Mindfullness

To the question of Janaka as to how freedom can be achieved, the answer given by Aştävakra is simple. 'Know the Self as Pure Consciousness, the unaffected witness of the phenomenal world, and you will be free' (I. 3). In reality the Self is always free; freedom is not attained, but simply realized and discovered. The impediment to selfrealization a

The whole of Advaita reduces to a series of very simple and testable assertions: Consciousness is the prior condition of every experience; the self or ego is an illusory appearance within it; look closely for what you are calling “I,” and the feeling of being a separate self will disappear; what remains, as a matter of experience, is a field of con

So I suggest that spirituality and religion start not from a system of belief that offers comfort and meaning, but from a first-hand glimpse of a different way of relating to the vicissitudes of life. And this shows up not as a thought, a wish or an interpretation, but as a direct experience. It is seen and felt, not construed or imagined. It is e

Religion is for people who are scared to go to hell. Spirituality is for people who have been through hell.