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The non-dual teachings offer a means to inner peace, freedom from fear and lasting fulfilment, through Self-knowledge. The path involves learning, absorbing and ultimately awakening to the direct experience that our true Self is not different, in essence, from the reality underlying the universe. With clarity and authority, the chapters of this book show how this goal relates to our deepest needs, and provide ideas and practices, which, if adopted, will aid our realisation.

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Philosophie et théologie

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Publié par	Distributed by eBookpartnership
Date de parution	10 octobre 2020
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9780854240807
Langue	English

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REALISING THE TRUTH AT THE CENTRE OF LIFE
by Berta Dandler
Shanti Sadan London
The sages see with the inner eye of wisdom that this whole world of plurality is a phenomenal appearance superimposed on the canvas of infinite consciousness.
by the same author
Awakening to Self-Knowledge
Living Beyond Fear
The Illumined Understanding
Berta Dandler is the Warden of Shanti Sadan, centre of non-duality. She was nominated by her predecessor in 2006 and continues to present the teachings in the tradition of Shri Shankara as they apply in the present day. She is the author of four books on the philosophy of non-duality (Advaita Vedanta) and the way of Self-Knowledge (Adhyatma Yoga).
First published 2020
Copyright Shanti Sadan 2020
29 Chepstow Villas
London W11 3DR
shantisadan.org
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be translated, reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of the publisher.
ISBN 978-0-85424-080-7 This eBook format
(Print version first published 2020 ISBN 978-0-85424-075-3)
CONTENTS
Preface
1 Life Skills for Inner Peace and Freedom
2 From Harmony to Illumination
3 Meditation Practice (1)
4 Inner Progress through Love and Knowledge
5 The Truth at the Centre of Life
6 Our Supreme Potentiality
7 The Source of Joy
8 Light from the Upanishads
9 Way to Fulfilment
10 Self as Infinite Consciousness
11 Life without Limits
12 Actualising the Inner Light
13 Meditation Practice (2)
14 Awakening to the Supreme Truth
15 The Greatest Freedom of All
16 Realising the Infinite Peace
PICTURE CREDITS
Cover: Detail of The Milkmaid by Johannes Vermeer, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
Location
Galyna Andrushko/Shutterstock.com
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The mystic Ahmad Ghazali talking to a disciple, from the manuscript Majalis al-Ushshaq ( Meetings of the lovers ), 1552. Wikimedia Commons.
Detail of Woman Reading a Letter by Johannes Vermeer, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
kittiwutti/Shutterstock.com
Somchai Phanbun/Dreamstime.com
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Galileo Galilei showing the Doge of Venice how to use the telescope , by Giuseppe Bertini, Ville Ponti, Varese, Italy.
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PREFACE
The non-dual teachings offer a response to the deepest human need for lasting fulfilment and freedom from fear. They reveal to us that our true Self transcends life s limitations and is universal. Alongside this consciousness of the goal, the teachings provide practical methods that enable us to realise directly this freedom, which even now underlies our experience.
When we live with the highest purpose, self-realisation, we find there are certain writings that preserve the thoughts of those who themselves have awakened to this knowledge. Such writings reach beyond the limited forms and ideas we normally identify with, for they point to that in us which is ultimately not different from the Whole-the One in which the many appear phenomenally.
The writings in this volume attempt to express, in an approachable way, this universal standpoint, sharing ideas and practices which, if held in the mind and utilised, will prove peace-giving, mind-broadening and illuminating.
As with previous volumes by the same author, most of the chapters in this book were originally public lectures, subsequently rewritten as articles in the quarterly journal, Self-knowledge , to which the author, as Warden of Shanti Sadan, is a regular contributor. These articles, in turn and where appropriate, have undergone further revision for this publication.
The non-dual philosophy is based on experience, and its value is proved by practice. Each chapter contains ideas for practice, either direct guidelines or suggested texts for reflection.
1
LIFE SKILLS FOR INNER PEACE AND FREEDOM
I T IS SOMETIMES said that each of us has a special gift or talent, and, given the right circumstances-the right shaping influences-our gift will develop and flower. The great wisdom traditions of mankind also see our human potential in this positive light. But rather than stressing the uniqueness of our personal contribution, they draw our attention to one fundamental skill or talent which is the source of all other talents. This is the skill in working on the precious material of our own inner life-our mind-with its emotions, imagination, reason, memory and will.
