The Role of the Spiritual Heart and Self-Inquiry Ramana Maharshi’s teachings on non-duality emphasize the role of the spiritual heart or hridaya as the seat of the Atman and the place of Self-realization. He taught Self-inquiry primarily as a method of tracing our thoughts back to the spiritual heart, in which they can all be [...]
By David Frawley First published in the Mountain Path of the Sri Ramanashram The Allure of the Direct Path Advaita, which refers to the state of non-duality of the Self and God, can easily lend itself to all sorts of misconceptions. Indeed one can argue that since the Advaitic state transcends all thought and all [...]
Atman means the Self or soul, the very essence of our being as pure consciousness. It is common to all living creatures and pervades the entire universe. In the modern world, psychology dominates our thinking relative to the mind and emotions, the self and ego and has its influence on how we view spirituality and [...]
The greatest fear that all living beings have is the fear of death. The fear of death casts a shadow over all that we do and undermines all our peace and happiness. But what is death and who is it that dies? Actually death is the greatest of all illusions. The fear of death is [...]
In our ordinary lives our concerns are focused on the limited beings around us. The living beings include our family, friends and society. The non-living beings or objects include our homes, vehicles and property. We are able to recognize many different types of being in the world and interact with them in various ways. This [...]
From the book Vedantic Meditation by David Frawley (North Atlantic Books) From darkness lead us to light, from non-being lead us to being, from death lead us to immortality. Brihadaranyaka UpanishadI.3.28 I laud the flame of awareness that is placed before all things, the deity of the sacred ritual, who manifests by the seasons, the [...]
Published previously in Light of Consciousness magazine and in the Mountain Path of the Sri Ramanashram, Tiruvannamalai. What is the nature of the mind? How is it related to our deeper consciousness? And, above all, who are we in our real being? What is our true identity or true Self behind the endless stream of [...]
This article is from Yogic Secrets of the Dark Goddess by Shambhavi Chopra Ma Kali gently tended the coals of my inner fires, stirring the flames of Agni to manifest every magical colour, permeating the very spanda or creative pulsation resonating throughout my being. At an innermost level, Agni is the fire of consciousness,Chidagni, the [...]
Author of this article Yogi Baba Prem is also editor of the Institute’s newsletter. For humanity, few arguments have withstood the test of time as well as the perceived conflict between desire (Kama) and spirituality. This conflict appears within most spiritual traditions and has enkindled an endless debate as to the proper perspective and role [...]
Note an expansion of this article in the book of David Frawley: Inner Tantric Yoga: Working with the Universal Shakti (Lotus Press, July 2008) The Hindu Gods and Goddesses, more properly called Devatas or Divine principles, are usually treated by modern scholars in a superficial senses as distinct powers of nature or worse as just [...]
