What Meditation Is
To meditate means, in the preliminary and lower stages, to apply thought-force consciously; to produce harmony, both within and without; to obtain control over the mind and the emotions; and to open up the faculty of intuition or buddhi. Our individual minds, conditioned by our bodies, are but small fractions of the divine or cosmic…
Read MoreTeachings by Shri Dada: On the World, the Soul, God, Self and Knowledge
Shri Dada had hardly been six months at the Ramganga Bridge before the influence of malaria was evident, but despite frequent attacks of ague he carried on his worldly and spiritual duties. A party of sannyasins led by Swami Rameshvarananda Bharati was staying at this time at Katgarh for a few days and used to…
Read MoreTeachings by Shri Dada: How to See More
The holy man was walking in the garden. There was a rhythm in all he did and he was pacing unhurriedly as was his wont beside a bed of flowering plants freshly arranged by the gardener. The grass at the base of the bed was cut into the form of an ‘Om’, the flowers displayed…
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 MoreThe Identity of Self and the Supreme
Let us consider the question: ‘What am I?’ In the collection of Shankara’s writings called The Thousand Teachings, we find the answer to this question presented in direct and uncompromising terms. For example: I am the Lord, ever one and the same in all beings, beyond the destructible and indestructible principles, hence the supreme Spirit.…
Read MoreThe Origin of the Cosmos According to Vedanta
It is held by the sages of the Vedanta that the cosmos, both in its subtle and its gross phenomenal aspect, is an appearance only; that when analysed to its root, it has no substance but is made perceivable and conceivable by an ever-present power—divine in origin—the power of Maya. The words ‘divine in origin’…
Read MoreHow Appearance Arises from Reality
One of the gifts this Yoga can give to those who follow it, is the knowledge that all human beings are in essence divine, and this implies that they have always been divine and will never cease to be so. The picture man usually presents of varying degrees of domination or inefficiency is the result…
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 MoreConceptions of Consciousness
What is the conception of consciousness in the West? Awareness—awareness of something, awareness which lies inherent in the mind but which needs the co-operation of the mind and the sense-organs before it can function. Consciousness is thus perception, either mental or sensory, and is a distinctive characteristic of the mind. The idea that Consciousness could…
Read MoreSeeing More: Appearance and Reality
The central teaching of Adhyatma Yoga is that if we calm and purify our mind through a spiritual way of life, we will arrive at a deeper understanding of the nature of ultimate reality. This principle is expressed in a response given by the Indian holy man, Shri Dada of Aligarh, to a questioner who…
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