Nick:Namaste,Sundari. I hope thatjivais hale and hearty, and basking happily in the light that you are. Sundari:Thanks, Nick, all is grand, thank you. Sorry...

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

Shanmugan:Hi, Sundari. I went through your website and finished reading the basic course. I have been practising Advaita and mindfulness for a few years...
Thomas:Hello, Sundari, it’s Thomas again, just emailing you to express my thoughts and ruminations. Yes, the “dark night of the soul” moments are just...
Christian:You guys may find this interesting <https://youtu.be/qyPWvg9dxD4>. Nothing new, but fun to hear it from a physicist. Sundari:Old Hagelin, he’s been around for a...
Seeker:One thing I’d like to ask about. I have avasanafor suffering in a relationship; I think it stems right back to the death of...
Seeker:Dear Sundari, you are working on four books at the same time!?! And finding time to answer emails, etc? My God, I don’t know...
Franco:I am okay, but life with Mira is not really easy. It got much better for three or four days (after I told her...
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...
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...
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...
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...