Seeing the One in the Many: Bhagavad Gita Chapter 13
On the inner path it sometimes feels as if our minds and lives are divided in two: it seems there is the time for meditation and inquiry, and the rest of life when we have to deal with the world. How can we overcome this apparent divide and make meditation a way of gaining useful…
Read MoreThe Essential Advaita
What is Advaita (non-duality)? Let us approach this question by first reflecting, with the help of an illustration, on what we normally regard as real, and how the non-dual teachings can lead us to a deeper understanding of Reality. One of the features of modern life is our increased use of photography. The camera that…
Read MoreThe Conquest of Fear
When indeed this (soul) makes in the One even the smallest break, then there is fear. (Taittiriya Upanishad, 2:7:1) The triad of the seer, seeing and the seen, exists in the soul. Atman (the Self) is above this illusion of duality, which does not, in fact, exist. To cut out fear is the object of…
Read MoreInner Progress
To live a life of inner progress to enlightenment, the mind needs to be pacified, purified and transcended. What begins with pacifying the mind—producing calm on its surface—develops into a deeper process called purification. Normal mental activity keeps our mind occupied with finite affairs, sometimes trivial, sometimes significant. But those who have rendered the inner…
Read MoreMeditation and Shraddha
A recent online presentation by the Warden of Shanti Sadan In meditation we give our full attention to what is most real and precious in ourselves and in all. As we will discover, what is real and precious in us—in fact what we really are—is infinitely greater than what we ordinarily feel ourselves to be.…
Read MoreThe Way and Its Goal
Extracts from Shri Shankara’s commentaries on the classical texts, with introductory observations. At the heart of Shri Shankara’s teaching is the claim that our ordinary knowledge is rooted in a fundamental misconception about our own true nature. We think we are an individual knowing subject, encased within an individual body, and able to know only…
Read MoreTranquillity and Transcendence
Both tranquillity and transcendence indicate our need for freedom from suffering and limitation. Tranquillity effects a partial release from restrictions, whereas transcendence suggests the possibility of a more fundamental emancipation. When we are tranquil we can live, move and work in the world in harmony and ease of heart. Transcendence goes beyond these conditions, signifying…
Read MoreThe Spiritual Maxims of Père Grou
Père Grou is one of the great spiritual directors of the Roman Catholic tradition. His life was not strikingly eventful, for he lived what he taught: the dedicated interior life pursued in obscurity and self-effacement. It is in his writings that his mind and heart reveal their depth and vitality, particularly the Spiritual Maxims. These…
Read MoreBhagavad Gita Chapter 12: Doing our Best
An important question for seekers of wisdom is whether we should take as the focus of our dedication, the absolute, all-transcending Truth, or a more tangible and conceivable form, such as the source and sustainer of the world, the origin of all power and beauty. The non-dual teachings, and logic, conclude that no finite qualities…
Read MoreFrom Sight to Insight
The purpose of these discourses is to evoke the supramental consciousness in you. You are aware of the mental and rational consciousness, but this is not all. There is yet another consciousness. It is above the mind, and is called the supramental consciousness. It functions in a region far above the mental region, and might…
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