The Supreme Secret

Cover of Self-Knowledge Journal Summer Issue

The Supreme Secret: Bhagavad Gita Chapter Nine In chapter nine of the Bhagavad Gita the teacher reveals to the pupil and to us all a ‘supreme secret’. The first verse of the chapter says: To you who do not cavil, I shall declare the highest secret, a combination of knowledge and discernment that will set…

Read More

Meditation Practice

Cover of Self-Knowledge Journal Summer Issue

A session led by the Warden of Shanti Sadan It has been said that meditation is the best preparation for the day, and the day lived with mindfulness is the best preparation for meditation. The observation refers to both sides of our life: the ‘me-time’ we devote to meditation, and the me-in-the-world situation that we…

Read More

Mind your Mind – Help from Stories

Cover of Self-Knowledge Journal Summer Issue

In the world’s wisdom traditions, stories are indirect means of imparting profound truths. To preach virtue is one thing; to relate a story like that of the good Samaritan provides a pictorial narrative that stays in the mind, prompts self-examination and reveals deeper meaning the more it is pondered. This is a characteristic of stories…

Read More

Adhyatma Yoga—An Overview

Cover of Self-Knowledge Journal Summer Issue

As a way of interior practice and reflection, yoga may be viewed as a response to the deepest urge of the human heart. This is the desire to expand in joy and knowledge, and to transcend limitations. Any teaching that shares this aim, and provides effective means to achieve it, is a form of yoga,…

Read More

An Analysis of Introspection

Cover of Self-Knowledge Journal Summer Issue

Why has our intellect been made introspective? Introspection is not a direct help, either to self-preservation or to the preservation of the species. Organisms other than man, are experts in self-preservation and in the care of their offspring. The fox knows many more tricks to defeat its enemies than a military expert can demonstrate. It…

Read More

The Range of the Mind

Cover of Self-Knowledge Journal Summer Issue

A sage was told by his students that they wanted ‘to be true to themselves’. He replied: ‘Yes, indeed be true to yourself, but be careful to note what the Self and not what the mind regards as true. The mind is not the Self.’ Subscribe or enrol for free guest access to read all…

Read More

The Essential Non-Duality

Cover of Self-Knowledge Journal Summer Issue

How are we to understand the essential non-duality? The best way of approach is with a serene mind. A serene mind is one that is willing to give some attention to the deeper philosophical questions about life. By philosophical questions is meant those questions which seek to achieve a detached overview of life as a…

Read More

The Path Where None Can Fail

Cover of Self-Knowledge Journal Summer Issue

On this path to Self-knowledge, no sincere effort is ever wasted, nor will the practice cause harm. Even a little practice frees one from great fear. Bhagavad Gita, 2:40 One of the searching questions we can be asked is: Do you think your life, so far, has been a success or a failure? Yet the…

Read More

Books and Covers

Cover of Self-Knowledge Journal Spring Issue

When, as children, we first hear the proverb, ‘You can’t judge a book by looking at its cover’, we would probably take it as purely concerned with books—warning us, for example, not to make a hasty purchase, but to test the book’s value by looking inside. Only later, when we have heard the proverb used…

Read More

The Full Life

Cover of Self-Knowledge Journal Spring Issue

Consciousness, which is our true Self, animates the mind, which begins its life by manifesting itself in modes. The mental modes, or the faculties of knowledge, are the understanding, reason and the power of judgement. Reason probes into the world and tries to understand what is beyond it—the ultimate cause of all the effects. The…

Read More