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This section contains essays and extracts from books or satsang discussions, from teachers and writers, past and present. In all cases, links to the author's site (if one exists) and to any related books are provided.

Choosing a teacher or even a book can be a dauting task. Whereas access to a genuine 'guru' was once very difficult, almost certainly involving travel to India, nowadays there are numbers of teachers with impeccable credentials who visit major cities throughout the world. Even finding a book expounding the truth of non-duality was no easy task but now there are many available.

The section on Teachers lists a selection of acclaimed gurus, any of whom would be worth investigating. Nevertheless, though there is only one truth, there are many ways of expressing this, with language being an inherent barrier to understanding. Part of the objective of this section is to provide short essays or discourses that will enable the seeker to guage the style of a teacher to ascertain whether there is likely to be an affinity.

It is also worth bearing in mind, however, that a true teacher will communicate directly to you what you need to know and not what you think you want to know. This 'prose poem' by Tanya Davis tells it all!

They are absolutely useless teachers.
They tell you there is nothing to learn.
They tell you that there is no need for you to be there.
They give you absolutely nothing to do.
They completely refuse to give you homework (believe me, I tried).
They answer questions with questions and tell you that you already
know all the answers even when you are damn sure you don't.
They tell you that they have nothing to teach.
They say that they are not even speaking to you because you don't
exist.
I don't think any of them has any recognised qualification to
teach about *this* at all.

They will empty you with love.
They will destroy you with compassion.
They will disappoint you again and again as you offer your trinkets
until you are revealed as the greatest treasure imagined.

And of course, this was always the case.
Tanya Davis, SatsangDiary Egroup, June 2004

Note that all copyright for the material in this section resides with the respective author and any request for permission to use extracts must be directed to them and not to myself. Note also that the views expressed in the following essays do not necessarily in all cases accord with my own views.

