Sundari:  You are most welcome, Martin.  It’s a pleasure hearing from you as you are a clear and honest thinker too. You are right, a true Vedanta teacher does not sugar coat anything because that is not helpful for the inquirer, assuming they are qualified.  If you are not ready for nonduality, you will not like this and will look for something that does not challenge the ego identity.  We tell you upfront who you are, but we also tell you what stands in the way of not only hearing that but actualizing it.  There is a very big difference between the two.

Martin: I can see more clearly that I am in a hurry to remove beginningless ignorance. Or perhaps it is ignorance itself in the form of rajas, pretending to remove itself.

Sundari: This tendency to rush once you start understanding what the nondual teachings mean is very common. Ignorance is painful and one wants to be rid of it as soon as possible.  But it’s not so easy, unfortunately.

Martin: Looking back, I recognize this same rajasic doer from my worldly life and later the Neo-Advaita phase. This tendency to rush for quick results has clearly followed me into my self-inquiry journey as well, and your response has helped me see it more clearly.

Sundari:  It is very good that you acknowledge this tendency because it can be a very big obstacle to Self-actualization.  Self-realization is a big deal for most inquirers, and with it comes the tendency to believe you are ‘done’.  But that is rarely true.  Usually, Self-realization is where the work of self-inquiry begins. The problem is always that the ego identity does not give up easily. The mind gets it, but ignorance is subtle and hardwired.

Martin: I would still like to speak with you after developing some qualifications and making the donation. However, I now understand my focus: to develop the four qualifications by cultivating sattva and reducing rajas through Karma Yoga and Tri Guna Vibhava Yoga, while continuing a steady and systematic study of Vedanta. This includes Ramji’s 300+ hours of videos, his books, and your trilogy, all without rushing. I can see that trying to force the process is itself the rajasic doer. The mind must be prepared before Self-knowledge can be assimilated.

Sundari:  You are most welcome Martin, we are here to help you in any way we can.

Martin: Finally, I deeply appreciate your book What Is the Body? I need to study it more deeply. Your integration of modern hormone theory—especially insulin management—with Tri Guna Yoga was outstanding. I have not seen Vedanta and contemporary science combined in this way before.

It also made me reflect that while much attention is given to purifying the subtle body, comparatively little is given to the gross body beyond general dietary labels (veganism & vegetarianism). Your explanation of caring for the gross body through sound scientific principles and its role in supporting a sattvic mind, was both clear and valuable.

Sundari: Thank you.  Purifying the body is a very important factor, as are all lifestyle issues. An unhealthy lifestyle or body impacts the mind, making peace of mind much more difficult.

Om

Sundari

Mike: Based on my own journey so far, what is Vedanta’s precise view of time?

Sundari:  Even though time is not real from the nondual perspective, we experience it from the jiva perspective. Without a sequential process guiding experience, life would be total chaos. Imagine if everything happened at once!

In mithya, time is the space between events/experience, which are recorded by memory, an important function of the mind. If we could not remember experiences we could neither evaluate or assimilate their meaning, nor what is going on in us and our environment. Our intellect would not be functional, and we could not make sense of our mental/emotional state. This is why memory loss is the signature of the onset of dementia.

Time as a continuum can be divided into past present and future.   The past can be divided into yesterday, last week and last year.   Each of these time periods can be further divided into smaller increments.  Which hour yesterday do you mean, 9 AM or 10 PM?.   And what minute of 9 AM are you referring to; 9:21 or 11:17?   Minutes break down into seconds and every additional unit keeps breaking down into smaller and smaller increments.   Whatever is created is not created by addition, which would increase the substantiality of the unit and give us something to talk about, but it is created by dividing concepts, aka words.   Has anything actually been created?  If there is no “first,” there is no second or third.  So, does time exist apart from the idea it exists?

Furthermore, each stage is perceived as a sequence of “now’s” – now, now, now, now, etc.   A series of nows stretches into a continuum only when you step back and reflect on it.  In the moment itself there is only “now.”  Or take Pointillism, for instance.  A single point has no dimension when you touch the paper with the pen, yet a collection of points gives rise to a pattern of measurable space.   Neither the dot nor the spatial pattern is real since both seem to be real from different points of view.  Two “reals” generates *seeming* realities but no actual reality.  Seeming realities are as good a non-existent.

Here’s one more inquiry that will give you the gift of Eternal Time.  When the world was created with a big “bang,” did time begin?   The bang shattered the undifferentiated material mass, but the next event was a scattering of the various chunks of matter throughout space, which, science tells us is still going on.   Scattering can’t happen until shattering has happened.  Just as there is no time when shattering happens, is there time during the scattering “now?”   No, because  it is impossible to determine where the shattering ended and the scattering began.   You need a third point to allow you to measure the distance between event 1 and event 2.  That event hasn’t happened, so there is no way to tell the difference between the shattering and the scattering.  If you want time, you are going to have to wait a very long time to get it.  But by that time you will be dead many times over.  Luckily, you are immortal so you can wait to find out what time it is.

Here’s another fact: time can’t begin because it isn’t real.  And if it were real it couldn’t begin either because reality is non-dual Existence shining as unborn Consciousness.  It was not shattered and scattered when the Big Bang banged because it is immutable…nothing changes it.   If nothing changes it, nothing changes you because you are immortal Existence shining as whole and complete ever-present Consciousness.   It can only be that way because reality is non-dual.  If it were a duality then you might be a mortal entity, but you aren’t.
“So what,” you say.  
“So now is eternal,” say I.  
“So?”
“So you can stop rushing about like a chicken with its head cut off, worrying if you are going to get what you want before you die.”
“Because?”
“Because there is only one immortal Self and you are it. ”   

Om and prem

Sundari

In mithya, time is the space between events/experience, which are recorded by memory, an important function of the mind. If we could not remember experiences we could neither evaluate or assimilate their meaning, nor what is going on in us and our environment. Our intellect would not be functional, and we could not make sense of our mental/emotional state. This is why memory loss is the signature of the onset of dementia.

Time as a continuum can be divided into past present and future.   The past can be divided into yesterday, last week and last year.   Each of these time periods can be further divided into smaller increments.  Which hour yesterday do you mean, 9 AM or 10 PM?.   And what minute of 9 AM are you referring to; 9:21 or 21:17?   Minutes break down into seconds and every additional unit keeps breaking down into smaller and smaller increments.   Whatever is created is not created by addition, which would increase the substantiality of the unit and give us something to talk about, but it is created by dividing concepts, aka words.   Has anything actually been created?  If there is no “first,” there is no second or third.  So, does time exist apart from the idea it exists?

Furthermore, each stage is perceived as a sequence of “now’s” – now, now, now, now, etc.   A series of nows stretches into a continuum only when you step back and reflect on it.  In the moment itself there is only “now.”  Or take Pointillism, for instance.  A single point has no dimension when you touch the paper with the pen, yet a collection of points gives rise to a pattern of measurable space.   Neither the dot nor the spatial pattern is real since both seem to be real from different points of view.  Two “reals” generates *seeming* realities but no actual reality.  Seeming realities are as good a non-existent.

Here’s one more inquiry that will give you the gift of Eternal Time.  When the world was created with a big “bang,” did time begin?   The bang shattered the undifferentiated material mass, but the next event was a scattering of the various chunks of matter throughout space, which, science tells us is still going on.   Scattering can’t happen until shattering has happened.  Just as there is no time when shattering happens, is there time during the scattering “now?”   No, because  it is impossible to determine where the shattering ended and the scattering began.   You need a third point to allow you to measure the distance between event 1 and event 2.  That event hasn’t happened, so there is no way to tell the difference between the shattering and the scattering.  If you want time, you are going to have to wait a very long ‘time’ to get it.  But by that time you will be dead many times over.  Luckily, you are immortal so you can wait to find out what time it is.

