Meditation and mind calming methods, can be effective at many different levels if practiced in the context of a clear understanding. Such practices, however, cannot by themselves end the fundamental agitation of the mind which continues at more and more subtle levels and causes suffering.

The article answers the question: “What is a Sattvic diet? What is the authority for saying that certain foods are Sattvic and lead to good health, mental clarity, poise, and spiritual advancement, while other foods do not?

If you love, you cannot see clearly. If you hate, you cannot see clearly. When there is no liking, no disliking, your eyes are clear, you have clarity. Then you see the other as he is or as she is, you see the world stored up in your mind, which is projected, or you see your ego as it is.

Note from the Editor:  The following article appeared last year on the Advaitin list at Yahoo groups and was written by Sri S.N. Sastri, one of the moderators of the Advaitin list. It appears here with very minor edits. Sastri-ji is a brilliant and respected scholar of many schools within Hinduism with a special interest, [...]

The practice of advanced yoga methods and pranayama with discipline along with meditation on the Chakras (Energy Centers in the body) leads to various mental and spiritual experiences. Sri Ramana’s teaching, however, views such yogic and meditative practices as preliminary to the real quest into the investigation of the nature of the “I”.

How to give up the “me” ? Even to contemplate on its being given up, poses us with an enormous hurdle. No theoretical methods, postulated throughout the past centuries seem to have helped us, at all. The only solution to this Herculean problem, perhaps, lies on a practical, experiential approach to it.

Edtior’s Note: The following post appeared in the Advaitin list on Yahoo Groups and is reprinted with the permission of the author, Sri Venkata Sriram. In this article Venkat-Ji speaks about the idea of AHAM as the essence of Mantras, Vedas, and Upanishads. AHAM translated from Sanskrit means, “ME” or “I AM” and refers to [...]

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