1. You said: “no matter where you are situated in your inquiry, it always comes down to putting the teachings into practice.” Me:  I take this to mean that you are referring to applying self-inquiry throughout the day as experiences arise where I seem to forget (ignorance) what I am and I mentally apply the knowledge to separate the experienced objects from my true nature (pure awareness).

Sundari: Yes, correct. The mind is entrained to think dualistically by Maya, i.e., ignorance. Non-dual logic is flawless but to transfer your identity to the Self by negating your identity as a body/mind (ego) requires the vigilant, thought by thought application of nondual knowledge to the mind.  Discriminating between satya (pure Awareness) from mithya (the jiva or egoic identity) is the understanding that everything other than you is an object known to you, pure Awareness.

Gil: I will also usually resolve or complete the inquiry by bringing my attention back to presence of awareness that is cognizing the actual experience (referred to as standing in awareness as awareness since that is what is present shining on all experiences)

Sundari: Yes, but always ask who the ‘I’ refers to.  Ego watching itself, or the Self watching the ego?  You use “I” a lot in this email. I explained this in my last email to you:

The problem here is that if you cannot fully discriminate between reflected awareness (mithya) and Pure Awareness (satya), taking a stand in Awareness as Awareness sometimes turns out to be more than a little tricky because it is so subtle. The split mind (ego) watching itself has a slippery tendency to claim to be Awareness. But is it ‘unfiltered’ pure Awareness, or is it reflected awareness, and an ego-delusion? The ego is very good at co-opting any knowledge and presenting it as truth.

How to know, and how to deal with that? Taking a stand is done with the mind and can lead to a kind of self-hypnosis that makes the Jiva (person) think it is the Self without the full understanding of what it means to be the Self. Of course, based on logic alone, (is there an essential difference between one ray of the sun and the sun itself?) the jiva can claim its identity as the Self—but only when its knowledge of satya and mithya is firm, meaning, direct. Meaning, you never confuse reflected awareness with pure Awareness again.

And perhaps disappointingly for many, the practice “I am Awareness” does not give you the experience of Awareness or make you Awareness because you are Awareness. It removes ignorance by negating the idea “I am the conceptual jiva” i.e., ego identity. When the conceptual jiva ego identity is negated, if the mind is sufficiently qualified, the jiva is known to be the Self – Jivatman. Mithya ‘becomes’ satya at this stage, and all is well from then on, even though life ‘in the world’ continues ‘as before’.

Gil: . So, when I resolve the inquiry I mean that I place my sense of identification on this pure awareness that is illumining all experiences (this includes the false sense of ego- awareness is what ultimately cognizes the ego)

Sundari: Again, who is the I that ‘places’ its sense of identification of ‘this’ pure Awareness, and resolves the inquiry? There is only the Self, not ‘this’ Self, and inquiry only ever resolves with reference to Self-knowledge, which does not belong to the mind because the mind is an object known to it.

The Self does not cognize because it is not a person. The presence of Awareness makes it possible for the mind to cognize and objectify the ego identity.

Gil: 2. I practice my nididhysana by speaking directly out loud to my mind the truth of myself – basically that I am existence, consciousness, limitless awareness, self-evident, self-luminous,  whole and complete. I will also use many other mantras that describe my true nature.

Sundari: It is not ‘your’ nididhysana unless you are talking as an ego. Anything that helps you to objectify the mind, its contents and where it  originates from – the gunas/ignorance – is a good practice, but watch out for that doer. Vedanta uses mantras very differently to most other spiritual paths – not to make you feel good (though they do), but to assert your identity as the Self.

Gil: I will say it with the full understanding of what that “implies” – that I am always present and aware including right now as I am giving the mind the self-knowledge…

Sundari: You are always present as Pure Awareness. But you (who?) are not ‘giving your mind the Self-knowledge’. That is the ego speaking. Self-inquiry and the application of Self-knowledge is an action taken by the inquirer, true. But it is by subjecting the mind to the nondual teachings under the guidance of a qualified teacher, that SELF-KNOWLEDGE itself does the ‘work’ of negating the ego identity by removing ignorance, thought by thought. The ego cannot wield nondual knowledge; it will try to co-opt it.

Gil: Basically I am giving full recognition to where my identification lies (on pure Awareness and not on reflected awareness). Since the ignorance is in the mind- the solution is in mind….remove the ignorance with the means of knowledge- Vedanta. I will also use silent meditation where I place my attention on awareness to “mentally” place my “recognition of identification”. Does this seem correct or am I missing anything?

Sundari: You are not wrong, but unless the I recognizing the identification is the silent witness, the Self, this is spoken as a doer – an ego, as it is above.  As stated, though self-inquiry is an action taken by an inquirer dedicated to freedom from ignorance guided by a qualified teacher, you cannot read or meditate your way to freedom because the ego (doer) will get in the way. Ignorance cannot be removed by the doer because it is the problem.  Nonduality is very subtle. Just keep reading, listening and applying the knowledge to the mind. It will take as long as it takes – but know this: You are never not the Self, and the ‘steps to get there are the qualities of being there’. Even though there is no ‘there’ to get to because the Self is all-pervasive, like space.

Hari Om

Sundari: Well put. The ego cannot (and never will) free the ego. Only when you can see the ego objectively as the ‘I’ wrongly identified with the body/mind can we be free of it.

Inquirer: Beyond this moment in awareness I cannot extrapolate the Self’s ultimate goal or the role of the ego in accordance with pre-existing philosophy.

Sundari: There is no ‘beyond this moment in awareness’. There is only the recognition that you are only ever experiencing Awareness/Self (same thing) in every moment. Even though as the Self, your you are never ‘in’ any moment because you are not in time. The Self has no goal because it is not a person.

The nondual teachings of Vedanta are a finger pointing at the moon, but the knowledge they deliver has never not existed because it is the logic of existence. Vedanta is not a philosophy but the science of Consciousness, a timeless means of knowledge capable of revealing your true identity as Awareness/Self, assuming qualifications and that you are properly taught by a qualified teacher. If not, you will interpret the teachings according to your own ideas, which will be conditioned by duality (ignorance).

Inquirer: I save that for inquiry into my actual state in this actual moment.

Sundari: As the Self/Awareness you are what is actual, and you are never in any ‘state’. All states exist in you, as do all moments.

Inquirer: In becoming a blank slate and re-approaching the problem again and again, I find that we could align with endless perspectives on what is going on. The common point is awareness, in which all perspectives melt down and are constructed out of. It is the Omega point of Truth beneath all plurality.