Here’s another fact: time can’t begin because it isn’t real.  And if it were real it couldn’t begin either because reality is non-dual Existence shining as unborn Consciousness.  It was not shattered and scattered when the Big Bang banged because it is immutable…nothing changes it.   If nothing changes it, nothing changes you because you are immortal Existence shining as whole and complete ever-present Consciousness.   It can only be that way because reality is non-dual.  If it were a duality then you might be a mortal entity, but you aren’t.
“So what,” you say.  
“So now is eternal,” say I.  
“So?”
“So you can stop rushing about like a chicken with its head cut off, worrying if you are going to get what you want before you die.”
“Because?”
“Because there is only one immortal Self and you are it. ”   

Om and prem

Sundari

On Karma Yoga and Compensation
In my professional life, I had stopped advocating for raises, thinking that results belong to Ishwara. However, your response suggests that Karma Yoga includes taking appropriate action, including standing up for oneself when required.

This raises some confusion for me. From the standpoint of Jnana Yoga, I understand that I am already whole and complete. If that is so, why should I seek anything, including fair compensation? Wouldn’t that imply I am still seeking fulfillment through Artha?

Or is the very notion that “I should not act” itself a form of ignorance—confusing the level of absolute understanding with transactional reality?

Sundari: Whether the world is known to be real or not, it exists and you have no choice but to transact with it.  The answer to this question, as with all questions, is: Who is transacting?  If you are transacting as a person, the answer on topics (and most things) such as this is always a matter of what is dharmic. If you are doing your work but not being properly remunerated for it, appropriate action is to speak up.  The squeaky wheel gets the grease.  Of course, as an inquirer, you take appropriate action – speak up – but leave the results to Isvara.

Karma yoga does not mean that you do not take action.  It is your attitude TOWARDS action that counts. Yes, you are full and complete regardless of the result you get, so taking action as the Self involves no agitation, worry or stress no matter the result. It is known that all results belong to Isvara. But as you are the Self, you can also tell Isvara what you want. And since the action taken as the Self will align with what is dharmic, what you want is dharmic. There is no contradiction. Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita: ‘I am the desire that is not opposed to dharma’.

Mike: For most of my life, I have been predominantly influenced by rajas—constantly concerned about the future and what needs to be done. While this helped me achieve material success externally, it also created inner anxiety and restlessness. Even after significant achievements, such as completing my dream education, I found myself unable to pause, celebrate, or feel truly satisfied.

Sundari:  This is the typical result of too much rajas.  The backlash from so much extroversion is always worry and stress because no matter what we achieve in the world, it is never enough.  It cannot fulfil what we really want because the joy is never in the object, whatever that is. So the inevitable result of too much rajas is tamas, the feeling of burn out, dissatisfaction and incompleteness. The only solution to this conundrum is karma yoga, appropriate action surrendered to Isvara, and jnana yoga – Self-knowledge.

Mike: Certain teachings helped me manage this. A concept from Dale Carnegie—“Live in day-tight compartment”—encouraged me to focus only on the present day, essentially living from waking up in the morning until going to sleep, without projecting into tomorrow. It means sealing off the “dead yesterdays” and the “unborn tomorrows” to focus your time and energy entirely on the present 24 hours. This was quite transformative.

Sundari: Any process that helps manage the  mind (the rajas/tamas cycle) is helpful. Ultimately, all you need is karma yoga and jnana yoga, which takes care of everything related to the body/mind.

Mike: Later, teachings from Eckhart Tolle refined this further into living in the present moment—the “Now”—which he equates with consciousness. Practices like inner body awareness, which he describes as a bridge between the manifested and the unmanifested, were especially impactful for me.

However, with my growing exposure to Vedanta, I now understand that such practices may still operate within duality, as they involve experience and objects of awareness, possibly at the level of the subtle or causal body.

Sundari: Yes, this is the key realization. Tolle does not have an independent teaching, what he does teach is experience-based, therefore, based in duality. But he does help many people find some peace of mind, at least for a while. What you really want is permanent peace of mind, which only comes with nondual knowledge. See above.

Mike: Additionally, would Eckhart Tolle’s concept of inner body awareness be comparable to Upasana Yoga? From my personal experience, it has been a game changer, but I would like to understand how it fits within the Vedantic framework.

Sundari: What does Tolle mean by ‘inner body awareness’? There are not two awarenesses. There is only one Awareness and it is the knower of the so-called ‘inner awareness’.  It is by the presence of nondual Awareness shining on the mind that ‘we’ as a person are aware at all.  The problem arises when we identify with ‘inner awareness’—what Vedanta refers to as reflected awareness—as our true identity. This is what we mean when we say that Tolle does not have a teaching.  He teaches duality mixed with nonduality and causes confusion because if he knows the difference, he does not teach it.

From the Vedanta perspective, the body/mind is an object known to you, the Self. It is only apparently real, which means it is mithya, that which is always changing and not always present.  Only pure Awareness, SATYA, the witness, is always present and incapable of change.

But to make progress with self-inquiry, we do need to understand and objectify our thoughts and feelings. To do so, we first need to identify them and then unravel them with reference to Self-knowledge, which requires knowledge of the gunas.  All thoughts and feelings are guna generated, and they clearly are associated with our karma load and personality. 

This is why for self-inquiry to work, we need a purified mind. To achieve that, we need to objectively understand our programming to negate it as only apparently real. The teachings on the gunas should be life changing for you, because this teaching clarifies that although all thoughts and feelings seem so personal, they generate from the impersonal Causal body. As do all our seemingly personaly vasanas (tendencies), which are also guna-generated. 

Looked at through the lens of jnana yoga – the nondual teachings – we can at last truly render non-binding and negate the contents of our conscious and unconscious mind. This is no walk in the park, however.  Most obstacles to the nondual teachings assimilating are found here – which is why self-inquiry is an intense and lengthy process.  You need to start at the beginning, sign on to the teachings as I mentioned in my last email to you.

Both James and I cover all the whole methodology of self-inquiry as it pertains to Vedanta extensively, with particular emphasis on understanding the jiva, which is where all the ‘work’ of self-inquiry is.  Vedanta tells you upfront what your true identity is – ignorance of your true identity – and how to resolve the issue.  But we cannot do the work of self-inquiry for you, nor can we qualify you for it.  We can only help you understand what is missing and point you in the right direction with the teaching methodology of Vedanta. Self-inquiry is hard work, there is no short cut and no easy fix because the egoic jiva persona is hard wired.  Ignorance/the hypnosis of duality, is very tenacious. Again, this is why the qualifications are so important if self-inquiry is to work for you.

I can tell you are very sincere, but do not be in a hurry and jump ahead.  You will get stuck, I assure you.

If you would like to arrange a private zoom session, we are happy to oblige, by donation.

Om and prem

Sundari

Sundari: Yes indeed, that is a great mantra! 

Martin: Your last reply really allowed “me” to make a shift – or rather just shift and face the me that isn’t me, finally. It was never just about mental discrimination (which I got fairly soon) – although it brought a lot already from the knowledge itself – but the dispassion was missing – the mind, my mind is not just mental – it is loaded with anxiety even though difficult to admit: nebulous ghosts which clothe themselves with new mental arguments and portrayed themselves as “me”.

