We (ego/personality layer) feel we’ve studied/worked so hard, or given so much in a relationship and thus we deserve. But we actually do so little, and if the doing doesn’t belong to us, how can the result? Going deeper, the mistake lies in us not understanding that the knowledgeable and enlivening divinity, love, joy, or peace we seek is also within us, untouched by all our controlling and managing. Let go of the sense of doing and the entitlement to a specific result to experience the...

We so often feel and say “I know” passionately because it’s where divinity is reflected in us. Similar to how a mirror just reflects, this thinking faculty (mind and intellect) is a mere reflective surface and not who I am (divinity). But since it shines, it absorbs my attention, which I then identify with and want to be (our personality), not able to distinguish the two. The most beautiful thing, however, is that since the reflection is in our thinking, we know exactly where to look to find...

In our understanding of who we are, we mix up the part of us that is divine with the other layers of our personality. It’s why we can think we are powerful and capable beings, but also that we’re always falling short or making mistakes and the wrong choices. In these moments, our spiritual journey is about putting in a little extra effort.

Divinity is devoid of a form, but just as a crystal vase takes on the colour of whatever we put around it, we take on the qualities or characteristics of that around us. For example, we believe to be the body and its shape. Or, as emotions or desires surface in the mind, and opinions or logic in our intellect, we take them and each nuance on so strongly. But every single one of these descriptions belongs to the body, mind, or intellect, not us; not divinity.  

Just as the same 8 musical notes can come together in different ways to produce thousands of songs, all of our diverse selves are made of the same 5 elements (space, air, fire, water and earth). Even our most basic desires can make up such a variety of thoughts or reactions to things!

In all-pervading divinity, we put up divisions of “me” on our body, and “not me” to all that outside of us. We then build on that limited entity, using color (culture, skin, lineage, etc.) to define the person as “better” or “worse”. But while we can accept that we’re not just pretty faces, it’s harder to see that we give importance to other superficial aspects as well and overlook our essence. Our personality, values, habits, intellectual achievements, or emotional temperaments is not a

Everywhere around us, there’s space. All-pervading, it’s both inside and outside everything. So whatever we create is in that space. For example, walls create boundaries of the space in a room. But space is not conditioned by what is created as it is pervasive, untouched and indivisible. The truth and divinity that we are trying to understand is the same. We feel we are distinct and separate, but everything is inside of truth and therefore, not separate. Nothing can divide the truth, or us.

Each jewelry, whether it be a necklace, earring, nose ring, or bangle, has a different shape, size, design, or thickness. But in essence, all of it is the one same gold. In creation too, when we see things, we see it all as unrelated and distinct individuals. For example, when we look at buildings, oceans, or each other, we see me (one entity) and you (separate entity). But it is all from the same oneness; tied together in existence and in our ability to see, know or understand it (ie....

All creation comes from, plays in and dissolves into the unaffected substratum of truth, Supreme Self or divinity. For example, dreams are created by our mind, live in our mind and dissolve back into our mind. Even in terms of our own world, whether it be a belief, value or emotion that we create, it comes out of us. It exists for as long as we choose for it to before it goes back into us. So what exactly are we creating, how long do we want it to last and when are we going to be ready to let...

We’re constantly projecting onto things, a value, belief or attitude that’s not there. In Vedanta, this is explained as superimposition on the substratum, after which, we see only the superimposed as real. For example, we superimpose gender, personality or aspirations on ourselves, seeing that as who we are. We even make sense of the world all based on our superimposed thoughts! Notice how quickly we assume something to be correct, important, or true when we haven’t even questioned it?

Despite having experienced our dream or an argument to have all been in our head, we still assume everything we’re experiencing is real. We feel the same palpitations, anxiety and dread every single time until it ends. Similarly, we passionately hold on to our likes and dislikes, let them grow into love and aversion and give them so much control over us. But they are as real as the dream for they change, and their hold is only for as long as it ends. Is that worth letting every thought direct...

