Become What You Are

Cover of Self-Knowledge Journal Autumn Issue

There was once a porter who had to carry and struggle under many heavy loads and was inclined, at the worst moments, to cry out and pray to God and say, ‘If only you would release me from work, my Lord, I would be content with two pieces of bread a day.’ One day, he…

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Open Wide the Mind’s Cage Door

Cover of Self-Knowledge Journal Autumn Issue

All of us like to feel we are free. We do not welcome those situations, people and places that make us feel hemmed in or restricted. For instance, if we were to be told that for health and safety reasons, the doors of our meeting room were to be locked, preventing exit for a short…

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The Non-Duality of Shri Shankara

Cover of Self-Knowledge Journal Autumn Issue

Further extracts from H P Shastri’s essay on the Outline of the Advaita of Shri Shankara Theory and Practice (continued) The whole practice is based on vairagya (non-attachment). Our greatest barrier is a desire for self-recognition, self-advertisement. As long as we expect to be recognized as somebody, we are in the muddy pool of deep…

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Self-Realisation

Cover of Self-Knowledge Journal Autumn Issue

There have been many theories about the fundamental nature of the drive in the human mind. Sigmund Freud spoke of it as a fountain-head of energy, primarily sexual, although becoming recanalized in many other forms. Adler, another of the founders of modern psychology, spoke of it as an urge to power or significance. But the…

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Meditation

Cover of Self-Knowledge Journal Autumn Issue

If we made a list of the good things in life—in general terms— beginning with childhood, it might include: fun, pleasure, wealth, popularity, creativity, security, professional authority and, as we get older, health. The list may not necessarily include peace of mind. We imagine this will come automatically if we get what we want in…

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Kena Upanishad—Difficulties Resolved

Cover of Self-Knowledge Journal Autumn Issue

The last of three short talks on this Upanishad by the Warden The Kena Upanishad gives valuable hints about the path to self-realisation. At first sight it might seem that the opposite is the case. For we are told at the start that this is not a teaching that can be adequately expressed in words.…

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Happy Birthday

Cover of Self-Knowledge Journal Autumn Issue

Our date of birth is a fact that is likely to gain in importance as life progresses. In this age of form-filling and identity verification, to lack precise information about our age will arouse suspicion and possibly lead to exclusion. And yet, we ourselves cannot know our date of birth with certainty; all we can…

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A Direct Pointer to Direct Experience

Cover of Self-Knowledge Journal Summer Issue

The Direct Experience of Reality (in Sanskrit Aparokshanubhuti) is a short classic text on the non-dual teachings. It was once thought to have been written by the original Shankara Acharya, who probably lived in the eighth century and gave what is still the most complete and respected presentation of the non-dual philosophy. Most scholars now…

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Successful Living

Cover of Self-Knowledge Journal Summer Issue

On the stage of matter the soul is left to act. The purpose of our engagement in action is to help our fellow-actors to realise their own freedom, and to attain to liberation from the bonds imposed on them by matter in its various manifestations. The stage-manager of this drama is the Lord omniscient and…

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Less Thought, More Light

Cover of Self-Knowledge Journal Summer Issue

The teachings on meditation point out the benefits of having a quiet mind. This doesn’t mean a dull mind or an uninformed mind. It means we have the power to create peace and tranquillity in our own mind whenever we wish to do so. This instruction in tranquil self-control is common to all wisdom traditions.…

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