Advaita Vision

www.advaita.org.uk

Advaita for the 21st Century

CONTENTS

flower picture

Introduction (Mars does not exist)

1. Are we missing the point to our lives?
Happiness is not a cigar
The dinner party
What really matters?

2. Meaning – filling the holes in our lives
The Pathetique mood
Keeping busy
The meaning of meaning
The meaning of life
Is this all there is?
Death – when time runs out
Traditional sources of meaning
The material society
Living for the moment

3. Purpose – making our lives seem complete
What do I want?
What do I have to do to be happy?
Are we driven by our genes?
The need for effect
Fame and achievement

4. The things that we want and need
Our perceived needs
Health and fitness
Fashion
Materialism
Living for the moment
Involvement
Money
Culture and creativity
Friends and acquaintances
Love and marriage
Sex
Freedom and choice
Control
Thrill seeking
Spiritual Goals

5. Pleasure, happiness and desire
Pleasure
The mechanics of pleasure
The value of pleasure
Happiness
Desire
Happiness – the end of desire
Ego – the obstacle to happiness

6. Who we are not
The sense of limitation
Self-delusion
Not the body
Not the thinker
Not the thoughts
Not the memory
Not a person
Not the ego
Not a role
Not a soul
Not the chooser
Not the director of ‘my’ life
Not the doer
Not the perceiver, feeler or enjoyer

7. Who we are
Consciousness
Attachment to things we are not
Levels of ‘being’
The real Self
The background of experience
The truth hidden within

8. How can we be happy now?
Read, listen and reflect
Direct your attention
Live in the present
Be detached
Meditate
Differentiate between the pleasant and the good
The seeker is never going to find the Self

9. The nature of reality
Stuff
Is this a dagger I see before me?
What dagger?
Appearance and reality
What do you see out of your window?
But what is actually outside your window?
Metaphors for reality and appearance
Who are we then?

We are happiness

Bibliography

INDEX


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Extracts from the Book
Summary and Endorsements
List of Contents
1. Mars does not exist
2. What do I want?
3. Money
4. Self-delusion
5. Direct your attention
6. Stuff
 
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Page last updated: 08-Jul-2012