Wayne:Just a quick email to let you know that I did actually get out! Life is looking pretty good at the minute, though no...
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
Celine:Hello, dear Sundari. We have not met yet and in fact I, as well as my husband, only met James as recently as the...
Sumaya: Beautiful Sundari, how you speak to me when you don’t even know it!! I finally have internet again and a bit of time...
James:This is an entertaining two-yearsatsangbetween an American Indian ceremonial leader, “Big Chief of Many Desires and Misfortunes,” a name I gave him, and “Big...
First, thank you so much for all the knowledge of Vedanta that you make...
Angela:Dear Mr. James, what a good surprise to see your message. Thank you for all the videos – your voice is always in my...
James:I received an email with a link to an article about a Muktananda devotee-swami,the head of anashramin Australia, who was recently removed from his...
Kenneth:James, okay, so I’ve been continuing to study and assimilate the teachings and I was hoping you could clarify something. Until I conquer every...
Mary:Hi, James! One more time I start by telling you how much I am appreciating your teachings and savoring the knowledge. Hidden layers and...
Shanti:Hello, James.When I came back from the seminar, the person I told you about came to see me. He had a risingkundalini(automaticmudrasandbandhas) and a...
Carl:James, although on one hand I know I am awareness, I am! But on the other, I felt never so dumb, so stupid, so...
Tony:It’s great to be writing to you again, James! I haven’t been a very diligent student in terms of asking appropriate questions, because now...
(Manny is a friend of thirty years who is having difficulty adjusting to the change in my circumstances.) James:Dear Manny, yes, things went extremely...
Tony:Hi, James. Firstly, thanks for the weekend at Amstelveen. It was really easy to follow what you were saying this time – it seemed...
Adam:A series of thoughts (below) hit me after watching the “obvious awareness” video on your website home page. Are they accurate? James:They are mostly...