Sundari: The human mind is indeed a strange, nebulous, multilayered, problematic and complex thing. Who can say what it actually is? One thing we can all agree on is that it’s the uncertainty of what anything is, including the mind, and the uncertainty of who we really are (are we spiritual or material?!) along with the ever-changing nature of the field that is the cause of all anxiety, worry, stress.

Many people think that if the world was a better place, they would be better people. So they keep waiting in vain for the world to improve, unless they realize that the world doesn’t have anything to do with them or their issues. Otherwise, they just languish in doubt and confusion till the body stops working and the lights go off. A wasted life is not good.

Sometimes, however, people see that the world is a problem because they have problems. This realization is not necessarily an improvement because it prevents them from asking who or what they are and they remain fixated on “problems.” But this focus is useless because the one that has problems is the problem.

No human mind will ever fully understand the human mind. Even though it seem so personal, it really isn’t, so it’s impossible to fully understand because the mind originates in the Causal body. It seems to be located in the brain, but it isn’t located anywhere. Yet, the mind is our most powerful instrument, both for our redemption and destruction. No other living creature has a mind like ours because only humans have the power of self-reflection. Therein lie all our problems – and our salvation.

All other creatures are programs run completely by Isvara with no possibility of objectivity. Much harder to be born human, but no other way for moksa to obtain. Although we may think the mind is not ‘just mental’, what else could it be? Everything that occurs in it is just a thought, be it an emotion or feeling, a memory, a dream – whatever. 

The mind is a function of the Subtle body and cannot be separated from all the other functions, such as the intellect or buddhi, memory – chitta, the I sense or ego – ahamkara (when the mind is identified with action or the enjoyer of pleasure and pain), the 5 gross organs of knowledge/perception – jnana indriyas (eyes, ears, mouth, nose, skin) and five subtle instruments of knowledge/perception, (seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, touching), the five gross organs of action – karma indriyas (speech, hands, legs, anus, genitals) and the 5 physiological functions or prana (respiration, circulation, evacuation, digestion/assimilation and ejecting Subtle body at death, udana.

For most, the hardest thing to understand is that you are not the mind or intellect. Since you can see the mind and thoughts ‘in’ the mind, you are not the mind or your thoughts. You are the one who “sees” the mind/thoughts. Self-inquiry is isolating the “seer” as Self/Awareness from the objects, or not-Self. It is futile to try to gain an empty mind or thoughtless state because the mind is Isvara’s creation and is doing what it is supposed to do and we are not in control of it. The mind is not your enemy. There is no problem with the mind except one: it thinks itself to be the doer/experiencer. There is no doer. There is just you, Awareness and thoughts appearing in you.

I know you know this, but for the sake of teaching, it’s not a bad idea to sum up the functions of the mind.

The Four Functions of the Mind

1.) It Receives Stimuli from its Environment, the Field of Existence, of which it is a part, through the five gross sense organs and subtle sense instruments, jnana indriyas. It unifies and integrates the information into one experience.  It (Isvara) decides which organ will function consciously or mechanically, which Swami Paramarthananda calls ‘the traffic cop function’.

One sense organ cannot produce five independent experiences. For example, a blind person can still smell, taste, touch and hear. The world is known by the sense organs, but the sense organs are not known by the world. The sense organs are extroverted. They generally operate outside the body. But at certain times the sense instruments perceive within the body because the body is non-separate from the five elements, i.e. the material world. Although the gross organs of perception, the eyes ears etc. are visible, the ability to hear, see, touch etc., are not.

2. Doubting Function – this function allow us to inquirer into the merits and demerits of the objects perceived by the senses. A very important function, which over or under developed is a serious impediment to a happy life and to self-inquiry. There can be no discrimination without a doubting function, but if we fall in love with our doubts, discrimination is lost.

3. Emotes – the mind  generates thoughts and feelings (feelings are always preceded by a thought) to activate the organs of action.  When the mind is in a state of desire, indecision, dithering or doubt it is called manas.  When the mind is controlled by involuntary thoughts and emotions, the intellect cannot function and suffering ensues. Constant observation of the thoughts and feelings appearing in the mind is called mano nigrahah, an essential part of self-inquiry.

4.) Modifies to Or Manages the Gunas: It modifies to the gunas, or manages them, depending on its level of Self-knowledge.

The Intellect or Buddhi:  is the cognitive part of the Subtle Body that discriminates, makes judgements, determines.  It should be in charge of the mind, not the other way around.

Martin: An elderly plumber told me once that the way they changed leaky water pipes was to pack each side with dry ice, wait for it to freeze the water inside – then they didn’t have to switch off the mains and could swap out the pipe. It’s a bit like that – discrimination and dispassion – the “ice on the pipe” – just hold them frozen temporarily long enough to discriminate as the Self.

What I thought most of “me” then apparently disappears as not me – it’s still there but the knowledge transfers “well this was never me, I just thought it was” and its harder to go back. They appear “tagged”, seen now, marked.

Sundari: Complete freedom at the point when the teaching remnants drop is tricky, which is why nididhysana is usually the longest and most difficult stage of inquiry. While it may be firm knowledge that I am the Self and not the jiva, if there is still some residual part of the jiva program operating, freedom is not that free. Even the smallest bit of ignorance has a big price tag in terms of peace of mind. A tiny bit of ignorance can and does trick the mind into identification with negative thoughts which are always projected onto others whom we see as the problem. And the result? Unhappiness, agitation, dis-ease. But there is never a problem outside of our thoughts. We (as an ego) are the problem if the jiva has sneaked back into the picture.  

Martin: If James had written a different book with the title “how to gain freedom” the provocation may have been different. Of course it would be fraught with other provocations (political, social) just like “how to gain enlightenment” was for the spiritual perhaps – but right now the “freedom” title fits. 

Sundari: It is a tricky title, and he used it deliberately to provoke debate.

Martin: I never had the affliction of the spiritual; trying to get enlightened – but the journey to freedom is no different. Every desire and fear, every action I see in my past was just that driven by ignorance of who or what I was. What is the obvious conclusion now – awareness and just that.

Sundari: Freedom comes down to one simple decision: Am I the Self or am I the jiva? I cannot be both. If I think I am the jiva I identify with its problems, I think the world and others give me problems, and I am unhappy. As the Self I simply have no problems. To make that choice is always a possibility, and making it always transforms the situation and frees me from suffering. When that choice is no longer a choice but the default position of the mind, you are free. And if the mind still plays a few tricks, you just watch it dispassionately, as a curious but unaffected observer.

Martin: Along with this is (finally) a true appreciation for God, for Isvara in a beginning context I had struggled to reconcile out from duality. As Awareness and nothing else, everything is God.

Sundari: This is a tough one for everyone, especially given the negative connotation of ‘God’ in mithya.  But one that must be mastered or moksa is not possible.  Well done!

Thank you for your love and good wishes, I hope you make it to one of our seminars here in Italy one day!

Much love

Sundari

Sundari:  I am just a voice for what you already know. Yes, I have heard of the Overview Effect. All earthlings are afflicted by the “nearsightedness” of duality until they can step out of the box.  Would that all humans could take a trip into space out of the limitation of their little psychological earthen dungeons, to see with God’s Eye View the beauty and truth actually there, covered by the bug in the rug perspective, courtesy of Maya. 

