Category: Advaitic Inquiries

Stages : From Self Inquiry to Self Realization

Self Inquiry/Jnana Yoga is said to be the ultimate path to enlightenment. But before one enters Jnana Yoga, it is said that one has to purify one’s mind through years of Karma Yoga. However, if one has the prerequisites, one can enter Jnana Yoga directly: without doing Karma Yoga or renouncing the world, as is usually required for Jnana Yoga. This is a unique path I followed and teach. It combines the teachings of J Krishnamurti and Advaita Vedanta. In this article I give a brief description of the stages involved in this journey for interested seekers. … Read More Stages : From Self Inquiry to Self Realization

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The Liberated Being : Beyond all Acts – Good & Bad

History, culture, mythology all go into creating a prototype of an enlightened being or a Liberated Person. These prototypes inform the common man about the kind of greatness of person, or personality, that a liberated person has. The personalites of enlightened beings are worshipped as Gods or saviours, or beings with superhuman powers. However, the highest truth, which only Advaita Vedanta elucidates through the Vedas, is much more simple, but most difficult to penetrate. The liberated being, who in Advaita is called a Jnani, has gone beyond all names and forms, and acquired a non-dual vision. What is that vision and who is a Jnani? How does he act? I explore these questions in this article. … Read More The Liberated Being : Beyond all Acts – Good & Bad

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Tat Tvam Asi – You are Brahman

Most people think about spirituality as some form of action – yoga, meditation, chanting etc. While this is true for some schools, in Advaita, where the highest truth of Non-Duality is taught, truth has nothing to do with action. This is because in your essence, YOU ARE TRUTH. There is no difference between you and truth ultimately. This is Non-Duality and Path of Knowledge of Advaita. This article shows the uniqueness and difficulty of this path as compared to other dualistic paths of Yoga. … Read More Tat Tvam Asi – You are Brahman

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Turiya : The Fourth State of Consciousness & End of Suffering

As normal human beings going about our daily lives, chasing dreams, getting happy, or grieving over life’s inscrutable experiences, we are all aware of three states of consciousness – waking, dream sleep and deep sleep. They are so much taken for granted, we can hardly imagine a treasure concealed by these three states. However, for a person who has devoted himself to solving life’s paradoxes, the study of these states holds the key to liberation from suffering.… Read More Turiya : The Fourth State of Consciousness & End of Suffering

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Self Inquiry and Issues Related to Teachers

Self inquiry is a long and complex journey to liberation. Spiritual teachers and paths are proliferating the world and internet. To a beginner of self inquiry, the variety seems daunting. In this article I try to summarize all issues which arise when one is deciding, or decides on a particular teacher. While very few are truly interested in going the whole distance, in the end, I give my advice on how to choose a teacher, if one’s aim is nothing short of ending of ego-sense/individuality. … Read More Self Inquiry and Issues Related to Teachers

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Self inquiry and insight into one’s true nature/Self in Advaita

In this article, I have given an account of how one reaches the Advaitic insight of “I am Self/Witness”, following the traditional self-inquiry or Jnana Yoga of Advaita. This was an insight that gave me a kind of permanent home of peace that no outer crisis can touch. I wrote this to help others on the path of traditional Advaita.… Read More Self inquiry and insight into one’s true nature/Self in Advaita

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Self inquiry: Have you questioned Death?

Self inquiry has its root in solving the riddle of death. Though most of us live in denial of this fact, it has the secret to the truth. No wonder this was a question which not only set me on my path of self-inquiry but also Buddha and Nachiketa in the Katha Upanishad, and every other inquirer across space and time. In this article, I describe my journey of self-inquiry with this question, interwoven with the other historical characters I have mentioned. … Read More Self inquiry: Have you questioned Death?

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The Play of Identities between the Reader and Writer: and the Rise of Self Knowledge

This article explores how a very subtle, complex and unconscious relationship comes into action between a reader and writer, in a seemingly simple act of reading. It further explores how being aware of this relationship can lead to understanding oneself deeply. … Read More The Play of Identities between the Reader and Writer: and the Rise of Self Knowledge

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A Life Lived in Entirety : Four Aims, Four Stages and Four Classes of Human Life – Part 1

An article which starts off with describing the various classifications of the ancient Hindu way of living and their relevance for the modern world. But I run into a self dialogue with myself about what is my viewpoint while I am writing this article. For the rest of the article I spend time exploring how my viewpoints are not fixed but fluid. … Read More A Life Lived in Entirety : Four Aims, Four Stages and Four Classes of Human Life – Part 1

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Donning my new identity as a Philosopher – A Discussion on Evolution of Consciousness and Personal Identities

An article explaining how consciousness evolves in individuals through different stages as a change in self identity. I examine my own evolution and show that it is a universal model which was present in ancient Hindu culture as well as present in modern writers of the west such as Anodea Judith. … Read More Donning my new identity as a Philosopher – A Discussion on Evolution of Consciousness and Personal Identities

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