Ahimsa Is The Highest Virtue
Category Archives: ADVAITA & YOGA
The Maharshi’s Advice to Poonja-Ji
Sri Ramana and Poona-ji (also known as Papa-ji)
Editor’s note:
As you read this personal account by Poonja-ji, keep in mind the background and the context of the times of the year 1947 as India was getting ready to be split into two countries.
View original post 525 more words
Two Great Truths of Absolute and Relative Reality
By Mira Prabhu who is both an amazing and insightful Yogini as well as a very gifted writer. ❤
In my volatile teens, I was struck by the poignant beauty of an ancient metaphor (contained within the Mundaka Upanishad) that speaks of two birds perched on the branch of a tree: one bird eats the fruit of the tree while the other watches.
The first bird represents the individual self/soul; distracted by the fruits (signifying sensual pleasures), she forgets her lord and lover and tries to enjoy the fruit independent of him. (This separating amnesia is known in Sanskrit as maha-maya or enthrallment; it results in the plunge of the individual into the ephemeral realm of birth and death.) As for the second bird, it is an aspect of the Divine/Self that rests in every heart—and which remains forever constant even as the individual soul is bedazzled by the material world.
This teaching implies that it is ignorance of our true nature that creates a vicious cycle: the individual, being blinded by the illusion of existing as a separate…
View original post 613 more words
“Mind Your Own Business”, said Ramana Maharshi
Mind your own business. ~ Sri Ramana
One day, one of the devotees came to Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi and said in an excited whisper, “Look, Bhagavan! Just look at that man! ” Everyone turned to look. We saw a gentleman who was asleep, swaying back and forth. The devotee who had approached Bhagavan complained, “I have been watching him for the past few days. He always sleeps in Bhagavan’s presence.”
View original post 232 more words
Dattatreya’s 24 Gurus and His Brilliant View
Dattatreya
Dattatreya blows my mind with the daring way he lived his life and the transcendent wisdom that emerged as a result. The word Datta means “given”—for it is said the Divine Trinity (Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva) “gave” one aspect of themselves in the form of a son to the sages Atri and Anasuya; Atreya was added on to his name, to indicate he was the son of Atri.
Born roughly 4000 years ago in an age when Veda and Tantra had once again fused, Dattatreya left home early, in search of the Absolute, roaming naked in the areas in and around Mysore, Maharashtra and Gujarat. Usually depicted with three heads, symbolizing Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva; past, present, and future; and the three states of consciousness: waking, dreaming, and dreamless sleep, he is shown sitting in meditation beside his shakti (mate) beneath the wish-fulfilling tree; in front of him is a fire pit, and around him are…
View original post 697 more words
Yoga And Advaita: By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar
Yoga and Advaita
These questions came up some years ago. My responses are included. (Photo art above is from Andreas Farasitis).
Question: Is the way and goal of Patanjali’s Yoga and Sri Sankara’s Advaita Vedanta the same?
View original post 413 more words
Aids To Self Enquiry: By Alan Jacobs
Aids To Self Enquiry: By Alan Jacobs
“Those who leave the path of Self Enquiry, the way of liberation, and wander off along the myriad forest tracks, will encounter only confusion”. Bhagavan Ramana.
Self Enquiry is the Direct Path and Bhagavan’s great contribution for the modern age for all.
Self Enquiry is the backbone of the main weapon in Bhagavan’s teaching for eliminating the vasanas, tendencies and vrittis, the thought forms which act as a veil and occlude your Real Self.
View original post 676 more words
Sunday Homespun Wisdom – 2: By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar
You will always be you!
Paradox Of The Mind: By Alan Jacobs
Paradox of the Mind: By Alan Jacobs
“Oh Mind, do not waste your life in roaming outside, pursuing wonders and wallowing in enjoyments. To know the Self through grace and to abide in this way firmly in the Heart is alone worthwhile.” [1]
This relevant quotation leads us to consider that what we term ‘mind’ can be conceived as a great paradox. From one standpoint it is a benevolent friend but from another it is a malicious enemy.
View original post 1,111 more words
LIFE IS A DREAM: By Alan Jacobs
Life is a Dream: By Alan Jacobs
Bhagavan’s smile
“To know that the world is a dreamlike illusion. Know that all of the following are a dreamlike illusion. The world, the body, the universe, all dimensions, time and all events, motions and actions”. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi
215. “The world appears distinctly only in wakefulness and dream with concepts filled. In concept-free, all empty sleep, one sees no world; so then conceptual is… the world’s whole substance.”
Taken from Step Two of The Seven Steps to Awakening. All of the Ramana quotes in The Seven Steps to Awakening are taken from K. Swaminathan’s English translation of The Garland of Guru’s Sayings.
View original post 885 more words
Luthar.com 
You must be logged in to post a comment.