Sundari: There is no need to ‘become a blank slate’ if you can discriminate between the limited personal ego identity and who you are as the unborn, ever-present, non-negatable nondual witness of the limited ego or person. You do not need to align with endless perspectives to do that, quite the opposite.  There is only one fundamental truth, which is that reality is nondual, not a duality. This is ‘the point of truth beneath all plurality’. That is all you need to know to discriminate.

Once you have assimilated nondual Self-knowledge, you have no problem with the ego, as you said above.  You see how it operates, understand what conditions it, and you have compassion for it. But it is as good as non-existent for you because you no longer identify with it.

 Sundari

Ramji: OK. If you’re my disciple, then please reply to my comments to this email. I think my ideas will save you a lot of time and worry.

You have changed the way I look at the world.

Ramji: That’s great!

I’m a householder so it becomes very hard to get rid of my ego. I sometimes try to practice karma yoga but am not good at it.

Ramji: Getting rid of your ego is not possible. You need a good healthy ego to manage the householder role. Karma yoga is the perfect philosophy for making family life beautiful. You probably need to know more about it because it is a really enjoyable practice. We all have karma until the day we die and karma yoga is the best solution for a happy life. Karma yoga gives the ego a sense of purpose and teaches it how to intelligently manage necessary karma, eliminate unnecessary karma and cultivate good karma.

I know I need to practice hard to get rid of my karma.

What karmas (activities) do you need to get rid of? Before you set out to get rid of something it might be wise to figure out how you obtained it in the first place. If you don’t, you will just create more unwanted karma.

I hope in my next life I get a guru like you in my early years so that I have only one purpose in my life and that is to realize that “I’m that”.

Ramji: More good news, Rajiv. There isn’t a next life. Only this one. Even if you die you come back to this world and I will still be here waiting. So let’s solve this problem now.

So what is your purpose in this life? I’d say it was trying to get free of the idea that karma is limiting you. Vedanta proves that you are actually not affected by karma (what happens) even though it feels as if you are affected.

A guru is someone who removes ignorance. Ignorance of what? Ignorance of one’s self. So you can do your karma in the karma yoga spirit and pursue self-knowledge at the same time. I’ll let you think about it for a while. Let me know your thoughts.

Here’s what one of my disciples who discovered what he really is said to me today, “The devotee gets a gift that keeps on giving: a simple love that reveals itself as a beautiful, part-less, solid never-ending subtle sense of bliss and peace that cannot stop ever because it is nature itself revealing her majesty through one’s seemingly limited self.”

I was really touched when I got this email from you.

Ramji: I was equally touched by your beautiful bhakti for me. You are like Arjuna who says to Krishna, “Please teach me. I surrender to you.” Krishna teaches him karma yoga when he asks, What is karma?”

I never thought I would ever get to talk to you even through email. So this is really a wonderful moment for me. Thank you so much for being there and thanks a lot for your love and blessings. It means a lot for me.  My pranams to you and Sundri

Ramji: You’re most welcome, Rajiv. It’s my duty to serve devotees like you. Pranams you to also, You are indeed not different from me.

Om and Prem.
Ramji

Sundari: If we are using the water and the wave metaphor for Awareness it is correct to say that Awareness is the water, the ocean is Isvara, and the jiva/world the waves. Water is water regardless of what form it comes in, so yes, water is both and neither. Without water, there is no ocean and no waves. The ocean and the wave are dependent on the water, but the water is always free of both. But the important thing to grasp is that the water, the ocean, and the wave all have the same identity as Awareness. So, ultimately, all three are both and neither because there is only one principle in reality and that is Awareness, which all three dissolve into.

The question here is, what do you mean by “I’ and ‘sense’? Vedanta teaches the language of identity, which is to say, it reveals that there is only one “I”, the Self. So, when we use the word ‘I’ and we know this, we automatically discriminate between the eternal I and the ‘I-sense’, which is our personal identity as a jiva, the reflected self or ahamkara. Let’s unfold this teaching using your water metaphor. First, let’s clarify the two dimensions in existence: satya, that which is real, meaning always present and unchanging, and mithya, that which is apparently real, meaning not always present and always changing. 

Satya, “The I” (water), is the fabric of Existence, the non-experiencing witness which makes experience possible. Mithya is comprised of Isvara wielding Maya (the ocean), and the world/ jiva (waves). However, Isvara as the ocean is free of the waves; an ocean is still an ocean with or without waves. But there can be no waves without an ocean. Therefore, the jiva is dependent on both the water and the ocean. To further complicate things, though both Isvara (Causal body) and the jiva (Subtle body) only appear when Maya manifests and therefore qualify as mithya, both Isvara and Jiva are eternal principles in Awareness, either manifest or unmanifest. When the Gross body dies, the Subtle body gets subsumed back into the Causal body from whence it came. But the personal ‘I sense’ or ego, does not. The jivas’ sense of self or identity dies with the body.  

Therefore, the ‘I sense” only applies to the manifest (embodied) jiva whether it knows it is the Self or not. Isvara does not have an ‘I sense’ because it knows it is the Self, Satya. Though Isvara gives rise to the apparent reality, it is not under the spell of Maya because it is the creative principle, it governs the gunas and is not ‘in’ mithya like the jiva is. Unlike the jiva, Isvara has no desires or fears. It takes care of the Total as an impersonal principle, providing jivas with a Field of Existence in which to work out their karma and is the giver of the results of action.

The two dimensions, satya and mithya, never meet; they are in different orders of reality, that which is real and apparently real. They never meet because that which is apparently real, mithya or duality, is a superimposition onto satya, nonduality.  Anything in the mithya dimension cannot affect or negate satya, just as a movie on a screen does not affect the screen. Once the movie is over the screen is unmodified. Or the table in a wooden table does not negate the wood.  If you weigh the wood and subtract the weight of the table, the weight of the wood is the same. When you know you are the Self, satya, then personal ignorance is removed permanently by Self-knowledge. There is no more mithya, for you. The apparent reality still exists as it always has, and you still have an ‘I sense’, i.e., the jiva with personal identity its life story. But you are no longer under the spell of Maya so no longer identified with it.

Duality is only a problem if you don’t know what it is and take it to be real.  Hence, moksa is defined as the ability to discriminate you satya, from mithya, 24/7. As satya, you are always free of mithya so there is no reason to get rid of mithya, the ‘I sense’ or ego.  The problem is due to a confusion of the word ‘I sense’ and ignorance.  The ‘I sense’ is an effect of ignorance (mithya) that remains when Vedanta reveals the fact that your true nature is limitless Awareness.  But the good news is that although it remains, it is as good as non-existent because the I sense has no effect on you as satya, as stated.

