Tag: Mindfulness

Advaita for Dummies


Is happiness really hiding in the next achievement, possession, or relationship—or is it already within you, waiting for the restless mind to pause? In this article, we explore 16 timeless questions through the lens of Advaita Vedānta and other wisdom traditions—questions like: Is desire poison or medicine? Is the waking world any more real than a dream? What does it mean to be in bondage, or free? Drawing from the insights of Vedānta, Buddhism, Taoism, and Stoicism, this guide simplifies profound truths and shows why “you” are not the doer at all—Consciousness alone is.

Walking the Middle Path: A Daily Guiding Note for Peace


At 75+, with a fulfilled life behind me and a peaceful present, I was advised by my relative Sam, a student of Advaita, to forget the world, ignore mind and heart, and simply live in awareness. Instead of renouncing life entirely, I now follow a middle path. Each day I care for my body, enjoy family and friends lightly, and watch desires without clinging. Morning quietude, small acts of kindness, and evening reflection keep me steady. Life’s forms may rise and fall like pots of clay, but peace rests in the awareness that is never broken.

A Journey from Worldly Noise to the Quiet of Consciousness


I no longer seek guidance from heart or mind, for both belong to the restless play of duality. Instead, I turn inward, where Advaita Vedanta reveals the true relief of emptiness: the Self as pure awareness, untouched by sorrow or delight. Solitude is not misanthropy but clarity—a freedom from humoring the world’s illusions. To abide in stillness is to realize that the knower of light and darkness is itself eternal.

Beyond Words: Silence as the Highest Expression of Truth


Ramana Maharshi declared, “The only language able to express the whole truth is silence.” In Advaita Vedanta, the Self is beyond knowledge and ignorance, beyond light and darkness. Words divide, but silence holds unity. Ramana’s presence itself was a teaching—those who sat with him often felt peace beyond explanation. Silence is not absence but fullness: the stillness in which the Self shines without obstruction. To abide in this silence is to realize that truth is not something to be reached but what we already are—pure being, ever free. Explore Ramana Maharshi’s teaching that silence is the highest expression of truth in Advaita Vedanta, where words fail but being alone remains.

From Metaphysical Weariness to Self-Realization


There are moments in life when fatigue runs deeper than the body or mind—it’s a weariness of existence itself. Not depression, not despair, but a quiet recognition that life as we know it may be part of a grander cosmic play. In this exchange, I explore this metaphysical tiredness through the lens of Advaita Vedanta and the teachings of Ramana Maharshi, Nisargadatta Maharaj, and J. Krishnamurti. What emerges is a simple yet profound daily contemplative routine—an invitation to step beyond egoic striving and rest in pure Awareness, where true happiness and freedom reside.