Advaita Vedanta

The nature of reality

Advaita Vedanta is one of the great pillars of human wisdom described in the Upanishads and outlined further in other world renowned spiritual texts including the Bhagavad Gita and multiple works of Vedanta philosophy. This wisdom points to the oneness of reality and the nature of God as existence -consciousness- infinity. The experience of being a separate human being is an appearance and not the truth of what I am. Responding to this situation and realising the Self is sadhana (spiritual practice).

Vichara

means self-enquiry. It is the purposeful insight activity undertaken by the mind to see beyond appearance and recognise the deeper reality of the heart. In practice it is both a meditation on being ( who am I? ) and an ongoing investigation in life ( what is this? ). Practice involves an application of the attentiveness within you to see through obstacles and realise the underlying beauty. This timeless teaching and practice can be considered as Jnana Yoga. Its prominence was enlivened and given renewed popular exposure in the early 20th century by Sri Ramana Maharshi and Nisargadatta Maharaj.

 

Realisation

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 happen to you, they are seen. What is it that knows and sees? It is the very power of being/knowing, this is existence itself. All your experiences are arising in this being/knowing as the one source of all awareness and appearance. This unfathomable wonder is who and what 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 Self realisation. Sadhana requires motivation, practice, guidance and support. YogaLiving is a framework within which practitioners choose to pursue this spiritual life.

YogaLiving Resources

balls monty!