The Network of Thought and the Mind’s Need for Answers: A Dialogue

In this article I am presenting a dialogue with a student of the NEEV Psycho-Philosophy Group, where he starts out examining the notion of success, failure and comparison in society, in his journal. The dialogue starts going deeper as it moves from the leaves, to the branches to the trunk of the mind. It reveals the overwhelming tendency of the mind to land on an answer, to arrive at a certainty, to land on a conclusion on which it can build its comfortable nest. It is the task of the teacher to keep demolishing the nest the student is trying to build by advancing answers, so that he/she find quick relief from suffering. In my last article, “The Difference Between Thinker and Observer in Advaita: A Dialogue” I had talked about how one needs to shift from being a thinker to an observer if one has to undergo the subtle level of inquiries in Advaita. The dialogue in this article shows how one can make this shift and the massive difficulties encountered by a student’s mind in making this shift. Without this step, none can hope to make any progress in any path of self inquiry or Jnana Yoga. It is the base on which all future self inquiry at the most advanced levels rests upon.… Read More The Network of Thought and the Mind’s Need for Answers: A Dialogue

You (Self) Are Not (Your) Thoughts: A Dialogue

That we all suffer conflicts of various kinds in our life is an undeniable fact. Self Inquiry is about unearthing and ending the root of all conflicts. In this dialogue with a seeker, I examine the conflict of the division between the thinker and thought. What sustains this division is the process of psychological becoming. One of the processes of psychological becoming is seeking to be virtuous. In this article, I differentiate between dharma/virtue as a process of psychological becoming and adhyatma/the spiritual science of eternal being, to help the seeker appreciate the difference, and overcome the conflict caused by this form of becoming. Finally, I introduce the various stages of self-inquiry, by which I help a seeker completely transcend the duality between the thinker and thought, as a means to ending of all conflict.… Read More You (Self) Are Not (Your) Thoughts: A Dialogue

Unmasking Ourselves

All of us are aware that we put various masks with different people in different situations. Prompted by a Facebook post of one of my friends, this article asks whether one can live without any masks. It also examines our unconscious motivations to put on different kinds of masks, the conflicts they create, and the enormous risks involved in removing them. Finally, it probes into the reason why anyone would like to unmask oneself.… Read More Unmasking Ourselves

The evolution of self : really evolution, or perpetual conflict?

Advancement of man is seen as evolution of self. In this article I show that since self is actually a fragment – a bundle of knowledge which is limited, no amount of evolution – of accumulation of knowledge – can make the limited go beyond limitations. And being limted and fragmentary, the self shall always divide man against man and man against nature. … Read More The evolution of self : really evolution, or perpetual conflict?

Is there something like reduction of ego?

Since childhood, one is conditioned to become someone, someone better, someone successful. In later years, as one comes in conflict in relationships, one gets a vague sense of the word ego, as the cause of these conflicts. In this response to a question, I ask what is the root of ego, and is there any real meaning in attempts to reduce our ego.… Read More Is there something like reduction of ego?

Is it possible to end “the structure of me” totally or “the ego”?

Is it possible to end “the structure of me” totally or “the ego”? Why are we asking this question? Is it a business that we are doing? How do we do business? First we want to find out whether there is any possibility of profit in the work we are doing. If we see that… Read More Is it possible to end “the structure of me” totally or “the ego”?