Q: Learning how to be a Nobody versus a Somebody is the most delightful and purposeful teaching for my existence. Thank you for your presence and guidance. Non-dual therapy is the most evidence-based therapy there could be!

Sundari: Nondual vision is not therapy – it is you seeing you. But yes, I know what you mean. It is without a doubt the most evidence-and experience-based ‘therapy’ in existence. However, nonduality is not about being a ‘nobody’ unless you mean you are that without a body.  ‘Nobody’ versus ‘Somebody’ are the same thing. Both are identities that do not apply to the Self, but being a ‘nobody’ implies something is wrong with being a somebody, a person.  This idea is an obstacle to peace of mind because inherent is the idea that you cannot love the jiva. But the jiva is the Self, how could you not love it?

It’s ok to be you as a jiva, with your quirks and foibles. There is only a problem with that when you believe that is who you really are, and are causing injury to yourself and others as a result.  There is the persistent belief in the spiritual world that we have to somehow get rid of the ego identity as though it is the enemy.  Identification with it is the enemy of peace of mind, this is true. But just as you cannot negate that which is real, you cannot get rid of that which is not.  You can only understand the difference. Living as the love you are as the Self means loving your(not)self unconditionally. This person doesn’t have to improve for you to love it, but it will automatically improve as Self-knowledge scours away ignorance, and you will like it a whole lot more.

Q: “What you have you will lose. What you are, you will not lose”. This statement appears to reflect where I am with Self-Knowledge. I have it but I am not IT (yet). God bless you Sundari and thank you again for your generosity of wisdom.

Sundari: You are always welcome, I love talking to you. Your statement above is correct, there is nothing one can ever keep in mithya because nothing is permanent.  Only the Self, the witness of the apparent keeping and losing, can never be gained or lost. You cannot NOT have ‘IT’, though there may still be ignorance in the way of fully appreciating that fact. You are closer than you give yourself credit for.

Hang in there, you are doing great 

Much love

Sundari

Dear Sundari, Isvara has turned my life upside down and everything I relied on seems to be crumbling beneath my feet. Relationships, work, financial disaster, possibly losing my home and safe space. So many factors are involved, both big picture and small, both within and outside of my control.  I am taking appropriate action where possible, trying my best to apply Self-knowledge. But I seem to be on a slippery slope heading somewhere I don’t want to be.  I know this is all an object known to me, but even knowing I am the Self, there is not much happiness right now. I am struggling to keep my equilibrium.

Sundari: It is one thing to know you are the Self, and quite another to be unaffected by the trials and tribulations of the jiva.  Self-realization does not erase whatever karma is in the pipeline, which will fructify. It has to. Whatever lurks in the unconscious and needs resolving must be seen.  Having been bestowed the gift of self-consciousness means we are subject to doubt, anxiety and confusion, which animals do not suffer.

But Isvara also bestowed the human mind with a hidden drive for healing because its true nature is the Self, and ignorance of that is so painful.  This is why humans suffer such terrible psychological distress. Karma yoga of course is the key to all things mithya, which you know all too well. It is in times like these that it really counts. 

Part of the problem in all our human travails is that we think we should always be happy, and if we are not, something is wrong with us or our lives. Who said this is true? To you as the Self it makes no difference whether the jiva is ‘happy’ or not because the bliss of the Self is not dependent on how you feel. Self-knowledge aside, most people do not stop to ask themselves if happiness is the same thing as having meaning in life.

We tend to assume that whatever makes us happy also makes life feel meaningful. But though easy and comfortable raises happiness, it does not always bring meaning. In fact, very often, while we feel ‘happy’ when we feel safe and have all we want the way we want it, the nagging dissatisfaction of the emptiness of object happiness persists.

Nondual wisdom reveals that nothing in the world ultimately brings true happiness or meaning. As the Self, you are the meaning and do not require anything to obtain either happiness or meaning. However, for the jiva who must transact with the world Self-realized or not, meaning and happiness do not always arrive in the same package. And whether we know it or not, what we all want most of all is meaning.

Unfortunately, meaning requires sacrifice and stepping out of what’s safe, easy and comfortable. Even bouts of stress are linked to a deeper sense of purpose when they are the price to pay for meaning. This fact should be very evident, yet it is not to most who are allergic to inconvenience. People who choose to be parents know all about this conundrum because parenting requires so much sacrifice.

The reward of parenting is usually a lot of meaning, but also, a lot of stress and not always great happiness.  As always, it is a zero sum situation in mithya. But of the two, it is advisable to go for meaning over happiness if your instinctive strategy is to always stay in your comfort zone.  Comfort without some kind of sacrifice wears thin very quickly, as many a very wealthy comfortable person will attest. Very often, having all you want is as soul destroying as its opposite.

Yet it is strange how programmed the human mind is to find security, comfort and avoid inconvenience of any kind, at all costs. In our affluent Western society, we have become so accustomed to ease that a large part of the earth’s population doesn’t truly know the meaning of sacrifice, or the satisfaction born from the resourcefulness of making do without. Our likes and dislikes are commands we MUST obey.

Karma yoga is very difficult for this kind of mind, even though it may intellectually understand the concept of sacrifice and not being in control of results.  In practice, it is a different matter, with lip service being the order of the day.  Isvara is karma phala data, and does not make mistakes. There are no bad results, just results we don’t like. As our dear friend Suus says, whatever is happening is happening and if you don’t like it you clearly have something to learn. This is hard to accept when the going gets tough. True karma yoga is no walk in the park for the ego.

Nobody enjoys being out of their comfort zone. Sadly, we are not here to be comfortable but to grow. That’s just the way it is. I cannot advise you on what action you need to take. Ultimately, Self-knowledge takes care of everything. But still, karma is a bitch, and can be so confusing because there are times it’s a good idea to say no to Isvara. I think it comes down to the AA serenity prayer: 

Dear God, please grant me the strength to accept the things I cannot change, to change what needs changing, and the wisdom to know the difference. Most often, difficult karma is a combination of the two. Karma is never a straight line. Isvara is the big picture, which we usually can’t fully grasp or understand while it is unfolding. This is what makes true karma yoga hard, especially for a mind under the influence of the affluenza virus.

Q: When the intellect is shrouded in stress, sleep deprivation sets in, and other biological factors (hormones etc). Q: At times like these, the ratio of forgetting what we are to remembering what we are can tip in the forgetting. It’s painful to forget. A form of deception to SELF in a way. The greatest of all.

Sundari: Rampant rajas and tamas totally mess with inner peace, both on the subtle and material level. The sleep deprivation that accompanies this is a killer, the poor nervous system goes haywire. Feeling so horrible, both wired and hollowed out, empty and exhausted, doesn’t mean you can forget who you are. It’s not possible, you are always the one observing the inner and outer struggle. Observing the one who seems to forget.  The bliss of the Self is not diminished when the mind is tamasic, unhappy and exhausted.

It’s cold comfort I know, but Isvara is busy messing with your life for good reason. The ego craves convenience and security. It’s nature is that way, no blame. Isvara sets things up for us to fail, there is no way to win in mithya, even when we have things easy and the way we like them. But as stated, to have meaning our lives require growth, which always requires sacrifice and often extreme discomfort. That’s tough for the poor ego to accept. 

It’s no wonder so many people just can’t cope with life and fall apart.  They cannot stand the anxiety. You are part of the crew trying to help, and you know what a cruel master mithya is. How hopeless life can seem. You also know what the game is all about. You are one of the very lucky ones who has been given the map out of the madness. This is what matters, hold onto it. You are not lost. You are on track. Did you know that the quickest route to the wrong place is a straight road?  If you are not on a bumpy winding dirt road once in a while, you may think you are not lost and all is good.  But are you found?

