How ShiningWorld Can Help
When someone told Swami Chinmayananda that they had problems, he often said, “You don’t have problems. You are the problem.” Individuals who know who they are don’t need life coaching because knowing who you are gives you the power to sort out all issues related to your karma. Furthermore, firm knowledge of your true spiritual identity is not easy to come by, owing to the obscuring power of ignorance. So if you want help, you need to study with a competent teacher and know what kind of questions to ask.
What Vedanta Isn’t
Before you contact us, you need to know what kind of questions to ask, so to familiarize yourself with Vedanta, you need to do a bit of homework. To save you a lot of trouble we suggest you first read this article to find out what Vedanta isn’t.
Many seekers who arrive at this website come from the “Advaita” world, which we refer to as Neo-Advaita and which means New Non-duality. If you have never heard of it, consider yourself lucky as you will not have to disabuse yourself of any number of misconceptions about the nature of enlightenment and the means of attaining it. If it was the solution to the problem of seeking, you wouldn’t have come here. Therein lies its value. Hopefully, it prepared you for time-tested, rigorous, impersonal, professional means for attaining freedom.
Many others come from the world of Yoga. Not physical yoga, which is useful for health and energy, but psychological yoga: meditation and purification of the mind, which is both a blessing and a curse, in so far as it prepares the mind for Vedanta. But its dualistic orientation is definitely a hindrance because non-duality is a counterintuitive concept. Others come from religious backgrounds, which like Yoga is both helpful and detrimental for more or less the same reasons. While still others come from an assortment of occult, New Age, and, oddly, martial arts backgrounds.Finally, a rare few with very excellent karma innocently stumble on it without having formally pursued any path. Seekers of knowledge since childhood, they only want to know the Why of life here.
Basically, if you’ve come here you are at the end of a long road. If you don’t understand what Vedanta is, you will have to continue seeking until you do because once you understand the value of Vedanta your seeking stops and a holy spiritual life begins.
Vedanta, which we call a pathless path because the distance between you and what you seek is zero, is the granddaddy of all paths. It is “the knowledge that ends the quest for knowledge.” It reveals the one thing, knowing which everything you need to know to live free here is as good as known. It is not mysticism, religion or philosophy. Read this article if you want to know more.
Vedanta is the Science of Existence. Or the Science of Consciousness, Awareness if you prefer. It is called Brahma Vidya in Sanskrit. Only in the last one hundred and fifty years was it translated into English, often inadequately. It is a careful experiential analysis of the three categories of Existence: the material world, the psychological world and the known but unknown transcendent factor, knowledge of which sets one free of the sense of inadequacy, limitation and separation that is the hallmark of human life. The odd soul stumbles on it quite by accident it seems, but almost nobody outside India, the world’s spiritual superpower, where it is the basis of Hindu culture, knows about it. It is unknown because the whole teaching has never been put into simple, straightforward, modern internet-friendly English by a native English speaker, a job to which I have devoted the last fifty years of my life at the behest of my teacher.
What’s with the Sanskrit?
It may seem that Vedanta is an occult science owing to the presence of certain Sanskrit words and some unfamiliar symbols, but it isn’t. You will notice this symbol sprinkled liberally throughout this website. The three parts of the symbol are three Sanskrit letters that refer to three universal states of experience: the waking, dream and deep sleep state, the analysis of which leads to knowledge of the forth factor, the unborn limitless Self. Click here for a book and video unfolding the teaching in detail.
I have retained and fully explained the meaning of a handful of Sanskrit words for which there are no adequate English equivalents. If you are not up to learning a few foreign words, you are free to look elsewhere for your enlightenment.
One of the primary qualifications for enlightenment is an open mind. It would be a mistake to immediately discount Vedanta because of its Eastern flavor, for instance the beautiful graphics, which at first glance may seem strange. One ignorant Victorian researcher called Vedic deities “the prattlings of humanity in its early infancy.” On the contrary, they are sophisticated psycho-spiritual symbols that provide practical access to the rich inner world of the universal spirit. Click here for an essay unfolding these complex interesting symbols.
In any case, welcome to ShiningWorld. We are not trying to discourage you. We offer this great resource to turn your seeking, which so far has probably been more or less a stab in the dark, into a sensible, workable path, a royal road to freedom and unconditional love. Because we are committed to the growth of the many dedicated intermediate and advanced inquirers in the ShiningWorld community, we cannot teach the basics to everyone who comes, although there are exceptions. However, if you follow the steps, you will quickly become qualified to ask pertinent questions and to take full advantage of this great teaching tradition.
- Then for a good start click here.
- Next complete the Foundation Course.
3. Read James’ best-selling book, “Essence of Enlightenment,”available as an ebook and in paperback. This is not a New Agey airport read. You need to take your time and study each topic carefully. Don’t assume that you know anything, even if you have been seeking for a long time. Much of what passes for knowledge in the modern spiritual world is far from it. Don’t skip if a topic is uninteresting or you think you already know it. We want you to understand the whole logic of this amazing teaching.
The Dharma of Inquirers
Because non-duality is a radical, paradoxical topic it is easy to misunderstand. We encourage people who have an issue with these teachings to kindly seek help elsewhere. We never argue, nor to we respond to rude demanding emails. Since Vedanta does what it purports to do, we are not interested in other teachings. The truth does not need to be defended. It is revealed to those with humble open minds who appreciate the value of wisdom.
Requests for Information
Anonymity
We totally respect your privacy and will not share your personal information with anyone. However, by writing you agree to have the satsang posted on this website, as it will be beneficial to others. We don’t post all satsangs but when we do, we carefully remove personal details. You are given a new name, location and sometimes even a different gender. There is only one of us. Vedanta addresses the true generic human you, the universal person behind the apparent specific you.
Skype
Vedanta is a three stage process discussed in an essay entitled The 5-10-15 Rule and posted here. Because of the human tendency for self-deception is hard-wired, self-inquiry needs to be guided by a non-attached teacher during all three stages. When a difficulty arises that you cannot resolve yourself follow this link to chat with James (Ramji) or Sundari.
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