Being True to One’s Higher Self

Cover of Self-Knowledge Journal Summer Issue

Never was there a time when the Self (Atman) did not exist, nor will it ever cease to exist in the future. The Self pervades all and is indestructible. It is above birth and death. It does not come into being. It is unborn, changeless, all-pervading, ever-fixed, eternal is the Self. Bhagavad Gita The saying…

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Non-duality and Mysticism

Cover of Self-Knowledge Journal Summer Issue

The main doctrines of the non-dual philosophy may be described as mystical, not in the sense of being mysterious or magical, but in their firm focusing on what is beyond the realm of appearances and which transcends the subject-object dualism of everyday experience. What are the chief doctrines that we are concerned with? 1. Reality…

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The Holy Quran

Cover of Self-Knowledge Journal Summer Issue

The Quran is the scripture of the Muslim faith. It was revealed inspirationally to Mohammed, whose reception of the teachings was unplanned and unanticipated. Their importance was immediately recognised by him, and his words expressing them were carefully written down by his companions. By the end of his life, hundreds of teachings had been communicated…

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The Nature of Truth

Cover of Self-Knowledge Journal Summer Issue

Why do we bother to ask the question: ‘What is Truth?’ We are obliged to do so by one of the most fundamental urges in the human mind. Whenever we see an unfamiliar object, we ask: ‘What is it?’ Whenever we come across a new person in our social life, we ask a friend: ‘Who…

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Awakening the Higher Intuition

Cover of Self-Knowledge Journal Summer Issue

One of the things that science has taught us is that we can perceive nothing unless we have the necessary sense organs. We are completely unaware of those parts of the universe which we are not equipped to perceive. One instance of this is the discovery by the use of radio telescopes of many radio…

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The Reflection Theory

Cover of Self-Knowledge Journal Summer Issue

Based on teachings in volume three of the Shankara Source Book (on the Soul) The reflection theory is an account of human nature for those who are seeking the highest wisdom. It shows how this wisdom is essentially present in every human being, and how the mind can be progressively adjusted so that what is…

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The Friend

Cover of Self-Knowledge Journal Summer Issue

Do not give up your stay In the street of the Beloved Till your last breath. But mind, be faithful, be faithful. I wish all my friends to know the import of this verse. A great principle is involved. The friend is the one in whom you can trust implicitly under any circumstances. Even if…

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Images of Transformation

Cover of Self-Knowledge Journal Summer Issue

A poem by Hari Prasad Shastri   O moon of delight! I was a weary wind Blowing over an equatorial desert, Charged with consuming heat and blinding sand. You opened to me your garden, full of violets, Jasmine, syringa and cherry blossom. I wafted over the field of your heart and was relieved By the…

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The Light Behind the Mind

Cover of Self-Knowledge Journal Summer Issue

There are two entities which comprise the whole Universe, the perceptible and the imperceptible. The perceptible is only a small part of the imperceptible, that which is unimaginable. These two entities are really one. It is not that they have split themselves into parts. They are like two aspects of the same coin. At the…

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Non-Duality—Preparation and Achievement

Cover of Self-Knowledge Journal Spring Issue

The greatest achievements are usually hard-won. The achievement that surpasses all others is the awakening to the higher self-knowledge. This is to realise, as a matter of direct experience, that one’s innermost Self is not different from the Reality which underlies the whole cosmos. Through sustained efforts and an ever-deepening interest in the goal, we…

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