The self-deception is the false spiritual  belief that your supposed to be happy, secure, comfortable and together, all the time, or you can’t be ‘enlightened’. Self-knowledge does not remove life challenges, it just changes how you relate to them. As the Self, karma does not come to you and so you do not suffer stress, confusion and anxiety.

Try to be grateful, I know it’s hard when your jiva life seems to be imploding. Be kind to your(not)self, it’s having a very hard time.  One thought at a time, trust the process unfolding even as the ego hates and resists it. See the resistance, the tightness and inner chaos. Stand as the Self. The way forward will clear up. It has to because you are always there, shining.

When things seem dark, remember to face the sun. Know that you are the source of its light, all light. And you are always shining, no matter how many clouds turn the sky grey. Remind yourself that Isvara has your back, always, especially when it seems to be so otherwise. “I take care of all your getting and your keeping”, says Krishna. We should add: “I also take care of all your remembering and forgetting, and all your losing’.  Sometimes, what we lose is more important than what we keep. 

Much love

Sundari

I hope you are doing well.

Thank you to Ramji, yourself, and the entire Shining World team for presenting this knowledge in such a simple, relatable way for people like me who are not born into the Vedantic tradition.

Sundari: welcome to the Shiningworld community! We are so happy you have found us, and that you have the good grace to understand the value of these priceless teachings.

M: Just to share a bit of background for context (even though I understand that in Vedanta the focus is on knowledge rather than the individual story. My family is quite religious and dharmic in its own way, with strong values centered around God and service to others—which I now see as aligned with Karma Yoga and devotion.

S:  Strong family values centered on God and living dharmically is a good start in life, in many ways.  Especially as you point out, whatever the religious background, this tends to be in alignment with a devotional life in the karma yoga spirit.

M: Since childhood, I’ve had a natural inclination toward knowing God and living a peaceful, dharmic life. However, there was always some underlying anxiety, despite being relatively content as a middle-class individual without strong material desires. Initially, I tried resolving this through religious practices, joining different religious groups, and exploring Sufi teachings. These helped to an extent.

S:  I can relate to this as like you, I grew up in a very religious family whose values were spiritual as opposed to material. But nonetheless I felt constrained by the limitations of the dogma.

M: This led me to question more deeply: how can one be truly happy? I explored various courses on happiness from well-known universities, which emphasized meditation, mindfulness, and valuing experiences over possessions. Around this time, I began reading extensively. Books like How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie significantly reduced my anxiety, while The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and The One Thing improved my performance in my roles as a father and employee. I also explored Stoic philosophy.

S: Again, this is familiar to me, and most people who are born walking to a different drum. I realized very young that I did not fit into my set, which did not provide the wisdom I was looking for.  Like you, I did not find it in religion, so was drawn to philosophy, psychology and science. While these systems of thought tend to push beyond the safety net of acceptable but limited religious doctrine, they are all nonetheless still based in duality. 

If you go back through the ages as far as we have written accounts by powerful thinkers, you find that no matter how sophisticated and brilliant the thinking, nobody ever comes up with the definitive answers for life in mithya. For one simple reason: there are no solutions in mithya (the effects of ignorance/duality on the mind/society, life).

It can be summed up fairly simply: humans naturally need to relate to something bigger than themselves because even the most dualistic mind recognizes there is more to life than it is possible to know or understand. So religions and politics developed as a safety net for people who need guidelines and rules to feel safe. This also obviates the need to look inward because subscribing to a strict doctrine allows one to easily side step the difficult work of shadow integration, and what monsters may lurk in the unconscious.

Humans with minds that questioned the status quo did not fare well – just look at all the religious wars–the absolute certainty that whatever you believed gave you the right to destroy anything that threatened it. What humans under this spell are capable of doing to each other is beyond belief. Not to mention that aside from religious wars, this certainty also gives you the safety of self-righteous rectitude in living your life in a frightening, ever changing and unpredictable  world. 

But because the Self knows itself, there will always be those who will seek the truth at any cost, so many souls paid the price. Philosophy grew out of this need, as did science, where people stepped out of and challenged the consensus reality.  Here people are more inclined to look within, to face the less than fabulous aspects of the psyche, to stand away from the herd. Still not nondual thinking, but progress that offers at least the hope for a saner life.

Then there are those like yourself  and most people who are ready for Vedanta, where the limitation of all human thought is understood, and the zero sum nature of life is faced, if not yet accepted.  One stops trying to run from that and instead, turns within.  If at this stage you have the good grace to find Vedanta and a qualified teacher, you are one of the very fortunate souls.  Not better, just fortunate.  Because if you have developed the requisite qualifications, you have found the true holy grail: the means to step out of the hypnosis of duality.  You have found  the answers to everything. And it is you, the Self.

M: Gradually, I developed some level of discrimination, dispassion, and self-control. Then, reading The Power of Now (Introduced to me Enlightenment, a state that can only possible in Heaven as a religious guy), which I think I can led to what I would call non-dual experiences. For about one to two years, life felt effortless—everything seemed to align, and I experienced high efficiency, clarity, and focus. Considering I am enlightened now I can do whatever I want  I even managed multiple jobs for a while. However, this state eventually faded (Because Doer/ mind / world was denied as unreal) the “doer” returned, bringing back anxiety and burnout. Especially around Covid Time my life was focused around Artha only and fear and struggle in life started from where it was, After that, I explored various teachings—dark psychology, healing from narcissistic abuse, boundary-setting, and many spiritual paths including Neo-Advaita, Buddhism, Zen, and teachers like Mooji and Rupert Spira. While these helped temporarily, I felt something was still missing, especially the idea that I needed to eliminate the mind—which I now understand is not correct.

S:  Your passage to Vedanta is quite common among those who develop the qualifications for it. I passed through that way too, but the teachings of people like Eckhart Tolle (and many others of his ilk, especially in the neo-Advaita arena) are simply not valid; they are experience-based teachings. Though inspirational, they lack an actual teaching.  They rely on ‘enlightenment’ as a special state or experience, which as you discovered, does not last. Buddhism and Zen offer tools to live a more dharmic life, but also do not offer an independent means of knowledge for moksa.

In the  case of neo-Advaita, they deny the world and the person exist at all. While that is well and good, the truth is, they do exist because you experience them. It is not experience itself that is the problem, it is understanding who the experiencing entity is, how it is conditioned by duality, and why it is impossible to step out of that mindset without a valid and independent means of knowledge.  One that does not belong to or come from anyone, and that cannot be negated in any time frame, state or experience.  It is standing in Awareness, that which knows/witnesses the experiencing entity who thinks it lives in time. Being able to discriminate between the two is called moksa—freedom from the limitation of duality.

Both Mooji and Spira teach Vedanta ‘lite’, meaning, they do not have the full methodology of Vedanta.  They are good people who teach part of it and appeal to those who are perhaps destined for moksa, but have not yet developed all the qualifications.

M: Eventually, I discovered Ramji’s Vedanta teachings on YouTube “Westerwald 2014” through (Andre Vas (Yes Vedanta Website)). I completed the course in two days and continued with his books. Since then, I’ve engaged with Vedanta daily, and by Ishwara’s grace, I’ve gained a level of clarity I never found elsewhere. What stands out to me is Ramji’s precise and methodical handling of Neo-Advaita concepts, which resonates deeply with me.

