Class on Self Knowledge (Atma Bodha)

It’s been a while since I posted anything to this blog. This post is to inform those of you who may not be on my email list about current events at Real Dharma.Lately I’ve been emphasizing teachings from the the tradition of Advaita Vedanta. Advaita Vedanta is a means of knowledge that reveals one’s self to be limitless nondual being and awareness, one with the nature of the universe. In doing so, it can remove the almost universal sense of incompleteness, lack and insecurity that is the basis of much of our suffering. Its teaching method is derived from the Upanishads, the last section of the Indian scriptures, the Vedas. It is almost certainly the oldest extant nondual tradition. I have come to believe these teachings are extremely effective. They are also incredibly clear, precise and beautiful, and not overly difficult to understand.

While these teachings have been held by the Hindu tradition, they are not in themselves religious, and require no ritual or sectarian affiliation. I was trained in Advaita Vedanta in the lineage of the late, great Swami Dayananda Saraswati of Rishikesh and Coimbatore, by Swami Dayananda himself and by my primary teacher, Dr. Carol (Radha) Whitfield.

I am currently teaching a text called Self Knowledge (Atma Bodha), by Adi Shankaracarya, the most highly regarded teacher in the Advaita Vedanta tradition. Classes are held on the first and third Wednesdays of the month at OpenEye Studio, 875 Fourth St., San Rafael, CA at 7:30p-9:00 p.m. All are welcome!

Please sign up here for the email list so you’ll be informed of classes and schedule changes. This is the main way I’m communicating with people these days.

Please also check our calendar to stay up to date on classes and events.

And you can listen to and download previous classes on our media page.

I hope to see you some of you at my class. My next class is Wednesday, December 7, 2016.

In the meantime, have a great Thanksgiving holiday!

You Are the Whole–Part 3

In this third and final talk in a series on the Upanishadic “great statement,” or Mahāvākya, tat tvam asi– “You are that” or “You are the whole”–the meaning of asi, “are,” or being, is discussed. “Asi” is the limitless being that is common to both you, on the one hand, and the whole of reality, including both ultimate reality and the entirety of manifestation, on the other hand. Through understanding “asi” we know that we and the whole of reality are one.

The following talk was given at Real Dharma on October 8, 2013.

Listen online:

or download or listen by clicking here.

You Are the Whole–Part 2

In this second talk on the Upanishadic “great statement,” or Mahāvākya, tat tvam asi– “You are that” or “You are the whole”–the meaning of tat, “that,” is discussed. “That” refers both to brahman, the ultimate reality which is limitless nondual consciousness and being, and to the whole of reality, including both ultimate reality and the entirety of manifestation.

The following talk was given at Real Dharma on October 1, 2013.

Listen online:

or download or listen by clicking here.

You Are The Whole

One of the Mahāvākyas, or “great statements” of the Upanishads, the nondual wisdom section of the Vedas, is tat tvam asi (तत् त्वम् असि ), “You are that.” This statement means not only that you are, in reality, limitless nondual awareness, but it also means you are the totality, the whole of the intelligent universe, comprising everything. Helping us see that we are not the limited, incomplete beings we usually think we are, but that we are both the source and the totality of the universe, is the goal of the teaching of Advaita Vedanta, a means of self-knowledge and liberation.

In the following talk, given on September 24, 2013, the tvam,  or “you” section of the great statement is examined–the analysis of “Who am I?”

Listen online:

or download or listen by clicking here.