Where the confusion about the ‘I sense’ originated is the idea that we must destroy the ego to be free of it, largely due to the misunderstandings around Patanjali, Ramana Maharshi, and Nisargadatta’s teachings. Ramana, like Nisagardatta, didn’t clarify the distinction between original pure Consciousness (satya) and the reflected self (the ‘I sense’) which is mithya.  So, people try to ‘cling to the ‘I sense’ as a practice that boils down to clinging to something that is apparently real, i.e., an object.  In the case of Ramana bhaktas they want to get rid of the ego, which is a yogic notion that came from Patanjali. It’s a pointless exercise keeping people stuck in yoga trying to ‘do’ their way out of ignorance, which never works because the doer is the problem.

You cannot do your way to gaining something you already have, only knowledge sets you free of the ignorance of this fact. You cannot get rid of something which is not real nor that which is real. Freedom is knowing the difference between the two and taking the latter as your identity.  Furthermore, the ‘I sense’ or ego is an essential component of the Subtle Body, which has several functions, one of which is the ‘I sense.’  The Subtle body is always present, even in deep sleep, where it is unmanifest because the mind/intellect is subsumed into the Causal Body. There is always a ‘functional’ ego, ahamkara (the “I sense”) if we are to function normally in the world. You can’t do actions unless they are motivated by a thought (“I want” or “I don’t want,” for instance); that’s the way Isvara has set it up. Doing itself is not a problem only the identification with the doer is.  An ego/doer under the management of Self-knowledge causes no trouble at all for the jiva because it is free of its Isvara-given program, its vasana load.  

Though the personal ego (the jiva’s sense of self and life story) dies with the Gross Body, as a function of the Subtle body the ego is not the jiva’s creation, it ‘belongs’ to Isvara, so the jiva can’t destroy it. But Self-knowledge can negate it which means disidentifying with the ego, which is why karma yoga is such an important practice to this end.  When the ego is known to be just another object known to you, the eternal I, and is no longer in charge, suffering ends for you.

Vedanta advises taking a stand in Awareness as Awareness, which amounts to ‘clinging’ to the thought “I am limitless non-dual Awareness,” not to the ‘I sense’. Contemplation on this practice in the context of the satya/mithya teaching sets the inquirer free in so far as moksa is the discrimination between the Self and the ‘I sense.’  To say that moksa is discrimination implies that the ‘I sense’ is not a problem.  The ‘I sense’ is like a ray of sunlight with reference to the sun itself.  There is no contradiction.  They share the same nature, light. So, when one’s discrimination is clear, the ‘I sense’ doesn’t ‘drop away;’ it continues to exist but that it is known to be mithya, not real, a paper tiger, a burnt rope. 

Peter: To assert anything more than being/awareness doesn’t sit well with something here with this jiva as the thought “Self has no I or other in it” keeps recurring.  So clearly, some clarity is needed or this “itch”, as Ramji puts it, would not come up. 

P.S truly enjoy your postings.

Bless you and with Love

Sundari: The teachings of Vedanta are designed to create doubts, which it also answers.  This one that came up for you is an important one, and I hope this teaching clears up the confusion.

Thank you for the feedback, much appreciated.

Much Love to you too

Sundari

To be honest, Sundari, there are moments when I actually stop and catch my breath from the awareness that I truly don’t experience a sense of purpose in the world as I once did. It’s been like this for quite a while, and it seems to be enduring. I liked the satsang you wrote about a month ago to someone expressing a similar thing.

Sundari: As an advanced inquirer, you are well aware of the requirements for self-inquiry, especially in the nididhysana stage. This last stage is no walk in the park, and it is more important than ever that knowledge is applied to your life.  What we find many inquirers forget though is to take a full inventory of their guna management.  I call it doing a ‘guna audit’. While you know that the gunas are objects known to you, eternal vigilance is still the price to pay for freedom, even when you know who you are.  Remember that freedom is for the jiva, you as the Self have always been free.  The gunas in the nididhysana stage can still take the mind places that are not conducive to peace of mind. So, take stock of what is going on in the mind and practice good guna hygiene.

Karma yoga too, is as important as ever, though at the nididhysana stage it becomes a different kind of mind management. It is managing the mind’s involuntary as well as habitual thoughts and feeling patterns (which are bedrock duality and can survive moksa) with jnana yoga. What you are aiming for in managing the gunas is deliberate thinking, which, as Self-knowledge firms up, becomes spontaneous thinking. When this happens is by the grace of Isvara, and then karma yoga and discrimination are no longer practices as such. They are the default position of the mind, it never ‘slips’ back into ignorance. The doer is negated and the mind no longer conditions to the gunas, though it manages their relative proportions always with reference to sattva. Vedanta has only one agenda and that is that suffering is bad.  What use is Self-realization if the jiva is still being jerked around by the gunas?

Therefore, a cautionary note about the gunas may be necessary if you are stuck in a certain thought pattern, like a car stuck in low gear, without the power to go far or the impetus to get out of it. Even in the late stages of self-inquiry, if your guna hygiene has slacked off, it is quite possible for rajas or tamas to run wild and take over the mind. In which case, it is very difficult to practice karma yoga or taking a stand in Awareness because these mischief-maker’s block or dull discrimination in the case of tamas, and extrovert the mind in the case of rajas. Unfortunately, for most inquirers, even though Self-realization is firm as it is in your case, there is almost always still some purification to do on residual identification with the jiva program, i.e., there is still some duality in the mind. Because of this, ignorance can still stand in the way of the appreciation of your true nature as the Self, and thus the jivas’ sense of perfect satisfaction is greatly diminished or does not take place at all.

The ‘all is emptiness/purposeless’ stage the self-realized jiva goes through is created by tamas, which presents another Self-actualization problem. It usually (but not always) affects more mature people who have families and/or careers. Jobs, families, creative careers solve the problem of financial and emotional security, as well as a lending a sense of purpose. But they don’t take care of the doer problem. The tendency to act has no place to go when you realize the zero-sum nature of life. What then, for the poor doer?  The risk here is that the doer slips into depression because you cannot in good faith distract it with the mindless samsaric pursuits that previously occupied it. Recently the pandemic has made this much worse because the mind is forced to face itself and has nowhere to hide or seek distraction. Now more than ever things on the world stage can seem pretty gloomy looked at through the lens of tamas. 

