Atma Vichara

Enquiry into the self

Atma Vichara means self-enquiry. It is the core teaching at the heart of YogaLiving. It is the teaching refreshed and promoted in the early 20th century by Sri Ramana Maharshi. It can be considered as Jnana Yoga and is concerned with discovering our true nature. It is very old having a long and ancient tradition stretching back to the Vedas. In modern times the practice of it is available, for those who seek it out.

The essential texts of Sri Ramana Maharshi that describe this wisdom are available to download here

During the 1930s some of the satsangs and dialogues given by Ramana were noted. Here are some examples read from the recorded texts.

Atma Vichara

Atma Vichara is based on this knowledge.

You are not what you take yourself  to be. Your real and enduring nature is not found in the experiences of personality, memory and perceptions. These things are happening but they are temporary and changing events, they do not define you nor contain you. These things are themselves known to you, they are seen. What is it that knows and sees? It is the very power of being. All your experiences are arising in this being as the one source of all awareness. This unfathomable beauty is who you are, this is your true nature which does not die. It is the recognition of that and the experiential knowing of that, which is realisation.
  

 Who am I?

Atma Vichara is the direct practice which turns our attention and identification away from the conditioned identity of little me and towards being itself by posing the question “Who Am I?”
Pursuing this with motivation and the right guidance brings awareness of the following:

Existence is constant, real and fresh. It is present all the time but its essence is not recognised. It is not a thought ,sensation, emotion or mood ,neither is it a new event. It is a reality already familiar but not acknowledged. Because of this, awareness of it is dull.
Through recognition and allowing, it becomes increasingly prominent and bright. Not because you have effected any change within it but because the process of looking dissolves the obstacles that prevent it being seen. This state is the natural and spontaneous radiance of being. It is to that which you can turn. This turning is Atma Vichara.

The practice

Practice involves a certain approach, an application of the attentiveness within you to turn away from all objects and to allow the presence of being to shine alone. We do this by allowing thoughts to subside and remaining in the presence of being that remains. Pursuing this requires motivation, practice, guidance and support. YogaLiving is a framework within which a community of practitioners choose to pursue this practice and this yoga life. Detail on how to practice Atma Vichara is given here.

• TV interviews to view

  View 2 television interviews with YogaLiving teacher Derek Thorne about life teaching meditation and reality

• Essential Teachings

  The essential teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi provided in plain english versions

• Events, practice days and talks

  Receive the teachings at practice days and talks:
  NEXT EVENT OXFORD October 16th
  Other events throughout 2010

• Summer Retreat – Who Am I?

  A unique & transformative annual retreat for all spiritual seekers. Glastonbury Somerset July 2011

• Practice book – how to do Atma Vichara

  A unique and powerful book for all spiritual seekers. Clearly describing the practice of Atma Vichara and its context in life.