Posts Tagged ‘Members’
We Live in Hope
In his last interview*, the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre spoke about the human condition. Some may be surprised by the references to ‘hope’ that follow, since Sartre is generally classed with those thinkers who view despair as more characteristic of life than hope. But in the interview, Sartre explained that his interest in despair was…
Read MoreThe Point of Stillness
Through the practice of meditation we learn valuable skills such as how to concentrate, relax and consciously manage our mental focus. The more we thus become masters, or competent managers, of our minds, the more we become aware of the key fact that we are more than our minds. It has been said that we are…
Read MoreAdhyatma Yoga and Philosophy
The term philosophy has a wide range of meanings and is used to cover a number of quite different mental activities. Western philosophy may be broadly and very roughly summed up as the attempt to approach truth through the medium of the sense-perceptions and the comparing and classifying part of the mind, known as the…
Read MoreThe Sound of Silence
The origins of language are a mystery, but it seems clear that many words echo sounds heard in nature. Words like bang, clang and hiss, are vocalised imitations of noises occurring in the material world. Our representation of sounds made by animals or birds also has an imitative form, as with warble, twitter, howl, bark,…
Read MoreRelease
To speak from the wisdom point of view, life is pursuit of an ideal. What is the ideal? It must be the fulfilment of our deepest and most earnest desires and urges. Subscribe or enrol for free guest access to read all of this article and Self-Knowledge online. Already subscribed or enrolled? Log in:
Read MoreSeeing Through Illusion
On some teachings from Chapter Seven of the Bhagavad Gita The Bhagavad Gita is one of the scriptures of the world which reassure us that there is a transcendental reality that is beyond the range of our mind but which is also the ground of our being and the ultimate source of help and fulfilment.…
Read MoreMeditation Practice
A recent session led by the Warden of Shanti Sadan What does it mean to be truly awake? The usual meaning of ‘to awaken’ is to be roused from sleep. But there are added meanings and these are to do with insight—with something understood that was not understood before. We may even say: ‘At last,…
Read MoreThe Generosity of the Spiritually Rich
According to one of the doctrines propounded in the non-dual philosophy, there are three grades of reality. There is the real world of the spirit, transcendent and absolute. It alone can be called truly real. But within Maya there is the whole world of Sansara, which has a kind of borrowed reality of its own.…
Read MoreInspirations from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
CHILDREN ask questions, ‘Why this, why that?’. Probably, even in ancient civilisations, little boys and girls spontaneously and persistently confronted their parents with the great word: ‘Why?’ or its equivalent. The Upanishads emerged out of this questioning spirit of human nature. There was also a worshipping spirit. But it was mixed with fear. The universe—the…
Read MoreSelf-help through Self-Knowledge
WHEN WE FIRST discover Adhyatma Yoga—the Yoga of Self-knowledge—it is reasonable for us to ask: ‘There are so many forms of yoga. Is the Yoga of Self-knowledge just another variation to add to the range?’ The answer is: No. The Yoga of Self-knowledge is an ancient teaching. There are grounds for regarding it as the…
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