We may say: I agree that we can work with the mind-in fact, that is the only way we can progress in anything. But how can you work on the mind and what is the point of doing so?
Our training and adaptation to life so far has been through developing and applying various mental skills, and it may be hard for us to imagine how our mind can have any use or value that is not related to our practical life. But we also need to recognise and understand that our mind does have a meaning, purpose and potentiality superior to anything that can be expressed outwardly. For the mind is far more than a generator of thoughts and feelings. That is just its surface life. Our mind also has depths and, ultimately, has for its inner support a pure essence, a ground of being, that transcends the mind as we know it, and is pure self-experience without any trace of unrest, imperfection or limitation. It is this innermost aspect of our experience that is referred to in the classical texts when they speak of perfect being , pure consciousness , waveless bliss , the heavenly realm within one s own heart . In the Chinese tradition the sage Mencius has said: To plumb the depths of our own mind is to come to know our own nature. Knowing our own nature, we also know the way of Heaven.
Such teachings present us with a deeper view of the mind than is normally considered. Perhaps the most common view of the mind is not to have a view about it at all. Our mind gets on with its job and there is no reason to examine it unless things go seriously wrong.
Another view is that our conscious mind, which runs our practical life, is itself supported, and to some extent ruled, by a deeper phase of the mental life called the unconscious or the subconscious. We are not normally expected to pay much attention to this aspect of our nature. For one thing, we are too busy managing our life to bother about such a mysterious principle as the unconscious-unless we are undergoing some form of psychological therapy. Secondly, it seems there is not much we can do about it anyway.
But a still more profound insight about our inner life is this: those who have fathomed the mind s depths, in the sense indicated by Mencius, affirm that the roots of the mind do not exhaust themselves in the so-called unconscious. Our mind s source is that perfect being, pure consciousness and waveless bliss-the heavenly realm within our own heart. Here we are given a view of human nature as not only rich in the possibility of expressing some special talent in the outer world. Our mind has its being in that deeper reality, which is perfect, infinite and transcendent. And the innate talent we possess is the capacity to guide and refine our mind in such a way that we can withdraw into, and identify with, this infinite, pure, perfect reality that is the essence and substratum of our being.
We may object to the assertion that our true Self is infinite, perfect, pure being. Is not our fundamental self our mind, made up of characteristics that are limited and imperfect? But the deepest self-understanding derived from our inner experience when it has been rendered serene, is that our mind is not the Self, but an instrument of the Self. Indeed, in this sense our Self has many instruments. These include our body, with its limbs, hands and feet; our voice, with its power of speech and song; and our mind itself-what the non-dual classics call our organs of knowledge and our organs of action. The point about an instrument is that it is something we use, not what we are.
There are many useful applications on the digital devices we carry with us, and what appears in them is sometimes so engaging that we cannot lift our eyes from it. The fact that these devices are our instruments is forgotten and they seem to exercise an undue power over us.
This is rather like our position with regard to our mind. Everything we do needs thought related to what we are doing. But our mind is so multi-faceted, so quick to make connections and associations, that thoughts are forever streaming in which often have nothing to do with the practical needs of the task in hand. This imaginative power is a wonderful endowment, and the mind s roving habit can be a source of great creativity. Unfortunately the mind does not always function in this positive way. An ancient text speaks of the mind being a source of bondage as well as a means to freedom. Our mind becomes a source of bondage when its associations are irrelevant and negative, returning repeatedly like unwelcome acquaintances-that is, thoughts of worry, resentment, regret, antagonism and so forth.
The mind also becomes a source of bondage through its tendency to form desires for the things it feels it lacks. This does not refer to our higher aspirations-the desires for wisdom, peace, purity, the well-being of all. It is our lesser desires, related to material gain and gratification, that, if given undue priority, generate a subtle form of bondage and entangle us in unforeseen, and often unsought, consequences.
There is a philosophical point here too, which is worth reflecting on, based on the non-dual understanding of the nature of the Self. From the highest standpoint, desires are not necessary and have no place. Self is perfect fulfilment. So when we are under the influence of some strong desire, we are not being true t