But as you do know this, yet the pointlessness persists, ask yourself, why should mithya have any point or purpose to it? It is inherently pointless because it is not real. If the last vestige of the jiva still hopes to find meaning or purpose, it still suffers because the only true purpose of life is to realize the Self. There is nothing else. Once you have started on the path to freedom, the emptiness of objects is a fact you can no longer escape. Freedom starts with the realization that all objects are value-neutral.  They only have the meaning you give them. Nonetheless, if the jiva program still lingers at this stage, the experience of the meaninglessness of life is not an easy one to get through. Take heart in the knowledge that everything will pass as all things do in mithya. It’s just the ego getting on board with the idea that it is not the doer, that nothing in this world is what it seems. Surrender the tamasic feelings on the altar of karma yoga, give them to Isvara to whom they belong, and no matter if you must fake it, keep taking a stand in Awareness as Awareness stoically practicing the opposite thought.

Shonia: I’ve been doing what you told me to do…taking a stand in Awareness and thinking the opposite thought but I still have this overwhelming sense of pointlessness, I cannot shake it. I negate that as well. I am not this pointlessness, I observe it from my true nature, the place beyond thoughts, feelings, actions, words but it just seems to continually return. I also seem to be losing interest in my normal activities. In work, sex, exercise etc. Is what I’m doing normal or is this approach flawed in some way?

Sundari: I addressed this in my last email to you.  What you are experiencing is ‘normal’ in that most inquirers go through this stage of ego-death. It is not necessarily a bad thing to lose interest in samsaric activities. Self-inquiry involves examining our relationship to everything in our lives.  Some things remain, others change or leave us. It is not an easy time for the poor ego, but as I said, it passes. The answer lies in guna management and karma yoga. This last year since the pandemic changed our idea of “normal’ has been tough for many. Even with Self-knowledge, if it is not firm, life has taken a turn into unchartered, anxiety-inducing waters. Isvara put life as we knew it on pause, which for some has been great, a much-needed respite from rajas, a time to be still and to reflect. But for others, it brought on tremendous tamas, an awful feeling of being becalmed, directionless, of languishing, and fear of the unknown. Humans do not fare too well with prolonged uncertainty. Especially uncertainty as to what to do about life or if they will survive.  For most people security is the main motivation in life, and there has not been much of that for a long time now.  Not that there ever was really though samsaris like to believe there was.

But it sounds like your problems are not pandemic-related. It seems you really have fallen into the pit of the void. It happens to many qualified inquirers who are Self-realized but not Self-actualized when the truth of life being zero-sum sinks in. Though it should be really good news, for the doer, it is often the worst news. So, the doer ‘hits the wall’ so to speak realizing that there really is ‘nothing out there’. Or it just seems to run out of steam, and everything stops, confronted by a great big blank. Particularly when the person they once took themselves to be is revealed to be no more than a construct, a mirage, a guna-generated program. What to ‘do’ when you realize not only that you are not the doer, but that there is nothing you can do?

When this tamasic state of mind takes over one must requalify and start at the beginning, taking stock of all the qualifications and foundations for self-inquiry that need strengthening.  Many advanced inquirers get stuck at this point because though they understood the big picture of Vedanta very quickly, they skipped some of the foundations. Vedanta is a very precise and progressive teaching for a very good reason. The jiva program, what we also call System 2 Operating System (S2OS), comes in preprogrammed by Maya. Ignorance is hard-wired in all jivas bar a very few highly qualified souls. Would that we could just delete or uninstall the OS as one does an app one no longer needs or wants on our computer. It doesn’t work that way.  The Operating System will run in the background by default unless it is removed by Self-knowledge.  Nothing else can remove it.  And if it is only partially removed, then you are not partially free. Partial freedom is not freedom.

We call falling into the pit the ‘void’ because all objects are finally truly known to be devoid of substance and meaning, which of course, they are. That is the whole point of self-inquiry.  But sadly, knowing that we are the Self does not magically translate into the disappearance of the jiva with all its stuff. Isvara embeds the duality OS quite thoroughly into the mind/body instrument of every jiva. What tends to be hidden from view for inquirers stuck in the void is that the mind has not relinquished the desire for objects to matter.  There are still some hooks that have not been negated, which is why the last stages of self-inquiry can take years and years for some. Most advanced inquirers know only too well that nididhysana is the purification of the remaining vestiges of mental/emotional patterns. But it is quite a different matter to complete this final stage so that Self-actualization can take place naturally.

What all serious inquirers dedicated to the last stage of self-inquiry are aiming for is to transition directly from jiva dissatisfaction to perfect Self-satisfaction. The beautiful Sanskrit term for this is tripti, and everyone wants that. It is non-dual love, parabhakti, where love is known to be you, your true nature, meaning Consciousness. It is having all you could ever want and knowing that it will never leave you.  It is love loving itself.  It is limitless satisfaction, parama sukka is another word used in the texts.  The nature of the Self is parama prema svarupa.  Parama means limitless; svarupa means nature and prema is the love the makes love possible. When I know I am the Self, I am prema, limitless love.  This love is knowledge because Consciousness is intelligent.  

Sadly, Prema is only known when Self Knowledge has completely negated the doer, and you are totally qualified when Self-realization takes place. I.e., all binding vasanas are rendered non-binding. This is seldom the case, which is why nididhysana for most inquirers, is the most difficult and the longest stage. Swami Paramarthananda, calls nididyasana ‘requalifying.’ You never know when, during the manana phase, firm Self-knowledge will take place and you never know how long nididyasana will take. In fact, if Self-knowledge makes you a perfect spontaneous karma yogi, it doesn’t matter because time doesn’t exist for you. You are still the Self, before, during, and after. 

My favorite saying about this is that the steps (of self-inquiry) to ‘get there’ are the qualities of “being there”.  Meaning? There is never a time when you are not the Self. There is no ‘there’ there because you are the there. There is only a time when you don’t fully appreciate this. Therefore, if you don’t experience perfect satisfaction when Self-realization takes place, you need to remain humble and keep up the practices that qualified you for understanding, as they will, eventually remove the obstacles to limitless bliss. Karma yoga in particular is really about aiming for the bliss of the Self because you give up the burden of doership to Isvara, whom you trust to take care of the life of the jiva.

