Moment to Speak

The Yoga-Vasistha of Maharishi Valmiki is a discourse between Maharishi Vasistha and Sri Rama, the prince of Ayodhya, of Ramayana fame. The Yoga-Vasistha teaches that the world as we perceive it is a temporary dream or illusion created by the mind, and liberation comes from realising the true nature of reality as pure consciousness. The text is structured into six prakaranas: Vairagya (dispassion), Mumuksu vyavahara (qualifications of the seeker), Utpatti (creation), Sthiti (existence), Upasama (dissolution), and Nirvana (liberation). It emphasises the illusory nature of the phenomenal world and the importance of self-awareness, yoga, and self-knowledge for realising moksha, or liberation. It stresses self-effort, discrimination, self-enquiry, detachment from desires, and the importance of a qualified teacher in guiding one towards self-realisation. The text also explores the nature of mind, the nature of consciousness, the illusion of separateness, the path to enduri...

The statement by Ramana Maharshi , "Be as you are," (Be As You Are, Ramana Maharshi ), is an averment to recognise and abide by one's true nature, which he describes as pure awareness or consciousness. This journey is not about attaining a new state but about realising what is already present within, hidden beneath the veil of Avidya, or ignorance . Our own Avidya veils us so that we remain unaware of the thought-manufacturing mind's inherent natural tendency to move outward into the phenomenal world. That is why all of our scriptures, including the Upanishads and the Srimad Bhagavad Gita, prophetically assert that we should realise the 'I', or Atman , within ourselves. The Srimad Bhagavad Gita (6.34-35) says the mind is very restless, turbulent, strong, and obstinate and is indeed very difficult to restrain. However, one can control it through practice and detachment. The Bhagavad Gita (6.6) says that the mind is a friend to those who have conquered it. ...

The Ashtavakra Gita , a dialogue between Sage Ashtavakra and Sage King Janaka, explores the nature of Atman (Self), self-realisation and liberation. It teaches the oneness of existence and the non-duality of Atman (Self) and Brahman (Cosmic Self, or Absolute Existence, or Ultimate Reality). At the heart of the Ashtavakra Gita is the belief that Atman is beyond the body, mind, intellect and senses. It presents the idea that human suffering stems from identifying with the transient aspects of existence, ego and the phenomenal world, rather than realising the eternal, uncaused, unchanged, unmoved, unfettered, and undecayed nature of Atman . It focuses on the nature of Atman , the illusory nature of the external world, and the path to Moksha ,  or liberation. Atman , or Self, is the all-pervading, unchanging Brahman . It is the subject that remains constant, but the objects are subject to changes due to birth, growth and decay. It emphasises the oneness of all beings and the in...

The Vedantic scriptures annunciate the unmanifest as Brahman , the Supreme Being. In the Upanishads, Brahman is described as all-encompassing, full in every respect and beyond, unmanifest, Ultimate Reality, Absolute Truth,  Absolute Existence, and experienced Reality. The Ishavasya Upanishad (introductory invocation Om Shanti mantra) and the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (5.1.1) invoke: oṃ pūrṇamadaḥ pūrṇamidam pūrṇāt pūrṇamudacyate . pūrṇasya pūrṇamādāya pūrṇamevāvaśiṣyate  oṃ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ .. That is the whole. This is the whole. The whole comes from the whole. When the whole is removed from the whole, the whole remains the same." In essence, it emphasises the advaita (non-dualistic) nature of reality, where the divine is not separate from the manifest but rather permeates it. It highlights the interconnectedness and unity of everything. By removing the concept of separation, the Upanishads emphasise that the unmanifest Brahman is present within all phenomena a...

T he concept "I am not the doer" relates to how actions are perceived within the Upanishadic philosophical framework of what Adi Shankaracharya asserts, oneness of Atman (Self) and Brahman (Cosmic Self, or Absolute Existence). The Mandukya Upanishad (1.2) states unequivocally, Ayam Atma Brahma , or meaning, This Self is Brahman . It signifies that the true Self (Atman) does not perform actions. Instead, it is a witness – consciousness , uninvolved in the actions and the consequent results thereof. Actions are considered being carried out by the ego, evolving from the elements of Prakriti (nature's field of activities) intertwined with the body-mind-intellect complex and trayi-gunas ( Sattva -purity, or goodness; Rajas -passion, or activity; and Tamas -ignorance, or darkness). Non-doership is not about ceasing action but about changing one's identification from the transitory body-mind-intellect complex of Prakriti  to Atman , the imperishable, infinite, unmov...

Cosmic ideation is the thought, or ideas germinating from Cosmic Mind (Hiranyagarbha) of Cosmic Self, or Brahman , the Supreme Being. This ever-agitated mind, Swami Sivananda explains, having come into existence out of the ineffable Brahman , creates the universe according to its own Sankalpa (thoughts). He avers that the play of the mind arising out of Chaitanya (pure consciousness) constitutes this universe. Mind is Maya (illusion). Maya is the mind. The workings of the mind are nothing but the workings of Maya itself. Attraction or attachment in the mind towards forms is Maya . Identifying one's own self with the mind is considered Maya . There are two powers associated with Maya – Avarana-shakti (the veiling power, or the power of concealment, or the power of illusion or ignorance that obscures the true nature of reality) and Vikshepa-shakti (the power of projection that superimposes the world over the Atman , or the power that causes distraction and dispersal, often...