Non-duality

Start the day with love, fill the day with love, end the day with love

~ Tom Das ~ 6 Comments

 The following is an excerpt from a book rather modestly titled ‘The Most Direct Means To Eternal Bliss’.

Despite some tendency towards grandiosity, this book is actually pretty amazing in my opinion. I think it was written as a labour of love and has been uploaded to the internet for free viewing by the author here. You can also buy a hard copy here which contains a single extra chapter (which was written later).

MDMTEB

Be warned, this book and its tone may not be for everyone. It is radical, focused, in some ways quite narrow, and not at all modest. However the advice dispensed is actually very good in the context in which it was written and the teachings are made extremely clear. The initial chapters alone are worth the purchase price in my opinion (plus it’s free online anyway)

Below is Chapter 12, blessings to you all ❤

Chapter 12 – THE LOVING-ALL METHOD

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Ramana Maharshi: The 4 paths to freedom (the 4 yogas)

~ Tom Das ~ 2 Comments

In this passage below Ramana Maharshi talks about the four traditional Hindu paths to ending suffering or moksha (liberation/freedom). The four paths are traditionally called the paths of knowledge (jnana), love or devotion (bhakti), meditation (raja yoga), and doing good works (karma).

Almost every spiritual tradition around the world will fit into one of more of these four paths Continue reading →

A rant: kicking spiritual seekers in the balls

~ Tom Das ~ 4 Comments

“And yet, even as I speak, Subhuti, I must take back my words as soon as they are uttered, for there are no Buddhas and there are no teachings.”

Buddha, Diamond Sutra

I’ve been reading several blogs and other writings aimed at spiritual seekers who have everything laid out so clearly. They have the map to spiritual enlightenment all put together ready for mass consumption. They say things like you are Pure Consciousness or Pure Awareness.

All the concepts are lined up ready to be taught by the bearded guru and gobbled up by the next willing namaste-wielding student greedy for the big E. Here, let the Kunjed Gyalpo metaphorically kick the spiritual-seeker-in-you in the balls (if you’ll forgive my sexism): Continue reading →

Ramakant Maharaj: Meditation is the anti-virus for illusion

~ Tom Das ~ Leave a comment

Selfless Self RM

The following is an excerpt from ‘Selfless Self: Talks with Shri Ramakant Maharaj‘, page 15. To find out more, click on the hyperlinks above.

YOU ARE ALMIGHTY. ALMIGHTY GOD, OMNIPRESENT.

YOUR PRESENCE IS EVERYWHERE.

YOU ARE BEYOND THE SKY

THERE IS NO INDIVIDUALITY.

Questioner: [laughing] I find it hard to believe that this ‘little me’ is all of that! If I am all of that, as you say, how is it I am not aware of this? And if I’m not, then how can I start becoming aware of my Self?

Maharaj: How can I? There is no ‘I’ at all. There is no ‘You’ and there is no ‘I’. Everything is just like the sky. You see, even when the Master tells you that you are Almightly, that you are Ultimate Truth, you are not accepting it. You are not able to accept that Truth because you’re caught up in all sorts of illusionary thoughts. You are considering yourself as ‘little me’, and that is making you blind to your Innate Power.

The remedy for this, a very simple remedy for this, as I have said, is meditation. Meditation is the anti-virus for illusion.

The meaning of life

~ Tom Das ~ 3 Comments
Tree of life, Palace of Shaki Khan, Azerbaijan

How can we eloquently speak about life’s most precious and deepest aspects? Can we really say life is like this or like that? Can we fully describe what a sunset feels like, or can we fully convey our (my) mixed-up emotions when we hear about a devastating earthquake in Nepal? Even more basically, can we even begin to describe what it feels like to exist as a human being? It is easy to describe the parts of a car – we have a whole vocabulary for this – but the sense of existing that we all know and take for granted is more iffy.

It is almost as if the more basic and essential something is, the less easy it is to articulate, with complex and superficial matters being much easier to pin down.

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