A friend of a friend studied French by reciting sentences like these: ‘Buenos días’ is not French. ‘அறிவே நான்’ is not French. ‘Ausgezeichnet’ is not French. ‘夫妻肺片’ is not French. And so on. He worked hard at it but his French was always awful. That’s neti neti. If you don’t know anything about neti neti, […]
Tag: Consciousness
A hint concerning Self-enquiry
The main tool we use for Self-enquiry, at least in the early stages, is attention. In this context the word ‘attention’ means the deliberate, volitional choice of what is evident. When attention succeeds, we become or remain aware of the object of attention. The reason I’m analyzing this common word in microscopic detail is that […]
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 […]
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 […]
Annamalai Swami 1
Annamalai Swami once said: In the same way, mind is just a self-inflicted area of darkness in which the light of the Self has been deliberately shut out. When you see this remark, which is quoted in the wonderful book Annamalai Swami: Final Talks, you have two choices. 1. You can think, “That’s poetry. I’m […]
Is the Aware State a New Concept?
K2Love left this comment a day or two ago at the bottom of my article How to Stop Thoughts: I can’t thank you enough for writing and posting this clear and detailed article! I started to meditate several months ago and I had been looking for some tangible suggestions — not philosophies or quotes or […]
Bask in the Sun
One way to think about meditation is that it’s like a cat basking in the sun. Gradually our minds dissolve in the sunshine. The sun does the work. All we do is enjoy the warmth. The sunshine is consciousness or love. The cat is the mind. The mind basks in consciousness or love, soaks in it, […]
How to Stay Conscious 2
Let’s call this tip the bouncing-tennis-ball method. I’m giving it a stupid name but as you’ll see, it’s a technique for attaining samadhi taught by Patanjali in the ancient Yoga Sutras. Sadhana doesn’t get more serious than that! I assume you’ve read my article How to Stop Thoughts and understand what it means to be […]
How to Stay Conscious 1
I assume you know what it’s like to be conscious. If not, you can find out by following the suggestions in my article How to Stop Thoughts. The next step is to remain in that state as intensely as possible, as frequently as possible, and as long as possible. Most people find this hard to […]