jnAna through vicAra

  [Note:  Dennis posted at the other thread a cryptic comment that says, “… whether self-enquiry can reveal the true self. If you say it can, then what is the pramANa?”  My response to it has become too long and because I expect that there could be questions or more comments  on my comment, I have taken the liberty to make my comment into a separate Post.]

The remark that was recently posted by Dennis hinting that vicAra cannot possibly be a valid  means for Self-realization leaves one rather nonplussed. It, at one stroke, blunts the entire approach of jnAna mArga, which is a highly valued and respected method for liberation in Shankara tradition. Or in order not to make that statement invalid, one has to force oneself to assign a very narrow meaning to the word pramANa conforming to the concept that the author has in his mind rather than what is understood to be a pramANa in scriptural literature.

Continue reading

Vedanta the Solution – Part 54

VEDĀNTA the solution to our fundamental problem by D. Venugopal

Part 54 looks at Ramana Maharshi’s ‘Who am I?’ practice and explains that the ‘I thought’ cannot be removed by self-investigation. It also explains that we do not have to get rid of vAsanA-s in order to gain mokSha.

There is a complete Contents List, to which links are added as each new part appears.

avastha-s and prakriyA-s

One may be motivated to find out the Ultimate Truth by reasons of either epistemological curiosity or soteriological aspiration. If it is the latter, s/he would obviously go by the guru vAkya or shruti vAkya (instruction of a teacher or a canonical text). From an epistemological perspective, however, our ancient Seers and Sages used essentially two approaches in imparting whatever they found to be the supreme unquestionable “really real” ultimate ‘Thing’ for which they did not even give a name. They referred to It simply as “That” but declared It to be ‘ekameva advitIyaM‘(one only without a second). Thus did the a-dvaita (not-two) philosophy was born and ‘brahman ‘ became an indicator word for That, whatever ‘That’ is or, inexplicably, is not. Continue reading

Attention – ad tendere

The word “Attention” is derived from two Latin words, ad tendere, meaning “to stretch towards.”

Rupert Spira explains very clearly how attention turning towards itself is the ending of the mind.

1.  Attention Falling Back to its Source (From Rupert at Parmoor in Dec 2013) – 8:35 min:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJzIz31rt4I

2.  Attention and Awareness (From Rupert at Santa Sabina in Oct 2013) – 8:38 min:  http://non-duality.rupertspira.com/watch/attention-and-awareness

3.  The Sinking of Attention into Itself (From Rupert at Santa Sabina in Feb 2014) – 13:07 min:  http://non-duality.rupertspira.com/watch/the-sinking-of-attention-into-itself

4.  Attention is Awareness Plus an Object (From Rupert at Mercy Center, CA in Apr 2013) – 14:53 min:  http://non-duality.rupertspira.com/watch/attention-is-awareness-plus-an-object

The message in these Videos is beautifully crystal clear and truly meditational, I submit.