Anna:Dear Ramji, I had an experience yesterday in which I saw this beautiful, all-expanding light everywhere, including my body and mind. I recognized that...
Satsang is a compound Sanskrit word that means “keeping the company of the Self.” The Self, Awareness, is the true nature of everyone and one keeps company with it by continually meditating on it in many ways. One of the most effective methods involves discussing non-dual teachings with someone whose knowledge of his or her identity as Awareness is doubt-free, to get clarity with reference to Self inquiry. The satsangs posted here are answers to the questions of many people around the world who are interested in enlightenment and committed to Vedanta as their preferred means of Self knowledge.
Now that Vedanta is well known in Western spiritual circles, it has become commonplace for unqualified “teachers” to identify with it. A qualified teacher is called a mahatma, someone immersed in the Vedic tradition who has been taught the methodology by someone who has been properly taught in an unbroken chain of teachers, through Shankaracharya, back to the Upanishads, the source texts themselves. My teacher, Swami Chinmaya, seen here with his teacher, Swami Tapovan Maharaj, satisfies this qualification. I have not strayed from the tradition since my introduction to it in 1968 and teach traditional Vedanta, although not in the traditional monastic format.
Chinmaya Teaching in a Traditional Setting
John:I can see, from the point of view of awareness, that self isn’t the doer of action. Actions are appearing in my self/awareness, which...
Don:Dear James, I was a very serious Buddhist meditator for 20 years and then had a very shattering awakening five years ago following my...
Dick:Dear James, thank you again for theMandukyaand commentaries. A question keeps coming up during reading, like the analogy you give of the crystal near...
A poem by a Vedanta student: Everything Anew No need for a proper introduction, You and I. Ahead of hello the clouds had already...
Vidya:Dear Sundari, I hope you don’t mind me asking a more personal question that I have been grappling with. Lately, I have become very...
Sam:Please explain the difference between experiential and non-experiential bliss. Sundari:Blissful implies bliss-less. The bliss of knowledge is very different from bliss as most people...
Sundari:Both theories of creation are explained and accepted by Vedanta, evolution and spontaneous creation. How you see it depends on your perspective and self-knowledge....
Don:The word “soul” has always puzzled me, as I am not clear what the word means for those who use it. Soul is a...
Don:As I read and reread the books of James and listen to his tapes and reflect on them I hope to “more clearly” understand...
Timmy:Dear Sundari, sorry to bother, I found your contact address at the ShiningWorld website. I have a question, which I am hoping you or...
Pradesh:Dear Sundariji, I have been listening to Ramji’ssatsangfor a while (including the beginner’s course) now and have been practising theadvaitascience as per Ramji’ssatsang. By...
Pradesh:Dear Didi, thank you once again for your kind advice and time. Your kind words of encouragement andsatsanghave really been helping me in observing...
Mick:I see that what takes itself as the I is nothing more than a collection of physical and subtle patterns and behaviours arising from...
Dieter:I have a question about inquiry. I have followed theGitacourse. In the course Ram recommends several texts to go to in-depth. Among them is...