The Spiritual Path          

of Advaita

There are eleven sets of essays/extracts discussing aspects relating to the path of Advaita. These are divided into two sections. The first section provides details of and extracts from my three books on the subject. The second section contains discourses from many other current writers and teachers.

A. The Books

Each of the three sections below contains a general description of the related book, a contents list, endorsements and six extracts from different chapters.

I. How to Meet Yourself (and find true happiness)

This is the 'Introductory book' on Advaita, which is also a general book on the topics of meaning, purpose and happiness - 'How to Meet Yourself (and find true happiness)' (Jan 2007). The title is intended to appeal to the general reader who is wanting to find out how 'I' (the ego) can be happy and live a fulfilled life. It undertakes to show why this is a completely mistaken view of oneself and the world.

II. The Book of One

This is the 'Intermediate book', which covers the entire subject of Advaita in a readable and entertaining manner - 'The Book of One' (October 2003).

III. Back to the Truth: 5000 years of Advaita

This is the 'Advanced book', which incorporates around 500 extracts from over 350 separate sources, traditional and modern and addresses the teaching methods as well as the philosophy itself - 'Back to the Truth: 5000 years of Advaita' (Feb 2007).

B. Discourses

I. From the Unreal to the Real

'The Unreal' looks at the situation in which we presently find ourselves, believing there to be a separate world containing objects and other people. In fact, if we carefully examine this position from the point of view of a detached witness, we are able to observe that we are not the body, mind or intellect and discover that the ego is a fiction. The normal states of consciousness that we experience do not reveal the true nature of reality.

In order to realise the truth about ourselves and the world, we have to remove the ignorance that obscures it. We need to cultivate traits such as dispassion and discrimination and learn to still the mind, ultimately aiming to eliminate the ego. There are three traditional Spiritual Paths which help to achieve this so-called 'enlightenment'.

In reality, there is only the 'Self', aka Consciousness, Absolute or 'God'. These essays explain further about the mechanism that leads to our misunderstanding and about other aspects that relate to 'The Real'.

II Introduction to Vedanta by Dr. K. Sadananda

Dr. Sadananda provides a complete introductory 'course' to Advaita Vedanta, covering a wealth of topics. This was presented as part of the 'Beginners Initiative' for the Advaitin Egroup in Jan - Feb 2007.

III The Teaching of Sri Atmananda

Sri Atmananda Krishna Menon (1883 - 1959) was a teacher of Direct Path Advaita (more information about him can be found in the next section). Jean Klein was influenced by him but one of his direct disciples, Sri Ananda Wood, is still actively studying and writing. In Nov - Dec 2003. he lead a discussion on the Advaitin Egroup on the Teaching of Sri Atmananda and this section summarises his key posts on the subject. These provide a masterful introduction to the main elements of Direct Path teachings, readable and lucid, gently but convincingly conveying all that needs to be known.

IV Other Essays and Books by Ananda Wood

Ananda Wood, author of two excellent books on the Upanishads and disciple of the Direct Path sage Sri Atmananda Krishna Menon, has made PDF versions of his books and many of his other erudite essays available to read on-line or download.

V A Realist View of Advaita by Chittaranjan Naik

Chittaranjan Naik was a regular contributor to the Advaitin E-list until 2006. He produced this comprehensive and scholarly set of 10 essays + Bibliography as part of one of the special monthly topics in 2004. In it, he begins with an explanation of how it is the process of 'sublation' does not negate the experience but allows us to see it in a new light. From this, he moves on to expound a comprehensive, 'realist' interpretation of the philosophy of Advaita.

VI Key Issues in Advaita (by Other Writers)

This section is a continually growing one. I will be adding, with their permission, material from current teachers and writers of Advaita taken from books or other websites, as well as posts from members of egroups. The only qualification is that the material has been found to be especially useful in explaining or clarifying Key Issues in Advaita.

VII Messages from the Past

This section was added Dec. 2004 and contains miscellaneous writings of my own - messages from the past.

VIII Traditional versus Neo-Advaita

This section was added Apr. 05 and contains essays and discussions expressing views on this topical discussion from a variety of authors. More submissions would be welcome!

IX Questions and Answers

This section was added Apr. 06 and contains a growing number of questions asked by readers of the site, together with my attempts to answer them.