  1. What is the nature of maya? - Professor V. Krishnamurthy (profvk).
  2. The Enlightenment 'event' - Dr. Gregory Goode.
  3. Free Will and Predetermination - Alan Adams Jacobs.
  4. Creation Theories in Advaita - Benjamin.
  5. Types of Thoughts - Francis Lucille.
  6. The Real and the Unreal - Chittaranjan Naik.
  7. Knowledge - Oneness in spite of duality - Madathil Nair.
  8. Truth, Appearance and Reality - Ram Chandran.
  9. Reincarnation - Dr. Kuntimaddi Sadananda.
  10. The Path of Knowledge - Professor Gummuluru Murthy.
  11. God, creation and ignorance - Dr. Kuntimaddi Sadananda.
  12. Idealism and the World - Dr. Gregory Goode.
  13. dharma and guNa - Ranjeet Sankar.
  14. Why should we believe in scriptures? - Dr. Kuntimaddi Sadananda.
  15. Why can't I read your thoughts? - Benjamin, Greg and Dennis.
  16. On Creation - Vidyasankar Sundaresan.
  17. The Evolution of Consciousness - Burt Harding.
  18. No claim, no blame, no fame - Leo Hartong.
  19. Delight - Catherine Ingram.
  20. The Simplicity of What Is - Joan Tollifson.
  21. What Is - 'Sailor' Bob Adamson.
  22. The Heart's Wisdom - Nirmala.
  23. The Man Who Wasn't There - Dr. Nitin Trasi.
  24. The Role of Scriptures in Enlightenment - Stig Lundgren.
  25. Trust - Janaka Stagnaro.
  26. Teachers and the Truth - Wayne Liquorman.
  27. Seeing the Essence - John Wheeler.
  28. The SEEING is here and NOW - Anon.
  29. The Hypnotic Dream of Separation - Tony Parsons.
  30. The answer is in the disappearance of the questioner - Adyashanti.
  31. Science and Reality - Ananda Wood.
  32. Everything is Brahman - Sri Atmananda Krishna Menon.
  33. A Realist View of Advaita - Chittaranjan Naik.
    . The Razor's Edge
    . The Reality Divide
    . The preamble
    . The Dream Analogy
    . Authenticity and the Knot of the Heart
    . Prelude to Ontology
    . Ontology
    . Advaita
    . Ishvara
    . Summary
    . Bibliography
  34. savikalpa samAdhi - Jason James Morgan.
  35. Awareness and Experience - Isaac Shapiro.
  36. Only the Self is Real - Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj.
  37. Free Will - Ramesh Balsekar.
  38. God's Own Locksmith - Lou Hawthorne.
  39. Merging with the Self? - Alan Stoltz.
  40. Objectives of Life - puruShArtha and karma - Ram Chandran.
  41. Teachers and Enlightenment - Roy Whenary.
  42. Bhagavad Gita II.19-24 - Reincarnation - Alan Jacobs.
  43. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, IV4.1-6 - Karma - Alan Jacobs.
  44. Advaita and Western Neo-Advaita - Alan Jacobs.
  45. Advaita and the Brain - Chittaranjan Naik.
  46. Problem of Evil - Chittaranjan Naik.
  47. The Purusharthas: Four aims of human motivation - Ananda Wood .
  48. Reality of the World - Frank Maiello.
  49. The Merry-go-round - Karl Renz.
  50. A Sage (short poem) - Cee .
  51. No Mind - Nathan Gill.
  52. No Person - John Wheeler.
  53. What Is This ME? - Monica Alderton.
  54. Suffering - 'Sailor' Bob Adamson.
  55. Creation Theories in Advaita - Vidyasankar Sundaresan.
  56. The Knot of the Heart - Durga.
  57. Shopping in the Mall of the Mind - Sundance Burke.
  58. Nothing But Relationship - Sundance Burke.
  59. The Powers of mAyA - Anand Hudli.
  60. Fundamental Human Problem - Dr. Kuntimaddi Sadananda.
  61. Is Self Knowledge Beyond the Intellect? - Satyan Chidambaran.
  62. The Pointlessness of Practice - Katie Davis.
  63. Right Now! In This Moment - Aja Acharya.
  64. Being in the Present - Katie Davis.
  65. Guru Disciple Transmission - Bhodi Avasa.
  66. Searching After Truth - Aja Acharya.
  67. The Divine Misconception - Tony Parsons.
  68. Why ‘Traditional Advaita’ is relevant to liberation - Chittaranjan Naik.
  69. The Problem and the Solution - Durga.
  70. Faith: The Final Crutch - Mark McCloskey.
  71. The Phenomenon - Stuart Schwartz.
  72. Consciousness - Timothy Schoorel.
  73. From the Age of the Guru to the Age of the Friend - Greg Goode.
  74. The Song of the Vedas (Shruti Gita) - Professor V. Krishnamurthy.
  75. Meditation - Éric Baret.
  76. The Three Faces of Advaita - Aja Thomas.
  77. Ego and Seeking - Shawn Nevins.
  78. Examining the Reality of Thoughts - Gina Lake.
  79. Looking for Fulfillment - Philip T. Mistlberger.
  80. Vach - Paula Marvelly.
  81. Spiritual Experiences - Philip T. Mistlberger.
  82. Reflections - Stephen Wingate.
  83. Andal - Paula Marvelly.
  84. Belief vs Experience - Philip T. Mistlberger.
  85. Actual Seeing - Brian Lake & Naama Livni.
  86. Belief in God - Ramesh Krishnamurthy.
  87. Dialogue with Asamvedi.
  88. Reincarnation and Advaita - Madathil Nair.
  89. Purnamadah Purnamidam Revisited - Madathil Nair.
  90. Peripheral Vision - David Carse.
  91. Science and Knowledge - Chittaranjan Naik.
  92. Both=One - John Greven.
  93. On Berkeley and Advaita - Chittaranjan Naik.
  94. Yoga Classification - Ramesh Krishnamurthy.
  95. The Final Understanding (Not) - Charlie Hayes.
  96. Identity Formation - Nirmala.
  97. There never was anything other than That - Jean-Pierre Gomez.
  98. The Art of Surrender - Robert Adams.
  99. Creation and mAyA - Ramana Maharshi.
  100. Meeting with Sailor Bob - James Braha.
  101. An Introduction to Advaita - Dr. N K Srinivasan.
  102. A short discussion on Seeking and Suffering - Charlie Hayes/ John Wheeler/ Dennis Waite.
  103. Meaningless Words - Liz Jones.
  104. An Eternal Joy Supreme - Robert Adams.
  105. Responsibility - Justus Kramer Schippers.
  106. Illusory Nature of the World - Andrew Vernon commenting on Sri Ranjit Maharaj.
