And the The Constituents of Action Teaching When Self-knowledge is hard and fast, life continues pretty much as ‘before’ moksa. The jiva is...
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
Just think about the three statements in my heading. They seem contradictory, do they not? Well, this sums up why nonduality is so counter-intuitive....
My dear friend and teacher Ramji, I want to check in with you now and again to get some true directional correction. My compass...
Hanging from the cliffs edge, clinging not at all. Dangling besmirched by fingertips, one hand only. Craning towards the chasm, wholly unafraid to fall,...
Question: Just a clarification please. In your teaching on the Nirvana Satkam does the ‘unbroken ‘I thought” refer to ‘I am Shiva’ and could...
I am sure most of us are here today because we have a burning desire for raw truth. To seize it, to know it,...
Dear James, I hope you are doing well. I keep up to date with the latest news from Shiningworld via the newsletter and have...
Ramji, As you know I have been struggling the whole time with vasanas. Mainly food and sex. I long since gave up smoking and...
C: I disappeareda bit because I stopped smoking, last year January 2023, to get rid of excessivetamas. It worked and/but sawall kinds of tamasic...
Kevin: I have been contemplating the Chokehold of Maya and The Missing G in Fandom. Thank you again. Sundari: You are most welcome. I love your writing, it’s so...
Lucua: Last night in the satsang Jeremy spoke of coming to the end of it, realisinghecan’tgo further. I often see this point, where it...
Nathaniel: There was a mistake in one of my emails you posted that made it through that could be confusing to readers. Where it...
Nathaniel: Sundari, thank you for your friendship. It means a lot to me. Please share any or all of this with James if he...
Questioner:I look at the world around me and am witnessing a very chaotic world. With wars, corruption, pandemics and it seems to be on...
Nathaniel: Thank you so much for your response, it is so helpful to me.Here is a really long letter, no urgency about it at...