At the same time, the fact that you are not Self-actualized does not prevent you from appreciating that you are the Self, even if sometimes, some residual jiva ignorance arises out of the Causal body obscuring this fact. You cannot forget who you are at this stage. It is highly unlikely that you will fall back into total lack of discrimination, though we have seen this happen on a few occasions. But even then, you cannot become more or less the Self, you can only have more or less ignorance preventing total satisfaction. It is also important to note that total satisfaction does not mean the jiva never has another bad day. Self-knowledge does not inoculate the jiva from the challenges of life, it just means it does not identify with them.  So, in truth, you never have another bad day once Self-knowledge is firm, because though the jiva is you, you are not the jiva.

There is a way out of your current state of mind even though there is no magic wand, and it is to keep your mind on the Self and keep up the practice of Self-knowledge.  If you do not have one, start a practice of devotion, very important as a way to show appreciation for the great gift of life. As homage to Isvara, to the Self, especially when the jiva does not feel gratitude. It’s easy to be grateful when everything is going your way but not easy at all when the jiva is very present feeling depressed. Gratitude is one of the most powerful weapons we have against purposelessness, and it is a gift given to us by God/Isvara for our sake, not God’s. God does not need our gratitude but the jiva does. There is no happiness for the jiva without gratitude.

A devotional practice is encouraged as part of your sadhana as an essential way to manage the childish wilful ego.  All the elements are worshiped, deified, and given great homage in the Vedic tradition. Chanting, pujas, and rituals can be helpful for energetic rajasic types who need to be occupied with something worthwhile instead of wasting time in gratuitous egoic pursuits—such as an addiction to social media, for instance. They are also great for tamasic types to lift tamas into balance with sattva.  We love chanting and do so several times daily.

Chanting mantras is the same as praying and a great way to keep the mind on the Self. As Vedantins, we chant what are called ‘identity mantras’ – we understand the meaning of the words.  We chant mantras because we enjoy the bliss of the Self, but we know that the bliss is who we are. We do not chant or perform any other ritual to gain anything. The purpose of the mantra is to deliver knowledge, not to have a blissful experience, and though it can do that and usually does, it is not the aim. So when you are feeling down or purposeless, start chanting. You can even make up your own chant, or find a part of the scripture that is particularly meaningful to you and chant that. It doesn’t matter what you chant as long as your mind is on the Self.

Take a fearless moral inventory and see what patterns you are neglecting to negate with Self-knowledge. Treat the mind like a recalcitrant stubborn child and keep at your sadhana.  It may be a grunt and not a whole lot of fun, but as long as you still have some objectivity about your tamasic state of mind, you will get through it. Don’t waste time beating up on the jiva or judging it. All Jivas are a flawed bunch thanks to the gunas, and nobody is doing anything, there is no blame. Our jiva program plays out the way it does, and we are either tied to it or not. At the same time, being free of it does not mean we stop thinking and feeling; all that changes is the import we give to our thoughts and feelings. To be truly free the jiva must be free to feel down, sad, upset, disappointed, angry, etc., as well as happy and peaceful. 

But if negative feelings loom large and take up residence in the real estate of the mind for longer than it takes to recognize that they are there, I am clearly, not that free. Freedom means I see my thoughts and feelings as they arise and the knowledge kicks in instantly to dissolve them. While at first this discrimination may not produce the true and permanent satisfaction I am after, it is much better than being sucked into the depths of rajas or tamas. Knowledge is power, and there is nothing that compares to Self-knowledge. So, hang tight to the scripture, it is your lifeline!

Life under the spell of Maya can be hard and heartbreaking; Maya is relentless in its daily grind.  Nothing is permanent, everything in life is always in the process of decay, of entropy, of leaving us, which is why freedom from dependence on objects for happiness is the only true salvation. Give thanks that you have the greatest gift of all at your disposal, the Vedanta means of knowledge. The jiva may be feeling a bit lost, but in its hands is only the map out of the dream of Maya. When you are free of the dream, then you can see that life is actually benign and inherently beautiful because you, the knower of the dream, are the beauty that makes it beautiful. You are what brings meaning, joy, and purpose to everything. And you never fail because you never change, and most importantly, you are always available. Your fullness never begins or ends. Then, there is nothing to fear or feel depressed about. Let that be your mantra.

It is good that you seem to be objective about the repetitive bad feelings appearing in your mind and discriminating them from the Self, even though they keep returning. Keep it up.  Nobody said freedom from and for the jiva is easy which is why faith in the teachings is such an important qualification.  If that fails you, Maya is right there waiting to take over the mind. Don’t let it. Hold fast to the knowledge and keep discriminating.   

You have the only security that matters in this life, and that is Self-knowledge. You can trust it.

Much love

Sundari

I’ve been pondering something for a while, and never seem to get a clear understanding.  In your cosmic diagram of the Self you place the Intellect just below the Causal.  Is this accurate?  If so how does the intellect give rise to the ahamkar?  In Samkya they refer to Mahat? Is this the same as Intellect?

I think this will do it.  I’m teaching another Gita class  It’s a joy and causes me to refine my own understanding.  Ram, I have to tell you—it took a few years to work out the kinks— but everything you taught us has sunk in.  Those nights in Portland, those summer camps at Mt. Adams, priceless

Long years of study in my early days with Maharishi made it challenging at times to fully embrace the point of view of Knowledge as not a far off goal to eventually arrive at.  This was not a conscious resistance most of the time.  But at the peak I doubted you and I doubted the Teaching.  Of course, I kept at it.  I cannot claim any kind of special enlightenment.  I’ve relaxed deeply; but no sense at this point of having been “set free” of anything.   None the less I do have a gift in sharing it.

I also knew I had to own it and make it my own.  I went through one hell of a few years.  Damn near bed ridden at times, unable to hardly move.  I did lots of scripture study, Fire, Mantra, breath work, yearly Ayurvedic Panchakarma, and uncomfortable sojourns to the Amazon to work with native plant doctors.  People said I was depressed, suffering from PTSD, hormonal imbalances, etc.  All true from different perspectives.  But it was really a battle inside.

Much Love to you and Sundari

Ram:   Lovely to hear from you!  I’m so glad Vedanta is working for you and you have found peace.  It’s always in inside job.  I admire your dedication and am so happy to hear that you are teaching the Gita, which is the essence of Vedanta.  

Vedanta borrowed Samkhya’s analysis of the world, even though it is a dualistic philosophy.  The word Mahat refers to the Macrocosmic Intellect or the Macrocosmic Causal Body, what we call variously Isvara/Maya, the three gunas, Causal Body (jagat karanam), God, etc.  It’s an impersonal principle, but it is sometimes personified as a Universal Person (purusha or purushottama).  As such, it is also known as the Cosmic Ego (mahat ahamkara).  Seeing God as a big Jiva is typical of dualistic religions. 

