Non-duality

Non-dual devotion, worship and prayer

~ Tom Das ~ 13 Comments

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In advaita (non-duality), we know that the God which is devote ourselves to is not separate from us.

Also see:

Does Jnana (Knowledge) lead to Bhakti (Devotion) or the other way round?
Should I bow to Sri Ramana Maharshi?
Grace alone is of prime importance
Bhakti Yoga (love and devotion) as a complete path to liberation
Ramana Maharshi on those who mock Idol-Worship

For many purists there is no place for devotion and prayer in non-duality. But devotion has always had a prominent role in spiritual traditions, and for good reason: it can be a hugely purifying and uplifting part of spiritual practice with many positive effects on the body and mind and our relationships. (click here for how devotion can be part of a wider spiritual path)

Om! May Brahman protect us!
May Brahman nourish us!
May we have energy!
May we become illumined!
May we not hate!
Om, Shanti, Shanti, Shanti!
(A traditional invocation or prayer from the Upanishads)

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What you teach is not practical for most. I too am a spiritual teacher. Honestly, most people just need a hug and have their feelings validated. Although personally, your writings have helped me grow so much. You are more like a teacher for teachers. What do you think about that?

~ Tom Das ~ Leave a comment

This post hits the spot for me ❤ Thanks Atreya

So I’ve just started using twitter…@tomdas

~ Tom Das ~ 3 Comments

Hi everyone,

So I’ve decided to try to embrace social media and think I’ve got this twitter thing sorted out. Well, the basics at least anyway 🙂  Are any of you out there on Twitter? Please let me know or find me @tomdas. I’m regularly tweeting for now – let’s see how long it lasts for! Do you use twitter? What’s your experience of social media been?

I’ve also used a wordpress widget to add a twitter feed to the sidebar – please let me know if there are better ways I can use social media or twitter, etc, many thanks

Love, peace and joy to you all

❤ ❤ ❤

God is everywhere

~ Tom Das ~ Leave a comment

Maple leaf on stones.jpg

God is everywhere

– where is She not?

All there is is God. It is not right to say God is in all things, for that implies a duality between things and God. It is not right to say God is in you, for that implies you are a container for God and different to God.

There are no things, only God. The idea of separate things is illusory. There is just an interconnected whole. Call this wholeness God, or Life, or The Great Spirit, or anything you like. There is no room for anything else. Only God. No ‘you’, no ‘I’, just ‘Him’.

Is there even a single particle where ‘She’ is not? (Is She not omnipresent and infinite?)

Everything moves and has its being in Him. Everything that moves and has being (exists) is also Him.

All there is is God. All is God.

 

Roadmap to enlightenment: a (fairly) comprehensive guide to spiritual practices

~ Tom Das ~ 35 Comments

This is one of a series of introductory articles – please see the homepage of tomdas.com for more introductory articles. Also see:

In Brief: how to attain Liberation

The entire path explained: the Path of Sri Ramana (Parts 1 and 2; PDF downloads)

This is one of the most important posts I have written – it condenses years of spiritual seeking which has involved exploring dozens of spiritual teachings, reading hundreds of books and texts from spiritual teachers and spiritual traditions across the world, undergoing all sorts of spiritual practices and meditations over the years, entering samadhi’s and experiencing visions of infinite oneness, and a genuine realisation of the Freedom-that-already-is.

The aim of the post is to guide you to a Freedom beyond words, but also stay concise. For all those people who have asked me: ‘That’s all very well but how do I actually become enlightened? How can we free ourselves from suffering? What do we do?’, this is for you, and others like you.

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Nisargadatta Maharaj: Ignore your thoughts

~ Tom Das ~ 9 Comments

Nisargadatta_Maharaj

“It is the mind that tells you that the mind is there. Don’t be deceived. All the endless arguments about the mind are produced by the mind itself, for its own protection, continuation and expansion. It is the blank refusal to consider the convolutions and convulsions of the mind that can take you beyond it.”

Nisargadatta Maharaj, I Am That

My comments:

The word ‘mind’ in the above quote is synonymous with the false sense of individual separate self. This self, this ‘I’, is just a notion, an idea reinforced by the mind. The ‘I’ is a thought, and it is reinforced by thoughts.

Trying to figure this all out (ie. more thought) is a function of the same mind that is ultimately false, imaginary: it is a fruitless endeavour.

A particularly effective sadhana (spiritual practice) is to ignore the content of thoughts as they appear within our consciousness. The energy of the sense of ‘I’ then begins to loosen and its mechanics are exposed and revealed. We can then start to see things as they actually are.

There are broadly two ways this can be done:

1) by concentrating on something else such as a mantra, the breath, or by chanting, etc – ie. a distraction from thoughts;

2) by allowing thoughts to wash past you like clouds in the sky, and in so doing not paying attention to the content of thoughts, eg. a surrender, acceptance, gratitude or mindfulness practice.

When looking for a sadhana, you will naturally be able to find the one that works for you by looking to see which one gives you greatest sense of peace and relief, and by seeing which practice you are naturally inclined towards.

For more about spiritual practices and how they work click here

A Christmas message: was Jesus ever Born?

~ Tom Das ~ 1 Comment

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The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was [already] in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.
John 1:9-10

Christmas is meant to be about celebrating the birth of Jesus, and the above bible verse tells of his coming. But was Jesus ever born? I’m not asking whether or not he existed, I’m asking was Jesus an entity that was born into this world, or was Jesus something else?

In John’s gospel the opening chapter proclaims the coming birth of Jesus Christ. But in verse 10 (above) it clearly states that Jesus already existed prior to his birth, and prior to the existence of the world: he was already in the world, the world was made through him, but the world knew him not.

This is not referring to the human Jesus made of flesh and blood, but something else, something deeper, more subtle, more universal and more potent. This Christ is the True Light, as per verse 9 above, the deeper essence of Christ. A few chapters later in John’s Gospel Jesus himself testifies that he was never born:

Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
John 8:58

Note, Jesus doesn’t say ‘I was’, he says ‘I AM‘, again indicating he is and always has been beyond the notion of time. Anyone who has studied vedanta and other spiritual traditions would be familiar with similar sayings espoused by countless sages in ages gone past.

Jesus is not identifying himself as the body-mind entity, but as the Absolute, the Father, the unborn, that which always IS, that which is never not.

So here’s to wishing you all a very Merry Christmas, and when we come together to celebrate Jesus’s birth, let us remember the deeper import of Jesus’s teachings: to be with the Father, the Absolute, that to which we are all slaves whether we know it or not.

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he [Jesus] said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.This is the greatest and first commandment.”
Matthew 22:36-38

And it is in discovering this slavery that we actually ‘become’ free.

So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.”
John 5:19

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

❤ ❤ ❤