Living In Truth
Adapted from the chapter Living in Truth from the book The Vital Spark Written in 1990 The writer recently visited Gothenburg in Sweden and the large amusement park which is a feature of the town. Such places are really temples of illusion, which exert an attraction to children of all ages, but there can have…
Read MoreYoga Methods In Christian Mysticism
In the christian tradition the spiritual life has been classically divided into three stages, called by the saints and mystics the stage of purgation, the stage of illumination and the stage of union. When one reads the writings of the Christian mystics it is clear what they mean by these three stages. The first concerns…
Read MoreLife Without Limits
What is the life without limits? It is the realisation through our tranquil and harmonised mind that our true Self transcends all limitations. It is not affected by what happens to our body or by the influences that colour our mind as we respond to the various challenges that meet us in life. Body and…
Read MoreThe Open Secret of the Upanishads
‘I am lighting a lamp to dispel the dark illusion that covers the heart of humanity.’ These words, attributed to the ancient seer, Vyasa, apply equally well to the purpose and work of Shri Shankara. The main point of Shankara’s teaching on Self-knowledge is to awaken us to the realization that our innermost self…
Read MoreRenunciation—the Way to Freedom
The subject of this article is how to become free—that is, how to know yourself to be fearless, unassailable, completed—and capable of passing strength and hope to others. I am told that the title: ‘Renunciation—the Way to Freedom’, reeks of restriction and asceticism, and that it is sure to antagonise many, who will say: ‘Well,…
Read MoreVairagya: Non-attachment
Whether one belongs to a Christian school of thought, or to a Buddhist, or a Sufi one, or to this school of Adhyatma Yoga, one finds that great emphasis is always laid on the necessity for cultivating non-attachment to success and failure, and the like, and renunciation of the pleasures of the senses. In The…
Read MoreThe Three Steps
At certain times in one’s life, one stands before something unknown, or only partially known. School, marriage, a position in life, or, what we are about to consider, the entrance into a stream of spiritual thought and instruction. All are occasions when we face the unknown; they are also occasions when our personal characteristics make…
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