The Ramayana
The Ramayana is an epic story of the life of Rama, a prince in a kingdom of ancient India and an avatar of Vishnu (god in form, sent to restore balance). There are many versions …
Category: Philosophy
What is a Soul?
The topic of souls came up in conversation with friends. In the west, we debate if animals have souls and talk of loosing one’s soul, splitting the soul, and so forth. A lot of that …
Perspective and Perception
I talk a lot here about stages of development in consciousness aka stages of enlightenment. This is to offer context for the various experiences and teachings out there and help us gain a better understanding …
The Trinity of Self
Atman or the Cosmic Self has a three-fold nature. It has a subject or observer aspect, the process of observation, and the object or observed aspect. I illustrated this here. As consciousness is aware of …
About the Gunas
I’ve written or commented on the gunas in a variety of articles. This includes The Gunas and Emotions, Karma and the Gunas, and The Gunas in Awakening. I talk about them regularly because they play …
The Means of Liberation (Yogas)
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 13 Verse 24 Some realize the Self by the Self in the Self through meditation, others through Samkhya yoga, yet others through Karma yoga. Verse 25 Others, however, not knowing thus, …
The Gender of Divinity
Many religious and spiritual traditions describe God with a specific gender. For example, although there are those who worship Mother Mary, Christianity is dominated by a Father God. A lot of modern Hinduism is also …
The Source of Perception
One of the curious things I noticed many years ago was how much we agree on the appearance of the world. While there is a huge variation in emphasis and interpretation, we have no problem …
Once You Know
There is a curious dynamic in being human. Once we know, we know. For example, a DNA test. They can reveal some fascinating detail about your makeup and origins. But what about the genetic markers …
Predominance
For some, unfolding knowledge of the world follows the path of the mechanics of perception. For others like myself, it follows the path of the dynamics of consciousness. The 2 approaches unfold different understanding of …
Why is there a Dark Side?
It’s good to consider – why does a world expressed by the Divine have evil? The answer is all about balance. In the Vedic perspective, there are 3 forces in creation: creation, maintenance, and destruction. …
Karma Mimamsa
Traditional Indian philosophy has 6 branches or approaches, known as the upangas or darshanas. Often they’re seen as competing philosophical systems when if fact they largely each describe the reality of a different stage of …