q: There is potential confusion between ‘knowing about it’ and actually ‘being it’; between ‘self-realization’ and ‘self-actualization’. ‘Knowing about it’ is in the mind, whereas ‘being it’ has...
View ArticleConsciousness, brahman and mokSha
The taittirIya Upanishad explains brahman as: सत्यं ज्ञानमनन्तं ब्रह्म । — 2.1.1, taittirIya upa. [Beingness, Knowingness and Infiniteness is brahman.] Unending Beingness and Knowingness is the nature...
View ArticleClik here to view.
‘Not Two’ – a Critical Review
On the face of it, this is a well-written and readable book, ideally suited for a new seeker. E.g. the sections on ‘The Illusory Nature of the Separate Self’ and ‘Knowledge Dispels Ignorance’ are...
View ArticleQ.457 Using meditation to ‘find the self’
Q: Undaunted by my belief that meditation to find the self (soul) is difficult, I would like to try, but there are no teachers in my area. Therefore, in the first instance, I would really appreciate...
View ArticleQ.458 Taoism
Q: I am just back from a vacation in Greece where I enjoyed a few days of reading Taoism: living in the spirit of Tao is the easy way of just floating with the stream of life. This means just living...
View ArticleQ. 497 Knowledge and Understanding
Q: Knowledge, which is in or of the mind or intellect, must ultimately be given up. So really, is it knowledge or just ‘pointers’ to the truth of things? Like the pole vaulter letting go of the pole to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Q.499 Svadharma
Q: On your website ‘Advaita vision’” in the article ‘Consciousness, Ego and Self-knowledge’ is the axiom mentioned that the subject (observer) is different from the object (observed): the Seer-Seen...
View ArticleDesire and Enlightenment
Following an extended, off-line discussion, I have added a new sub-section to Volume 1 of my next book, ‘Confusions in Advaita Vedanta’ and I am posting this below. I am currently in the process of...
View ArticleQ.502 Brahman and Awareness
Q1. Many advaita teachings suggest that on the absolute level of reality, there are no objects, no people, no selves, and many times, people will say that, ‘from awareness’ point of view, there is...
View ArticleQ.504 – Covid and Enlightenment
Q: According to Advaita, God is ONE, and manifestations are many. The term ‘God’ is also called ‘Consciousness/Awareness’. It is a fundamental principle that there is nothing beyond Consciousness;...
View ArticleQ.508 Direct Path vs Traditional – Pt. 1
Part 1 – Prerequisites for Enlightenment Q: I’ve been on the direct path (Krishna Menon, Jean Klein, Francis Lucille, Greg Goode, Rupert Spira) for about 3 years now and the journey has been...
View ArticleQ.511 Direct Path vs Traditional – Pt. 4
Part 4 – Experience Q: While I agree with your statement about philosophers over intellectualizing the truth, there is something about Greg’s writing that is so magnetic to me. I really think he is the...
View Article