When we listen to Satsang or study the scriptures, uplifting thoughts are introduced. Despite adding more thoughts into a mind that’s already filled with them, the quality of the new thoughts changes the entire texture of our mind. This also changes who we are and what we experience as the purifying thoughts of the higher clear away all other useless or unnecessary ones. So in a mind free from pettiness, likes, dislikes or judgements, we enjoy what the scriptures explain to us is our true...

The Sun’s always there and shining, but when clouds come to cover the Sun, we wonder, “There’s no Sun today!” In the same way, our true nature of bliss, love and joy is always there and self-effulgent, but our own thoughts rise in our mind to block us from seeing our truth. And just as the wind blows away the clouds so that we see the Sun shining brightly in the sky once again, we meditate to quieten our mind. Upon letting go of every single thought, in the blissful silence, we come to know...

When we don’t know, we feel we are lacking and incomplete. We then want what we think we don’t have, prompting us into action. But when action is a product of our ignorance, it can never be the solution for it. Only knowledge is what opposes ignorance and can remove it. Thus, while Japa and service to mankind is important, they’re not going to give us knowledge but simply prepare our mind. So are your actions encouraged by your fears and desires or are they bringing you closer to getting...

We already are divine. We already have whatever it is we are looking for, but don’t know it. We have forgotten as the mind is so busy thinking or doing a gazillion things. It’s like when we go around looking for a missing pair of glasses or keys that we had on us this whole time. Ultimately, our spiritual journey is to just stop and remember our nature; that we have it all. Doing spiritual practices help us to quieten the mind and remove the obstructions keeping us being able to see what is...

Just like how food cannot cook without fire, we cannot transform without knowledge. Knowledge however, is not merely looking up, obtaining, and collecting information. Knowledge is imbibing that information. For instance, knowing why we are doing the spiritual practices we do lets us manage our energy and time so the actions serve their place and we don’t get distracted. Understanding the importance of knowledge in our spiritual evolution ensures we get what is important right.

We often first prepare ourselves for things we want, be it our goals, a job, or a relationship. So naturally, when we are seeking the highest that we can as human beings, some preparation, aka tapas, is required. Self-effort to lift ourselves is tapas. To put in self-control to become less dependent on comforting objects of the world is tapas. To detach from the body to find, nurture, strengthen and abide by what is inside is tapas. Prepare at the level of body, speech or thought, and feel...

Despite feeling like we can do anything we’d like to, all of us are still on the same quest to find freedom. We seek it from our emotions, like anger or hurt. We seek it from wanting things we know we can’t have. We seek it from thought processes we think we can change but feel we cannot. Whether we realize it or not, we are seeking love, happiness and peace within ourselves. The clearer we are about what we are desiring, the more we benefit from this knowledge and the less distracted we get...

Most of us don’t really know who we are. Even when asked to describe our personality, we get confused for we all feel we are one and the other, no matter how contradictory. We all also feel as if we’re always trying to fix something. There’s so much about our life we want to improve. But before going out and improving the world, we turn to this knowledge to understand our essence. We give it attention so that it creates impressions in our mind. Our mind holds that new form and as the mind...

Time is movement, and the second that you think is the present, is gone and lost the next. But being present doesn’t mean staying still and focused. It’s a gentle sense of being and truth where we actually slip out of the bondage of time. In eternal, there’s fullness of experience; no divisions, no “me”. And only our conscious effort put into understanding who we are and adjusting our thinking process will set us free.

It’s human nature to get attached. But when we don’t let go, when we continue to do when we should have stopped, our worldly joy becomes sorrow, fear, or anger. This mantra empowers us to be free from the limiting, free from the fear of change. May we enjoy deathlessness and changelessness. Then, there is only compassion, kindness, love, empathy, and ripeness of character. Everything happens with ease; we are not forcing anything. And the sweetness that we experience, we share with the world...