S: There is nothing like Vedanta, and you are blessed to have found Ramji.  What is clear to me is that you must be qualified because you understand the value of the teachings, and how they stand apart from all others.

M: My current understanding (at least intellectually) as a jiva is:

• M: My core problem is ignorance, which leads to superimposition—the mistaken belief that reality is dual, and that happiness, security, and virtue lie in objects rather than in the subject, my true self.
• S: Well put.
• M: I am non-dual ordinary awareness; happiness and Enlightenment is the knowledge that I am whole and complete, not an experience.
• S: Self-knowledge is the knowledge that stands alone and can never be negated by the presence or absence of any experience, no matter how elevated or powerful. It is the firm identification with Awareness as your primary identity, and the understanding that the body/mind or ego persona is a secondary (apparently real not actually real) identity. The ability to automatically discriminate between Awareness and the jiva is called ‘enlightenment’.  It is not another experience because all experiences are objects known to you, Awareness. It is not something to gain or that makes you special in any way. ‘Enlightenment’ is simply the permanent recognition of your true eternal, unborn and undying identity as Awareness, which is never again confused with the impermanent, limited, and time-based ego identity..
• M: There is no need to reject the mind or jiva—only to align them with dharma.
• S:Essentially yes in that moksa will not obtain in a mind that is not dharmic.  But it is more than that.  It is the understanding of what the mind is, how it is constructed and conditioned by the gunas, a product of the Causal body (likes and dislikes, psychological conditioning/vasanas/samskaras). Which requires an understanding of the gunas and the Causal body (Isvara). This is the part all other teachings skip because it requires shadow integration and true self-love. Though you are the Self, and anything else is not you and therefore, not real (real being defined as that which is always present and unchanging), you cannot jump straight to the Self (satya) without first understanding what mithya (the person/the world) is, and negating the ‘realness’ with Self-knowledge.
• M: My role is to continue Karma Yoga—offering actions and accepting results as Ishwara’s prasad and  I need continue listening analysing and assimilating.
• S: Karma yoga is an attitude of surrender and devotion to Isvara because it subjugates the childish ego and lessons the pressure of the vasanas. Without it, you will not make progress with self-inquiry. You may understand the teachings intellectually, but if you do not live them, there is no freedom from limitation.
• M: Assimilation will take time, and results are not in my control, but be faithful this will eventually happy through qualifications, a qualified teacher,  Vedanta and practicing knowledge.
• S: Yes. As explained in many of the texts, you need to familiarize yourself with all the requirements for self-inquiry, understand the values required, and the qualifications which will determine how motivated you are for moksa.  You will find this all on the Shiningworld website, under New To Vedanta.
• M: I also recognize certain binding vasanas: overeating, lack of mindful habits, occasional smoking, excessive time on YouTube, and sometimes engaging in inappropriate content. Family challenges also create anxiety. Additionally, I notice a tendency to overextend myself in helping others, which leads to burnout.
• S: This is all explained in many of our texts.  You need to clean up your life if you want a purified mind in which Self-knowledge will obtain. It is not wrong or bad to indulge your vasanas, but it will not produce peace of mind.  Plus, the mind will still be turned outward to the world looking for what is lacking.  The entry level qualification for self-inquiry is that you have understood the zero sum nature of life, and that there is nothing in life to gain.  You are what you seek.  So while Vedanta is not about perfecting the person, and the occasional lapse is not the kiss of death, binding vasanas need to be rendered non-binding.  If your lifestyle does not conform to dharma, the mind will be agitated and the conditions for moksa will not be present.

M: I have a few questions for guidance, for my Jiva:

1. Based on your experience, what would you suggest I focus on going forward?
2. S: See Above.  Start at the beginning, sign on to the logic and follow all the steps of inquiry.  There is no fast track to freedom.
3. M: I enjoy teaching and sharing knowledge, but I tend to over-involve myself, especially when others become dependent and judge the other person for e.g.  my subordinate if they do not ask enough questions. Is it better to only teach when asked rather than assuming others need help? 
4. S: Most definitely.  While we encourage sharing of the teachings, it is advisable to make sure you have assimilated them before ‘teaching’. Be sure about your motivations because ‘teaching’ can build ego—and ensure you are not adding more ignorance to ignorance.
5. M: In my professional life, I’ve stopped advocating for raises, thinking results are Ishwara’s domain. Should I still actively ask for fair compensation as part of Karma Yoga? My friends told me you are underpaid compared to the market without asking, is it a sign from Ishwara?

S: Karma yoga and following dharma also require standing up for yourself when appropriate.  Remember, karma yoga is not ‘not’ doing anything.  It is taking appropriate action and leaving the results to Isvara.

5. M: Should I maintain boundaries with people I feel uncomfortable around (e.g., loud or draining individuals), or is this an expression of raga-dvesha that I should work through? 
6. S: Again, most definitely.  As I mentioned, understanding the mind requires understanding the gunas and how they condition the mind.  If you are not familiar with the teaching on the gunas, make sure to read The Yoga of the Three Energies.  All three gunas are highly contagious. Since peace of mind should be your main goal, its best to always aim for sattva and (when possible) avoid very rajasic/tamasic people.  If you can’t avoid them (as in people close to you), be very mindful of the gunas and apply guna mind management.

Thank you again for all your guidance and for making this knowledge accessible.

You are most welcome, please feel free to write any time.  We are here to help you with your self-inquiry.

Hari Om

Sundari

ShiningWorld.com

Thank you, your last satsang precisely describes what I as Jiva needed to hear, especially with the two Satsangs attached.

As happens more when we communicate in the last year my initial reaction upon reading is like getting hit in the face with a wet fish of “wake the hell up” but this is not a complaint at all, quite the opposite and especially this time. I let it sink in and came back to it this morning. 

This is like coming up for air.

It puts certain things I had weighted incorrectly into context, my mind needed a course correction while knowing there is no course or path – I as the Jiva was (for whatever reason) stuck in yet another eddy in Samsara – the usual flavor of thinking I as the Jiva can’t do this when I had tried so hard – all of which is ironically true because as the Jiva I cannot.

I think this is where further dispassion and discrimination is needed in the mind now. Time to get a grip; but holding onto the knowledge not “myself” which is like holding onto a rope and continually sliding back down (versus the Self).

Sundari:  I am not sure what you mean here – maybe you meant to say sliding back down into the Self?  If so, who needs to ‘get a grip’ or is holding the rope?  You cannot ‘slide back into the Self’ because you are the Self.  The only sliding is done by the ego, which thinks it is separate from the Self, and needs to course correct. Maybe that is what you mean.

Dario: Your points regarding Freud’s unconscious – but in Vedanta terms in “Are you the candle or the sun?” make this clear to me. Freud and modern psychology, I think as you pointed out in a recent Video, never gave / give the basis for the individual to “Peer into the Abyss” without just dropping into it or becoming highly dependent on the psychologist to pull them out. While this is logically impossible (as the Abyss is by nature Unconscious) most humans, even with just modest Self Reflection, are aware of the immensity of the Sun versus “they as the candle” and suffer – good for the psychology business, good for duality religions, good for the drug companies.

Sundari: Yep! As you point out, without nondual guidance, even the most objective reflection by a worldly mind,  no matter how brilliant or switched on, will still be limited to and stuck in the box of duality. And this is grist to the mill of most religious systems, and of course, those who profit from fear.

