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#2358- Friday, January 6, 2006 - Editor: Jerry Katz

 


 

 

In this issue are featured Dr. Narendra Tuli and James Braha. They each express nonduality in different ways. Dr. Tuli teaches the Advaita Vedanta philosophy of Adi Shankaracharya. James Braha is from the Sailor Bob Adamson tradition.

 

If you like what is posted here, you may enjoy visiting their websites where there is lots more to see and read.

 

--Jerry

 

 


 

 

Vedantaquest, by Dr. Narendra Tuli (Delhi, India)

 

http://www.vedantaquest.ind.in/

 

 

 

 

Vedantaquest is dedicated to the Advaita Vedanta philosophy of Adi Shankaracharya

 

'Salutations at the feet of my most adorable Guru, who is omniscient and has, by imparting
Knowledge to me, saved me from the mammoth ocean of births and deaths inundated with ignorance'

 

Photo: H.H. Swami Vidyananda Giri Ji Maharaj

 

 

~ ~ ~

 

 

I feel that any aspirant, in the current scenario, has an edge inasmuch as one has the opportunity
to find an answer through the study of both - the Scientific and the Spiritual aspects. One should
seek the answer with an open mind. The Scientific and the Spiritual aspects are complementary to
each other in revealing the ultimate Truth.

 

The marriage of an intelligent Scientific mind with Spirituality should reveal the Truth in all its
grandeur.

 

 

~ ~ ~

 

 

I conduct the following courses for the aspirants of Vedanta:

 

1. Introductory Vedanta Course: This is a short introductory course to Vedanta. It is aimed at
introducing the aspirant to Vedanta terminology and explain the basic concepts of Vedanta
philosophy. The course is of 7 days duration with 2 Hrs. session daily. Medium of instruction is
English.

 

2. Advanced Vedanta Courses: These courses cover the three Prasthanas viz. the Bhagavad Geeta, the
Brahmasutra and the Ten Upanishads along with the commentary of Adi Shankaracharya on these three.
Each of the three Prasthanas is dealt with separately. The course on Bhagavad Geeta is of 15 days
duration with 2 Hrs. session daily. The Brahmasutra and the Upanishads are taken up in 30 days
courses each with 2 Hrs. session daily. The medium of instruction is English.

 

3. Short Sessions and Guest Lectures on Vedanta, in English, are also taken up on special requests.

 

4. Online Vedanta Sessions for the aspirants.

 

For more information on these courses please e-mail to

 

mail@vedantaquest.ind.in

 

http://www.vedantaquest.ind.in/

 

 


 

 

James Braha

 

http://www.jamesbraha.com/home.html

 

 

What Is Non Duality?

 

Non-dual understanding provides the visceral answer to the age-old question “Who am I?”

 

It is the perception of our true nature, and confirms what sages have been saying for eons: Who we
truly are is neither mind nor body, both of which are transient and therefore illusory. Who we are,
essentially, is consciousness or awareness.

 

What Can Understanding Of Non Duality Do For Me?

 

Seeing this clearly does not make us essentially different from anyone else. But it distinctly
alters our experience. The result is a more graceful life, greater acceptance of what is, and a
quantum reduction of psychological suffering.

 

More than anything, it is the end of the perpetual search for wholeness and completeness that forms
the background of most peoples’ lives. It is the end of the sense of “becoming” this or “becoming”
that, as well as the seemingly never ending craving to fill the void that began the moment we
believed our separateness.

 

 

~ ~ ~


 

 

EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER FIVE

 

Never the Same Again

 

*

 

From the age of twenty, when I learned about meditation and enlightenment, there was one pervasive
current of thought running through my brain. It began when I awoke and was there until I slept. And
the intensity never lessened. It was, of course, the desire that my sense of separateness and
incompleteness would one day be replaced by the peace or so-called bliss of enlightenment. By my
late forties, my thinking remained unchanged except that expectations of success had seriously
diminished. Shortly after Bob arrived, however, my worn-out concepts of, and desires for,
liberation were replaced by the conclusion, I will never be the same again. Indeed, that thought
became somewhat of a mantra for the five weeks of Bob’s visit. And I heard similar reactions from
others who spent more than two or three days hearing Bob’s non-duality teachings.

 

Amazingly, this was unrelated to experience. It had only to do with understanding. During Bob’s
visit, there was no transmission of bliss, no trance-like state of meditation, and no tapping on
the forehead. There was simply a reaction to following Bob’s instruction to investigate the belief
in the “me” we have all lived with since childhood. It was a reaction to seeing clearly that the
past and future are nothing more than mental images. If past and future are illusory, then so is
our entire existence. If past and future never happened, what exactly did? It was a reaction to
looking within and, instead of experiencing an independent entity, finding emptiness or “no thing.”
And it was a realization that since “no thing” has been with me ever since birth—while absolutely
everything else about me has changed—then emptiness or “no thing” must be who I am. That being the
case, who I really am is, and has always been, whole and complete. That being the case, who I
really am is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent.

 

For ten years during my thirties, I had taken the Werner Erhard EST seminars. Werner is not an
Advaitan, but he’s a brilliant teacher. Many times I had heard him state emphatically, “This is it.
This is how life turned out. Stop expecting it to be different.” He also said, “Life has no
meaning. Get used to it. Life has no meaning—and it has no meaning that it has no meaning!” For
years, I wondered what it would be like to be able to really comprehend such statements. Somehow,
Sailor Bob had a similar message, said in different words. But he said them in a way I could grasp.
And it was all simple and painless. It was as if we were little children entranced by the beautiful
blue ocean, and Bob handed us empty buckets and said, “Go fetch me some blue water from the sea,
and watch what happens.” It was exciting beyond description.

 

The effects of this understanding have ranged from changes so simple and normal they are barely
worth mentioning to a radical shift in life. While “The Bobs,” as we sometimes called them, were
here and visitors were streaming through our house, I was so busy—and so excited—there was no way
to fully appreciate the changes that were occurring. A few weeks after they left, however, I
noticed a blatant “before and after” effect. Life before Sailor Bob and life after. The most
revealing experience, initially, occurred every time I awoke from sleep. Before Bob, my first
thoughts upon awakening were directly connected to feeling separate, limited, and incomplete. And
they were always accompanied by some corresponding desire that when fulfilled would supposedly set
the problem right. There was often a sense of impending doom and a probing of what could possibly
go wrong. This was naturally followed by a strategy of how to control any problem or potential
predicament. Even in the best of times, there was always something missing and always something
needed. The kicker was that no matter which desire might get fulfilled, the feeling of separateness
and incompleteness never abated. Not even close. I could never get enough of what would not bring
peace. Still, desires persisted. If, as they say, the definition of insanity is doing the same
action and expecting different results, I should have been placed in an insane asylum decades ago.

 

After Bob’s teaching, waking from sleep is radically different. Instead of feeling something is
lacking and needs fixing, there is a sense of wholeness and completion. There is nothing missing,
no sense of “becoming,” and no worries about the future. There is finally a sense of belonging.
Instead of a bunch of niggling, needy thoughts and desires demanding attention, there is simply
life as is—presence awareness, moment by moment. The experience is so normal and undramatic it is
barely worth mentioning. But it is so contrary to my previous life it is still surprising—and it is
a relief beyond description.

 

http://www.jamesbraha.com/home.html

 

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