My chart can be interpreted from Isvara’s Macrocosmic or Jiva’s Microsmic point of view.  So from Isvara’s point of view the Intellect (Buddhi) is the ideas that are necessary to create, sustain and destroy the creation.  These ideas are embedded in Macrocosmic Sattva.  So Mahat is all knowledge, all desire (will) and all-pervasive (omnipresent). 

The embodied Self (Jivatma), what I refer to as the eternal Jiva, or an individual is  a reflection of Mahat, the Macrocosmic Intellect.  It has limited knowledge, limited desire (will power) and limited pervasiveness owing to its association with the body/karma, etc.  It borrows its ideas and powers from Mahat.   

So the Intellect is the Ahamkara, the “I sense.”  Aham refers to Existence shining as blissful Consciousness (satchitananda atma) and kara refers to the idea or “sense” of I, what we call a human being or a person.   I suggest you read my latest book, Existence Shining as Awareness, which is commentaries on Ramana’s Sat Darshanam, to get a clearer picture of the relationship between the I and the “I-sense.”

The Jivatma has three components: (1) original pure unborn Awareness, which is the ever-present ever-experienced I, (2) the reflecting medium (the material Subtle Body which is predominantly macrocosmic sattva because of which it is eternal Jiva’s instrument of knowledge and experience, and (3) the reflection.  The individual ego is purely conceptual, an idea in the microcosmic intellect.  It is born of moolavida (root ignorance or Maya) and is removed by Self knowledge.    

Love

Ram

I read this morning that lovely satsang by Shankar that was posted today. It must be so satisfying to see the teaching producing such beautiful results.

Ramji:  Yes, indeed.

Tom: I am confused with your response to Shankar in that he referred to, he as a jiva as a “what”. This was what I thought you had been attempting to convey to us jivas, that we do not exist as living entities but rather are material objects merely reflecting the Self. You corrected him saying that he as Shankar is a who and the Eternal Self is a what. 

I follow your comment that it is a small difference but no difference, like moonlight and sunlight, being neither the same nor different. 

Can you please clarify for me? 

Much appreciated,

Tom 

Ramji:  The non-eternal jiva is a material conceptual entity, Tom, created by falsely imputing consciousness to the three material bodies.  It is actually the Self bewitched by Ignorance thinking it is a sentient being that lives and dies…a who.

The eternal Jiva is the Self with three bodies.  Shankara says, “Jivo brahmaiva na parah”  The Jiva is non-different from the Self.  Vedanta teaches that if you inquire into the three bodies, according the principle of removing the non-essential elements as “not-self”, you will arrive at existence shining as consciousness, which can not be negated. That isness that appears in the form of “I” is the real you…a what.

Ramji 

Sundari: The technical name for the ego in Sanskrit is ahamkara. In one sentence, it is basically the “I” thought wrongly associated with an object. The Self is associationless.

Q: How does it function?

Sundari: If you want to know how your ego functions, it is very easy to do so and very simple because all egos work in exactly the same predictable way, so much so that it could be said there is only one ego and we all share it – if we are identified with being a person, that is.

The “ego” is a word that describes the thought that limitless, non-dual consciousness (you) is a limited separate entity. It is programmed thinking and the resulting actions that arise from the playing out of the guna-generated vasanas (in other words, ignorance). It is a thought that arises out of consciousness, is made up of consciousness and dissolves into consciousness with the removal of ignorance by Self-knowledge.

The ego functions in three basic ways for everyone:

1. DOERSHIP: It is that part of you that believes it is the doer and acts to get results. It is very unhappy when it does not get what it wants and usually blames someone or something for its failure. It then performs more actions to get what it wants or avoid what it does not want, ad infinitum.

2. OWNERSHIP: It is that part of you that owns objects, thoughts, feelings, people, things, experiences, identities, roles.

3. INTERPRETER: It is that part of you that interprets experience.

Q: Do we need an ego, speaking as the jiva?

Sundari: Yes, we do or we cannot function appropriately in response to what Isvara presents to us on a moment-to-moment basis. A healthy ego is supposed to function as a messenger from our “inner” world, the Self, to the “outer world” the apparent reality, the environment. The ego gives us our “sense of individuation” and jiva-identity. If we were “identity-less” as jivas we would be pathetic creatures. Most of us know someone who has not matured beyond childhood or whose life karma has severely damaged their sense of identity, and they are never mentally or emotionally balanced or healthy people.

Q: Do we need to destroy the ego – and is it even possible to do so?

Sundari: No and no. Nothing gets rid of the ego, because it is not possible to get rid of it. It is a function of the subtle body, a thought that belongs to Isvara, not the doer, or jiva. If everything is the Self, the ego is the Self too. Unless assimilation of the teachings on your true nature as the Self takes place in a qualified mature mind which renders the binding vasanas non-binding and negates the sense of doership, the identification with the doer/ego, is still there, so suffering is still there.

Some people very mistakenly believe that to kill the ego means this will magically transform them into paragons of virtue, humble and holy. It would not, even if it were possible to “kill” or bust the ego, which it is not. The ego cannot kill the ego. In fact this stupid idea will likely make you believe you are insufferably superior, even if masked in humility. There is nothing worse than a spiritual ego.

The ego is only a problem when it takes the jiva identity to be real. All jivas are born in fear because all jivas are born in ignorance of their true nature. Therefore the ego is no more than a fear-thought and normally not your best friend, unless you are a very mature person with excellent values and impulse control. The ego functioning in a positive way understands the law of dharma and karma, specifically non-injury, and the zero-sum nature of life. That is has nothing to gain or lose by doing or acquiring anything. So although it acts in an appropriate and timely way to get what it wants, it does not get agitated when it does not get what it wants. It knows that there is always more of whatever it wanted and is dispassionate and happy with or without the desired objects. With most people, this only takes place once Self-knowledge has obtained.

Q: Does the ego stand in the way of Self-knowledge?

Sundari: No. The ego does not stand in the way of the Self; nothing does. The ego has no effect on the Self, because it is not real, “real” being defined as “that which is always present and unchanging” – a definition that only ever fits consciousness, nothing else. And if it is not real, how can it be busted – or surrendered? It can only be understood for what it is. The only thing that salvages and transforms a fear/desire-based ego is to train it to think differently, and only permanent Self-knowledge has the power to do that. In the spiritual arena, especially in yoga, the idea abounds that the ego is the problem and must be “busted” or surrendered. Vedanta disagrees. Surrendered to whom and by whom? The ego cannot and will never surrender the ego, not for long anyway. There is nothing for it to gain by surrendering or so it believes, when rooted in duality.

