Michael:Karma sannyasconfuses me a little since, as James mentions, as long as we are alive we are acting in some way. Perhaps it refers...
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
Seeker:Hello, Sundari. There is a persistent doubt that keeps arising. What is the evidence other than “it says so in scripture” that this immediate...
Sundari:I am glad for you that you have found Vedanta and ShiningWorld, there is no better vehicle for delivering the priceless teachings of Vedanta....
Kim:Dear James and Sundari, I hope you are both well, as you are so busy serving such a large community of Vedantins now. How...
Seeker:Hello, Sundari and Ramji. I’ve been experiencing what I believe isnada brahmanfor about 16 months now. In the beginning, I had no idea what...
Don:I am in the process of trying to resolve the questions that arose from your last email, but in the process I have been...
Mick:Cankarma yoga, upasana yogaandjnana yogabe practised and refined “simultaneously” or (as it seems in traditional Vedanta) should they be developed progressively stage by stage...
Nicola:Mostly I prefer silence, except sometimes when I’m housecleaning… a littlerajasto transform thetamashelps! Sundari:I know what you mean! We live almost entirely in silence...
Narada:Hello, I am Narada, and I read the autobiographyMystic by Default. After reading the book I had one question on my mind. I wanted...
Wilhelm:I have a question (playing devil’s advocate). James likes to joke about people “making a difference.” In one guided meditation James asks us to...
Sandra:Thank you. Your words always help me to stay on the path. Not that I have any place other to go, but as it...
Don:Greetings, Sundari. I thought that if you like Daniel Kahneman’s bookThinking, Fast and Slowyou and James might find thisTed Talkinteresting in light of scripture....
Shiva:Dear Sundari, towards the end the teachings in Tiruvannamalai recently James made the statement that thejnaniis superior toIsvara(2). Upon questioning whether it was thejivaor...
Nina:Hi, Sundari, I hope all is well with you and James! I see often that exercisingkarma yogais one of the ways to prepare one...
Seeker:Dear ShiningWorld, like many others who write to ShiningWorld, I have a long history of studying belief systems, looking for a Way, and being...