Dario: What is missing in Psychology is perhaps the knowledge of who is observing, witnessing this person looking at the Abyss as well as the Karma Yoga view which is Life is not just “My Abyss” – there is a much vaster system, like the Unconscious, but way more massive, around me as the Jiva and including all Jivas and things with the same governing principles which is astounding – one apparently massive sun amongst billions of suns.

Sundari: Yes, the missing factor, identifying as Consciousness, the only factor that can get the mind out of the mess of duality, is completely missing in standard psychology, science and most other places.

Dario: So it is no wonder that as a Jiva I feel doubly overwhelmed – by the particular unconscious Vasanas I mistakenly associate with “me” (and this is where I am as the Jiva, the knowledge is not yet firm) and then how these inevitably interact with the world (and everyone else’s Vasanas) and, whatever the Universe happens to be doing that day which may be totally not “in line” with my wishes which is hilarious now versus a decade ago when it wasn’t.

Sundari:  I think its time to take a good look at that persistent and recurring overwhelm.  The ego has had plenty of bandwidth on that score, but is it really so?  Maybe you are just a tad too diligent, and hesitant to claim your identity as the Self. I address this below.

Dario: You said “ “Free will” is the conscious mind’s ability to veto the stimulus before it morphs into automatic action generated by the unconscious.” – in Vedanta I understand this to be Sama (regarding the Gunas) and Dharma: Free will is not the ticket it as purported by common culture – if not exercised with these two it automatically means more binding, more misery which I as the Jiva (unconsciously!!) chose in ignorance, it was free will but it wasn’t because “I” and most people once bound would probably say “I did not want this” or “I only tried to do the right thing” (even dictators). This is a crucial part of the puzzle I have not seen yet.

Sundari: Yes, spot on.  The best ‘free will’ offers in mithya terminology is determined by the objectivity the mind has developed in understanding its conditioning and making ‘good’ choices.  But, that objectivity alone is not ‘free’ nor does it have much to do with freedom because it does not address the main problem: the doer who believes they need something to be happy and/or do something to be a better person. For most worldly, small-self-aware people this translates into more binding vasanas.  As in, ‘I don’t want this, but that’. And it is interesting that every dictator alive today or who has ever lived has plundered, oppressed, and murdered in the name of ‘freedom’.

Dario: I had not heard of the “Red Queen Hypothesis” but love the books and it’s close to my heart. I am horribly familiar with feeling like Alice – “that in her world you have to keep running just to stay in the same place”. 

This has been how I as Jiva have felt most of my life, out of place, trying to escape the treadmill, many treadmills, all manner of “escapes” of “misled inquiry” (just intellectual rebellion) – but through this – I as Jiva am still here, still on the treadmill; no apparent “change” for the Jiva. This is a fact. Wiser in the mind but even this can hinder – knowledgeable about my own mental “vomit”, knowledgeable about all kinds of intelligent sounding things but honestly inside still staring at the apparently impossible.

Sundari:  I came across the ‘Red Queen Hypothesis” term recently myself and realized its relevance with reference to the samsaric treadmill. It describes everyone’s experience under the spell of Maya—running like a mad hatter to get where they think they need to be, but staying in the same place.  Honestly, I think you are too hard on yourself, Dario.  I do not think you stuck on this treadmill any more, at all. You have made great progress.  Again, I address this below.

Dario: My inquiry is now who is staring? How can “awareness” stare at anything? It can’t as awareness, can I as awareness via the mind illuminated by awareness with the knowledge Vedanta provides? This subtlety can only be supported by the qualifications (I think) – if I as the Self (identifying as the Self) inquire with dispassion, discrimination (and the others) then those miserable identifications with the not-Self can be seen – not as impending Goliaths but as “just Mithya”. David was not alone – he did have tremendous skill with a sling shot, perhaps not unlike Arjuna with his friend Krishna.

Sundari: Awareness does not ‘stare at anything’ other than itself. Everything ‘you’ see with human eyes is you in apparent form. You are the seer who ‘sees’ only itself even as you transact with the world of apparent objects. The presence of Awareness makes seeing possible, but you as Awareness only ‘see’ objects when Maya is operating. Macrocosmic Maya does not disappear when your personal ignorance (avidya) is removed. You can enjoy the show without getting fooled by it. It’s all ok.

Dario: Had I not met James and Vedanta and with both your help this would be a lost cause. I’d like to say now “I get it” but this would not be honest, even after all this time but it is no burden at all. I do know now that that this is not a lost cause at all and am so grateful, it is beyond words to describe.

Sundari:  Everything you say is so well put as always, Dario.  My previous email to you, and the two I attached, all speak to the incredible subtlety of grasping nonduality for the human mind. Thanks to the way it is set up by the gunas (Causal body/Maya), nonduality is beyond its ‘normal scope’.  Though the human mind is the most complex and sophisticated piece of equipment in creation, it is bound by duality, and subject to the Causal body.  No matter how sophisticated our understanding is, whether that is scientific, medical, philosophical or spiritual, there is no way to step out of the box of duality without a valid means of knowledge that can do it for you – and the only option there is Vedanta.  There simply is no other way. That is indeed a sobering realization to come to for most inquirers. You were one of the blessed ones to have found Vedanta, that is for sure.  And we are so honoured to be of help to you.

As I said previously, as much as nonduality makes it clear what your true identity is as the Self, what the mind is, how and why it is programmed the way it is, and what the solution is—the process of liberation is far from easy.  It takes not only the application of the teachings to your life 24/7 for firm Self-knowledge to assimilate and firm up, which means the mind is no longer conditioned by gunas (even though they still play out). At some point it takes unshakeable confidence to stand as the Self.  Not the confidence to proclaim it. The confidence to claim it.

I have been fortunate because I have lived with James for the last 16 years, and been exposed to how that works and what it is like.  It is not easy for those such as yourself who have no-one in their immediate proximity to model freedom for them.  This very often is the cause of recurring doubts and confusion, which really have no basis in truth anymore.  But somehow there is still a catch, some strings of ignorance have not been severed even though they are seen.  Nobody can do that for you.

You know who you are, but these patterns still arise like dust that gets kicked up when we walk on a dusty road. These mental/emotional patterns cause endless rumination and loss of confidence: “how could these thoughts still appear if I know who I am’? Well, all thoughts are universal vasanas arising from the Causal body.  You can even have the thought ‘I am unenlightened’ and you are still the Self. It’s ok to ‘be human’ when you know your true identity. All thoughts and feelings are objects know to you, and I will bet that the habitual patterns are mostly burned ropes by now. It’s Ok to say: ‘So what?’ at this point. 

I can assure you that being the Self can still mean you can be a pain in the ass as a jiva, to yourself and ‘others’, at times. Neither James or me are in any way perfect as people. You will never expunge every bit of mithya and you are never going to be perfect as a jiva. Again, so what? When you know you are the Self, it doesn’t matter anymore. The jiva is what it is, with a certain personality and some of its ways will remain unchanged. Rendering binding vasanas nonbinding means you have overcome your biggest downfall:  chasing the joy in objects identified as a doer.  And imperfection as a jiva does not mean that you do not follow dharma perfectly. As the Self, there is no other option.  And as a jiva, following dharma is your main protection from all the vicissitudes of life. James is going to talk about this on Sunday.

Chasing the world is over for you now.  Will you never feel lonely or depressed again?  Maybe not, and maybe you will. But you will be the knower of the apparent loneliness and depression. So, is it loneliness, or all oneness?  It can be both. Love is nice. Being loved and ‘seen’ is lovely. Who doesn’t want that, and why not?? Even when you know you are the love that makes love possible and  the ‘seer’ that makes being seen possible. you can never again get lost because you are home.