Q: Are there any telltale symptoms that Self-knowledge is working on the ego?

Sundari: Yes, if karma yoga is practised correctly, the belief in doership is surrendered to Isvara, which lessens the pressure of your likes and dislikes, fears and desires. If you are committed to Self-inquiry, Self-knowledge gradually transforms the mind, removing ignorance and the ego gets on board, slowly but surely. One of the symptoms of Self-knowledge working on the mind quite common in the “firefly” stage of Self-inquiry is Self-knowledge “blinking on and off.” The mind/ego is adjusting the way it usually relates to its environment and loses its compass of object identification, so does not know how to respond to what is happening to it. This passes as Self-knowledge deepens.

Q: So there is nothing I do, anything to get rid of it?

Sundari: No. The doer is the problem. As stated, only Self-knowledge dissolves the fear-based ego. It takes a while to really understand the truth that no action taken by a limited entity (the ego/individual identified as a person) will produce a permanent and limitless result, i.e. freedom from limitation, from suffering. You might get a temporary reprieve with the idea that you have surrendered the ego which feels like grace flooding in, but the ego is still there, make no mistake about it! If we are honest, it is everyone’s experience that we cannot permanently surrender the ego. It always comes back, no matter how hard we try to get rid of it with meditation or any other yoga.

Q: The ego causes all suffering and blocks grace?

Sundari: As I said, the ego is not the problem. Only identification with the ego produces suffering, or the “blocking” of grace, meaning the misapprehension or lack of appreciation of yourself as whole and complete, non-dual, ever-present, unchanging, limitless, actionless and unconditioned consciousness – the KNOWER of the ego. There is no such thing as an ego in reality; it has no existence other than as a thought arising in you, consciousness.

~ Love, Sundari

Sundari: I think your dream is about ego death. Thank you for the acknowledgment, the recalibration of the ego and negation of the five sheaths.

Sarah: I am not anxious in general. There are some “strange experiences happening” that make me feel a bit mad. The body not really feeling mine, the feeling that time is not really existing (or not passing by at all), among other things. Yesterday, I was driving by myself and I was (the jiva/mind) gone for a while. After a while (maybe 10 minutes), I saw Sarah driving and I was suddenly somewhere else wondering who did drive all the time!

The appreciation of reality is changing and feels not only not real but also as it would be a big joke. Sometimes I just laugh and laugh when I observe my kids or someone else complaining and “performing a drama” out of nothing. All feels just not real.

I also had a couple of times difficulties after getting up in the morning. I find myself having difficulties to know what’s real and what is not, the dream or the life of the jiva who is wondering what’s real and what’s not. Well, I know intellectually that both of them are not real. But to have this confusing experience is weird. The third instance of the observant is appearing clear to me.

At the same time, when daily life gets challenging, I find myself lost in Sarah’s story again.

Sundari: These are probably just symptoms of the knowledge working on the mind, adjusting the way it usually relates to its environment. They are quite common in the firefly” stage of self-inquiry when Self-knowledge blinks on and off. In fact many inquirers fear going mad when delving too deeply into the true nature of reality! The ego loses its compass of object identification and does not know how to respond to what is happening to it. It’s a period of adjustment best faced with karma yoga, offered to Isvara with an attitude of gratitude. It will pass. Just stick to your sadhana, as the knowledge is your only true protection and guide through the minefield of mithya.

Understanding how involuntary thoughts and feelings run the mind is the groundwork of self-inquiry. Happiness is about mind and emotion management, i.e. guna management.

And all our love to you too.

~ Sundari

Sundari: The many gods of the Hindu religion, while pretty wild from a Western perspective, are very important to those who understand their symbolism; they all point to the one Self. They are a focal point for devotional practice, which is an essential part of Self-inquiry and a path on its own for those who are not inquirers but have a devotional sadhana (bhaktas). However, it is not essential to have devotion to a particular god; any symbol will do because everything points to the Self.

Vedanta is not based on Hinduism or any other religion, even though it originated in India. What Vedanta points to is the universal Truth, found everywhere, and is everyone’s true nature. The subject Vedanta teaches, the Self, is neither Eastern nor Western, neither Hindu nor Christian, etc.

The word Vedanta has two meanings: (1) the knowledge that ends the quest for knowledge and (2) the means whereby that knowledge is gained. The first meaning is limitless consciousness, which is obviously not associated with any cultural group. The second, the means of knowledge, is definitely associated with India, although India per se is not mentioned in the source texts. It is known as Bharat, the “Land of Light,” i.e. consciousness, which again is a spiritual, not a physical, location. And in fact what is known as Hinduism is actually the Sanatana Dharma or Purna Vidya, which appeared before India was India.

Mike: I have perused many different Vedanta and Advaita teachers, and it can be a bit trying to differentiate between it all. I am currently reading James’ (Ramji, not sure if I should him as such) original book. I read his second book to begin with. His style of writing is interesting. I normally read two to four books on average daily; his writing was involved and at times I wasn’t sure of the flow. Alan Watts is excellent, but he too has this way of making me repeat reading passages (his verbiage is also somewhat chess-like).

Sundari: Ramji or James, it makes no difference. As the Self he does not have a name. You sound like a speed reader, which while impressive does not work with Vedanta. No matter how intelligent and well-read you are, the teachings are counter-intuitive, and unless you are highly qualified (very rare indeed) they will – they should – challenge the mind. The mind tends to interpret according to its own ideas. But for Vedanta to work to remove ignorance, the mind must sign on to the logic without trying to “get it.” It must put all its own ideas, beliefs and opinions on the back burner. If you try to make Vedanta fit into what you think you know, it will not work for you. The ego must step down. You, as the jiva/ego, are not going to “get” anything. Self-knowledge alone can remove ignorance, and aside from the requisite qualifications being present and dedication to self-inquiry, it is not up to you but to the grace of Isvara.

Mike: I will reread Chapter II. Qualifications? Are we not all qualified but under the impression that we are in pre-school. ☺

Sundari: We are all the Self, that is not up for debate. But we are not all qualified for Self-inquiry, no debate there either. It seems you have not assimilated the meaning of Chapter II and need to read it slowly, not speed-read it!

Mike: It is difficult to accept who we really are. For me, who am I to comprehend that I may be atman? I am to suffer and learn continually in order to make progress or is it that I bring these upon my small self, not realizing my true Self?