  107. The Cause of Suffering - Gina Lake.
  108. The Daydream Unmasked - Jan Kersschot.
  109. Identification - Swami Satchidananda.
  110. Words and Meaning - Robin Dale.
  111. The Way We Understand the World - Dr. Haramohan Mishra.
  112. Oneness - Mieke Berger Ph. D.
  113. What is Neo-Advaita? - James Swartz.
  114. Why is there anything at all? - Leo Hartong.
  115. Practice of Advaita - Dr. N K Srinivasan.
  116. What I Am - Unmani Liza Hyde.
  117. Losing Your Presence of Mind - Robin Dale.
  118. Perfect Brilliant Stillness - Comments on the book by David Carse.
  119. Spiritual Humanism versus Neo-Advaita - Möller de la Rouvière, Tony Parsons and Alan Stoltz.
  120. Pure and Simple Being - Harry Liantziris.
  121. Atmananda (Krishna Menon) - Philip Renard.
  122. Who is seeing the world? - Madathil Nair.
  123. Becoming Is The Denial Of Being’ (J. Krishnamurti) - Möller de la Rouvière.
  124. A Spiritual Journey through the Vivekachudamani - V. Subrahmanian.
  125. Self-knowledge and the Mind - Durga.
  126. Traditional vs neo-Advaita - Dr. N. K. Srinivasan.
  127. AvasthA traya viveka (Discrimination of the 3 States) - Ananda Wood.
  128. samAdhi - Different Types acc. to Ramana Maharshi - summarized by Peter.
  129. A Paradigm Shift to No-Paradigm? - Charlie Hayes.
  130. Everything is Brahman - Shyam Subramanian.
  131. Four types of bhaktAs - Dr. Kuntimaddi Sadananda.
  132. Neo-Advaita = Suffering; Self-enquiry = Freedom - Charlie Hayes.
  133. Presence - Awareness - John Greven.
  134. Spiritual Paths - Richard Sylvester.
  135. What are you looking for? - Tan.
  136. Drop it All, Even “What is Truth?” - Annette Nibley.
  137. Who Sets the Intention to be Free of Seeking? - Stephen Wingate.
  138. Reality and Suffering - Madathil Nair.
  139. adhyAropa - apavAda - V. Subrahmanian.
  140. Night Dreams, Waking Dreams, Reality - Charlie Hayes.
  141. The karma yoga attitude - Durga.
  142. mithyA and pa~ncha kosha - Durga.
  143. Bodhi Day - Tom Thompson.
  144. Is This Advaita or Not??? - Shunyamurti.
  145. jIva, brahman Itself deluded as it were - V. Subrahmanian.
  146. Direct versus Indirect Knowledge - Satyan Chidambaran.
  147. Spiritual Humanism Asks: What Is Enlightenment? - Möller de la Rouvière.
  148. Making the Advaita Teachings Relevant Until the Illusion of Relevance Disappears - Floyd Henderson.
  149. One: Essential Writings on Nonduality - edited by Jerry Katz.
  150. gnothi seauton (Know Thyself) - Ralph Waldo Emerson.
  151. The locus of avidyA - Dr. Shyam Subramanian.
  152. sachchidAnanda (sat-chit-Ananda)- Dr. Shyam Subramanian.
  153. U.G. Krishnamurti: The Divine Anarchist - Mariana Caplan.
  154. turIya and turyatita - Peter.
  155. Advaita and Shankara - Chittaranjan Naik.
  156. avidyA - V. Subrahmanian.
  157. Nothing wrong with silence - Jeff Foster.
  158. A Dialog with Jeff Foster - Jeff Foster and Dennis Waite.
  159. God, Reality, And "Radical" Non-Dualism - D. B. Sleeth, Ph.D.
  160. Spiritual Seeking and Truth - Nouk Sanchez & Tomas Vieira
  161. Blasphemy - Jan Kersschot.
  162. Experience and Enlightenment - Charlie Hayes.
  163. A Dialog with Charlie Hayes - Charlie Hayes and Dennis Waite.
  164. The Castle on the Hill - Jason James Morgan.
  165. Pointing to Ananda - Atagrasin.
  166. Your experience - Dr. Gregory Goode.
  167. The Crest-jewel of Sri Ramana's Teaching - Michael James.
  168. Two Poems - John Astin.
  169. The Three States - A Fresh Perspective - Madathil Nair.
  170. Second dialog with Charlie Hayes - Charlie Hayes and Dennis Waite.
  171. The Myth of Desire - Gina Lake.
  172. Meditations on advaita - Dr. Vemuri Ramesam.
  173. Dialog on 'Meditations on advaita' - Dr. Vemuri Ramesam and Dennis Waite.
  174. Comment on 'Meditations on advaita' - Professor Narayana Moorty.
  175. Chocolate Cake - Katie Davis.
  176. Being Beyond Belief - Sundance Burke.
  177. True Self - Eric Putkonen.
  178. What is Reality? - Charlie Hayes.
  179. Who am I? - Madathil Nair.
  180. Surjectivity - James M. Corrigan.
  181. Infirmities in karma theory - Dr. Vemuri Ramesam.
  182. Big Bangers and Mash - David Brockman.
  183. A Walk in the Rain - Jeff Foster.
  184. You are prior to anything that can be witnessed - Sukhbir Singh.
  185. The Relation-less Truth - Raphael.
  186. Spiritual Practice - Mike Graham.
  187. Beyond the Appearance - Randall Friend.
  188. How do I DO the investigation? - Charlie Hayes.
  189. The Ocean of Liberated Bliss - David Spero.
  190. The Illusion of Time and Reality - Florian Tathagata Schlosser.
  191. Being and the Eternal Now - Philip Jacobs.
  192. Potential Problems with Schools - Dennis Waite.
  193. Critical Responses to an Essay by Tony Parsons - Nathan Spoon.
  194. Wanting to Know the Future - Gina Lake.
  195. Fill Your Hole - Nigel Watts.
  196. Love Is for Giving, Not for Getting - Nirmala.
  197. Schools of Philosophy - P. Sethuraman.
  198. Teaching: the Guide versus the Confessor - Jerry Katz.
  199. The Changing Form of the Immanent - Raphael.
  200. Effortless Meditation - Eric Putkonen.
  201. Traditional not two-ness is better than Neo not two-ness ??? - Tony Parsons.
  202. A response to 'not two-ness' - Dennis Waite.
  203. The Horse’s Mouth: An essay on the 'lineage' game - James Swartz.
  204. A Critique Of John Wheeler’s “You Were Never Born” - Dr. Vemuri Ramesam.
  205. 'Levels' of Mind and Consciousness - David Spero.

See the list sorted by Topic.
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Page last updated: 18th Jul 2008