You are not ‘at home’.  You are Home. Maybe the solution is to get off the dusty road? Or, just enjoy the dust.  Say—oh, this is nice, a little trip in the country on a scenic dirt road. I wonder what wonders I will find? Allow yourself to feel the uncomplicated awe of just being alive in this beautiful creation, with all its wonder, beauty, cruelty and banality. And let some dust get up your nose!

We have a friend who is dying, experiencing terrible physical pain. But she is completely consumed with ecstasy so sublime she has no words for it.  Just the raw, pure, powerful bliss of the Self, unfiltered. That is who you are. That is what life really is, all of it. For her, it took facing death to fully realize this, though she always knew it. The seeming loss and gain, the zero sum. The one sum.

Time to stop worrying.  You are nothing like Alice in Wonderland who has to keep running to stay in the same place.  You are the place, the only placeless place that is nowhere and everywhere.  Trust it. Life will continue to serve up lemons along with the good stuff, but hey!  Life is beautiful all the same.

Highly motivated and qualified inquirers like yourself, with such a great intellect, can fall into the trap of overthinking and ‘falling in love’ with your doubts.  Maybe you need to cut yourself some slack and relax a bit. Take it easy, as Swami Abedhananda instructed James when he cut him loose on the world, with a wink and a big grin!

Being the Self is not difficult because it is a fait accompli—something that can ever be disputed or lost.  For sure the mind can still play tricks, but it cannot fool you for long.  You are wide awake, dear friend. Celebrate it.

With much love

Sundari

Sundari: Thanks for the update, it’s always such a pleasure to read the elegance of your thoughts, even though they are just thoughts and you are not the thinker. Observing what manifests in the mind, holding the position of the uninvolved witness, and curating it with Self-knowledge is the key to a sane life for the jiva. Especially given that only 5% of what drives the mind is consciously accessible. This is quite something to wrap one’s head around, to use a rather inept expression to describe a very complex idea. I attached two satsangs I recently posted about this, which barely scratch the surface. They are called “Are You the Candle or the Sun?’ and ‘A Guna Cognizant Mind is A Mind Like God”. 

However, even though as the Self, the conscious and unconscious levels of the mind (which all originate in the Causal body) do not affect you in any way, it certainly behooves us to get a grip on the complexity of the mind if we want freedom from it. Self-knowledge bestows upon the mind the most subtle and sophisticated understanding of everything concerning *mithya*; when nondual vision is firm, nothing is beyond our understanding. The Vedanta pramana literally explains everything.

But that doesn’t translate to moksha being the default position of the mind—where it is no longer capable of wavering due to the fluctuations of the gunas.  The gunas still fluctuate and the body/mind remains subject to syntropy and entropy, but Self-knowledge never fluctuates.  This is a work in progress for most inquirers. It’s tough being a jiva, and even tougher getting rid of the notion that you are one.  Isvara does not make it easy, as I explain in the attached satsangs.

Have you heard of the ‘Red Queen’ hypothesis? It was coined by evolutionary biologist Leigh Van Valen positing that a species must constantly adapt and evolve not just to gain an advantage, but to survive. He named it after the character in Lewis Carroll’s ‘Through the Looking Glass’ who tells Alice that in her world, you have to keep running just to stay in the same place.

Well, that’s an apt description of mithya if there ever was one. Everyone’s running after or away from something, but they are always in the same place.  We are born, we grow up, old age comes and soon ‘we’ are gone.  But did anything happen?  It’s a blessing to be born with a good mind; some worldly people mature, gain wisdom and knowledge, and perhaps even become great souls.  But unless ‘you’ as an ego identity have been blasted away by Self-knowledge, you never got anywhere.  

This applies to most intellectuals, and most of the smartest thinkers who ever lived, are alive now, or who will ever live. It’s quite amazing how Isvara can develop the mind to be capable of such complex brilliant thinking – and yet. Still ignorant. 

As an inquirer, the mind poses the biggest obstacle to Self-knowledge because it is not only indoctrinated by duality, or beginningless ignorance. It is incredibly difficult to access most of its content, 95% of which lies in the personal unconscious and the macrocosmic unconscious, as explained in the attached satsangs.

Much love

Sundari

Dear Sundari,

After our last communication Isvara has had an elegant, precise way of repeatedly teaching me what I had prayed and pray for – knowledge. I am more grateful than ever for both your work and teachings – I listen every day first thing to a chapter or two and at night when walking. While I met James many years ago, it seems like the blink of an eye now.

Recently it’s been 4 months of “forced” reflection – but this does not describe it accurately.  I as the Self asked for it and received – it is not like I as the Jiva am sitting down to “meditate” or “work on myself” or “reflect”. Quite the opposite!

It happens in bursts – old vasanas, still unconsciously seeking a result – now don’t get the result at all….until I see “ah ok I see now I was looking for a result” and then this “jester” Isvara hands it to me – in a different form, in fact “better” – by often realising, well after the fact, that no result was indeed better in hindsight – for work, health, friends, whatever.

Crucially only when “I” as miserable Jiva have thoroughly grieved over not getting the expected result. Only then, does the entire trace become conscious and I can see in stark reflection what caused it – apparently for the first time – but I end up laughing knowing now – again – it was that old thing and can make the discrimination.

I think many of the more “intellectual” types attracted to Vedanta (who may have rejected dualistic religion, God even in that form, perhaps bounced like a pin ball into spiritualism, “God free Buddhism” or even a cult and bounced out again) – don’t realise that at some point, being dispassionate about results means giving it up, actually want to give it up, to Isvara. This is new. 

Karma yoga now means to me admission, true admission, that I as the Jiva am not in charge, not even in a small sneaky way. To be liberated means handing over to Isvara – but this is the case anyhow – my Jiva just needs to learn this, repeatedly, there is nothing there in Mithya (anyhow) which liberates anything, quite the reverse.

Many years ago a girlfriend had a small kitten who was shitting everywhere and she was told by the vet that she had to take the kitten and rub his nose in it, then it would learn. I do not know if she did (nor do I particularly agree with the method nor know if it works) – but this is how my Jiva feels and it is a blessing. The Self “asks” (somehow), Isvara responds but my Jiva feels like that kitten, all the time – mentally, emotionally and paradoxically it definitely makes “life” far easier, with real hope and faith.

If anyone ever needs 100% concrete proof of Vedanta I find it is not in any amazing temporary spiritual experiences (of which I have had few…I think I have…but forgot!)  – but for me its knowing what the Self is not from a non-dual standpoint. Vedanta allows me as the (Jiva, mind, complex) to allow light to shine on all that the Self is not, this is the proof I take home.

It is pretty tiring and oddly like a trap – I as the Self realise there is no “out” for the Jiva or any Jiva. If I only saw that it would be like being buried alive (mentally or emotionally), truly depressing and terrifying even – but that is not all there is – there is being alive itself which is existence, even if “I” don’t feel it, this is glorious. 

I find I am naturally more compassionate with both people I know and don’t, knowing this is the same for all as for me. I know the entire merry go round will keep going forever, for all Jivas and oddly that is ok. Karma yoga is indeed the saving grace which keeps me, as the Jiva, sane even if it’s like a sorry kitten with a tough owner at times.

In myself I feel great. Reading about Rory’s passing and incredible journey makes even “health issues” shrink to the tiny pinpricks they are.

much love to you both,