After I posted this, a friend emailed me the following paragraph: We have read and re-read Ramana Periya Puranam and every time I read it, tears start to flow down my face. I feel an outpouring of grace whenever I read it. It’s one of the most powerful books that both my husband and I […]
Author: Freddie
Ilie Cioara and Dada Gavand
Two peas in a pod.
When I watch interviews on Conscious.tv and BatGap, I sometimes think there must be a thousand kinds of enlightenment. But these two men, Ilie Cioara and Dada Gavand, are spiritual twins. Their teachings, their sadhanas, their writing styles, and their states are uncannily alike. When I read one, I am always reminded of the other. […]
Are animals conscious?
People sometimes doubt that animals are conscious. Here’s some evidence about parrots. According to these two articles, parrots eat sap from opium poppies until they are so stoned they fall out of trees. International Business Times Daily Mirror Why do parrots do this? Probably because they like the way it feels. In order to enjoy […]
The Sturdy, Stable Thing
My friend Jyothi sent a message yesterday. She was very excited about an experience that had just happened to her. Earlier in the day, in the morning, she had meditated with voluntary effort. Then later in the afternoon she fell into involuntary meditation. This pattern of intentional meditation in the morning and natural meditation in […]
Susie
I was living at my girlfriend’s apartment in the late 1990s when I got seriously interested in meditation. She had two cats, a male and a female. The female, who I’ll call Susie, was about fourteen years old, black, and very fat. She followed me everywhere in the apartment. When I sat at the desk […]
A Profound Radiant Stillness
K2Love wrote in a comment: I haven’t found happiness while practicing being conscious either, but I assume it is because I am not really conscious and that I am mostly lost-in-thoughts during my daily routine. And, even when I am conscious to be aware of my consciousness, I am still in the realm of thoughts […]
Sadhana 5
Sadhana is an activity that people do in order to become enlightened. Examples: meditation, japa (chanting mantras), Self-enquiry. People sometimes think that sadhana is a step-by-step activity that we learn from a book or guru. They think there are right ways and wrong ways to do it. They think the guru is a sort of […]
Three simple answers
Alec wrote: I know there are no simple answers to the most difficult questions of life. I’m not so sure about that. How about: Look at things from the other person’s point of view. Be conscious. Yearn to know yourself.
How to Stay Conscious 3
Alec wrote in a commment: I keep reading How to Stay Conscious 1 and some other articles of yours over and over as they have helped me to remain conscious. I am however not able abide in that state for more than a few minutes at a time. I thanked Alec for telling me that […]
Ramana Maharshi 2
There are many books of Ramana’s dialogs; some report his words more faithfully than others. According to David Godman, the great scholar of Ramana’s life and works, Maharshi’s Gospel is among the more reliable ones. In Chapter III of that book we find the following dialog: Devotee: There are times when persons and things take […]