What is Truth?
The question which Pilate asked Jesus is a perennial question. It had been asked before him, and it continues to be asked today, and the future also will see the question being asked over and over again. When Pilate asked the question, it was a question of appeal, and what he really meant was that…
Read MoreThe Infinite Power of Love
One of the fundamental facts of our human existence is the urge to love and be loved. This is the basis of family life, and of true friendship and fellow-feeling. Love makes us feel better. It makes us feel special and really valued. We think: ‘Ah, here is someone who appreciates me and who knows…
Read MoreEntering the Street of the Friend
I have found entry into the street of the Friend; Indeed I now have something to live for and to die for. An Urdu Verse The play of a fountain of water is beautiful to those that watch it. It splashes; its drops reach further and further, and birds may come and bathe in it.…
Read MoreFour Qualifications for the Path to the Goal of Liberation
Goal-setting is a widely-recommended strategy for effective working and achieving success and happiness. Having a goal means: being clear about what one wants; not being put off by distractions and set-backs; developing relevant skills and personal qualities; keeping it in mind as the top priority. Goal-setting is no doubt an effective way of getting things…
Read MoreDreamless Sleep
According to the Advaita Vedanta, all our experiences take place in one of the three states of waking (jagrat), dreaming (svapna) and dreamless sleep (sushupti). These states correspond to the facts established by our own introspection. We are all conscious of waking up in the morning, and when we fall asleep at night our mind…
Read MoreSelf and Brahman are Free from Attributes
by the Warden of Shanti Sadan ‘Words cannot describe this Consciousness Absolute; the mind is lost in Its majesty. How can I describe to thee, this Eternal One? I can only say that this immortality-giving knowledge, space-like am I.’ These sentences from the Avadhut Gita remind us of the limits of language as regards the…
Read MoreLearning How to Learn
When we meditate, we try to lift our mind above the worries and concerns, the hopes and fears, that normally form a large part of our thinking. And then, having glimpsed a little bit of peace and freedom, a breath of interior fresh air, so to say, we return to our everyday mind, better able…
Read MoreSeeking Happiness: Try to Get What We Want or Practice Giving Up Desires?
A talk by the Warden of Shanti Sadan leading into a meditation session. As enquirers into the highest human potentialities, we may feel that we are being presented with a choice: whether, in the pursuit of happiness, it is best to whole-heartedly try to get what we want, or to practise giving up desires, which…
Read MoreThought and Awareness
A talk by the Warden of Shanti Sadan leading into a meditation session. One of the central points which is often highlighted in presentations about the non-dual teachings, is that there is an essential difference between thought and awareness, between everything in our mind, and our awareness of all that is in the mind. Thoughts…
Read MoreThe Yoga of Non-Separation
The term ‘Yoga of non-separation’ (Ananya-Yoga) occurs in the Bhagavad Gita (13:10), and for those who decide to reflect on it, it will disclose a wealth of meaning. In context, the verse, and the succeeding one, conclude a section which enumerates the qualities of mind that hasten one’s awakening to Self-knowledge: Unswerving devotion to Me…
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