Sundari: Yes, it is unfortunately very difficult to accept that we are not the small limited self but the unchanging, ever-present limitless Self. You are trying to figure this out as the doer/ego; it cannot be done. Therein lie all the teachings. Without Self-knowledge, you will suffer continually, maybe learn a thing or two, but you will be stuck trying to work it out as a limited small self in the limited apparent reality, where your only means of knowledge are perception and inference. Neither work to reveal the Self, because the Self, consciousness, is that which makes both perception and inference possible.

The object cannot understand the subject, because the subject is subtler than the object. For that, you need a valid means of knowledge for consciousness capable of removing ignorance, Vedanta, and a qualified teacher to unfold it, not the ego. Vedanta does not deny the existence of the small self nor apparent reality; it provides the only bridge there is out of it: Self-knowledge. When you step out of Mayathrough Self-knowledge, then all is understood in light of the Self. The small self is seen for what it is and not taken too seriously.

The essence of moksa – freedom from limitation and suffering – is the ability to discriminate the Self, that which is real, always present and unchanging, the non-experiencing witness, from the objects that arise in you. That is everything other than you, meaning that which is always changing, not always present and only apparently real, the experiencing entity, or small self.

Mike: Ah, the ego. That constant whatever that gets in the way. ☺ I might consider teaching as a means to give back, to assist and help others.

Sundari: Indeed. Yet the ego is not the problem. Only identification with the ego produces suffering. The ego is just an idea in you, it is not real. It is ignorance masquerading as knowledge, as truth. Teaching Vedanta is not like teaching anything else. It is best not to be ambitious to teach Vedanta, because if so, invariably the ego is involved.

If it is your dharma to become a qualified teacher of Vedanta, you must have fully assimilated the means of knowledge and at the very least realize (if not actualize) the Self. One can develop the skill to wield the knowledge by teaching, but one must at the least understand the whole methodology of the teaching from beginning to end. If, on the other hand, you simply want to be able to clearly enunciate the basic message of Vedanta in an accessible way to people who ask to hear it, you must only fully understand and be able to intelligently verbalize one of the many prakriyas in the teachings because all of them say the same thing: you are whole and complete, non-dual, actionless, unconcerned, ever-present, unlimited, ordinary awareness.

Mike: Honestly, I would like to get off the repetition. Enough already! I don’t want to come back for many lives, and my intent was to find this “secret,” so to speak, to get off the wheel. With Master Wang, students will sit in study (internal, with Wang Shifu’s guidance) and in PAIN as Wang Shifu does his power thing whereby he utilizes the combined qi of the whole group, etc. to lessen what he calls “reincarnation qi” innate in all of us. In many traditions there are techniques for getting off the karmicwheel.

Sundari: Even if the conditioning that makes up the person called Mike does reincarnate, Mike will not be Mike the next time around and will have no memory of ever having been Mike. So what difference does it make? Whether reincarnation happens or not has no bearing on Mike’s present life. And as the Self, you never incarnated in the first place, because you are unborn and undying, so what’s the fuss? The only thing you need to fix the mind on is self-inquiry so that Self-knowledge can do the work of removing ignorance so that you can live as the Self while still appearing as Mike, an apparent person.

Moksa is not about “escaping the wheel of karma.” It is about understanding that for you, the Self, there never was any karma to begin with. There never was a Creation or “wheel.” Nothing ever happened. There is, and was ever, only you, the actionless witness. Once you understand that, you live free embracing life and death, unconcerned about either, because time, space and causality are meaningless concepts to you as the Self.

Each apparent incarnation is just a playing out of the gunas, the three forces or energies which make up the apparent reality. They govern the creation of all vasanas, which create a story with a name and an address. The story is not real, no more than a movie playing out on the movie screen is real. Although the story of the jiva/person may seem personal and repeated in “past” or “future” lives, as there is really only one Self, or awareness, for whom there is no time, there is really only one mind, or subtle body, seemingly appearing as the many; so there is only one eternal story. It is the story of ignorance and knowledge, of duality and non-duality. If you understand the difference between non-duality and duality, you will not be concerned with so-called “past or future” lives.

Mike: So besides the powers (I have had my hand burned from a distance like a laser beam and my skin to taste like sugar, etc. from masters who have true powers), the goal is to not come back. There are many who get stuck on the powers for monetary gain and for their egos.

Sundari: While it is true that many great teachers through the ages (especially in India) displayed remarkable and seemingly “extraordinary” powers, this does not make them SUPER conscious or “enlightened,” for that matter. Mostly, it’s all experiential “oh wow!” phenomena with absolutely no teaching at all. Invariably these kinds of people are identified with their powers and think they are special because of them. They are not. The idea that siddhis are special or important is a common misconception in the spiritual world. Most so-called “spiritual” thinking is based on the idea that you need a special experience to know the Self. Or that enlightenment is something to gain. Siddhis usually cause or accompany a particular experience, but they will fade as the impact of the experience fades over time. All experience takes place in time, and therefore ends.

These “powers” do not have the power to remove ignorance, but they may inspire the seeker affected by the experience of the siddhis to begin self-inquiry. In this case, we call them a “leading error.” Siddhis or spiritual experiences of whatever kind do point to awareness, but only if the knowledge they are meant to impart is understood and assimilated.

Often though the experiences created by these siddhis becomes an impediment to Self-inquiry because seekers misunderstand them unless they are explained within the context of Self-knowledge. The truth that all experience is pointing to is that all powers in the apparent reality belong to Isvara, not the jiva,even though Isvara and the jiva share the same identity as awareness/Self. And they point to the knowledge that you, consciousness, or the Self, are the knower of the experience. You are not the experiencing entity.

Siddhis do not take the place of Self-knowledge. There is no greater siddhi than Self-knowledge. Awareness is not exalted. It is ordinary; and it has no “powers”! All powers are part of the apparent reality, they are not real, meaning they do not last.

Mike: I’m not sure if Ramji takes on personal students, but I would be interested if found acceptable. As there are many branches and the rise of the confusing at times array of Advaita teachers, it would be interesting to hear James’ complete history.

Sundari: I handle most e-satsangs now because James is very busy. But I will ask him if he is willing to teach you.

Regarding Vivekananda, James points out the downfalls of his interpretation of “New Vedanta.” It is not personal, Vedanta is a critical tradition and criticizes bad ideas, not people.

Mike: Thank you for taking the time to respond to me and I wish you both continued strength and good health.

Sundari: You are welcome, Mike.